10 



THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



©HE rSoUSEHOLD. 



THE GREAT GIFT DAT. 

 Mrs. J. £. McC. 



Christmas is pre-eminently "children's day," 

 the Christian world all over ; and there is much 

 left out of the landscape where there are no sweet 

 memories of the day to recall in later years. 

 Said a little girl, whose parents had met with sad 

 reverses, as she spoke of their present troubles :^ 

 "But they can't take away the memory of the 

 good times we have had." 



When happiness is so cheap, it seems a pity 

 that some should be so saving of the little outlay 

 it requires to secure it. An evening's planning 

 and making of home-made toys; a morning's 

 work at the cake board ; a small sum invested in 

 sweets and toy books, and a tree may be laden 

 with such fruit as it bears only at Christmas 

 time. And, oh! the diSerence to the cliildreu ! 

 I have trimmed a Christmas tree for nineteen 

 successive years, and the gifts have been many 

 and varied, hoili as to expense and size, but often 

 I have found that the simplest gave the most 

 long-lived enjoyment. I remember once, a well 

 filled tree with many handsome toys bought in a 

 city bazaar, which was almost eclipsed by a pair 

 of snow white rabbits, with pink bead eyes, 

 whicli sat under the tree. They were caught up 

 and hugged and loved long after the eye had 

 been satisfied, with just looking at many more 

 beautiful objects. Something with which a child 

 can really play, is of far more interest than cold 

 silver cups anil table-sets and costly jewelry. 



The pretty, soft toys, so easy to make with the 

 aid of a good pattern, such as elephants, rabbits, 

 dogs, and cats, are a never failing source of 

 pleasure to the little folks, who are very mild 

 art critics. It is pleiusant to liave sometliing left 

 for a child's invention an<l imagination to lay 

 hold of, and these faculties may both be largely 

 trained by the toys they receive. I have always 

 regarded tliem as very essential text-books, in 

 these early forming years. I pity the poor chil- 

 dren whose super-tidy mother " will not allow 

 her house to be littered up with such things." 

 X know they have a dreary Christmas time. 



Some mothers are unwilling to prepare a 

 Christmas tree because of the supposed expense 

 of the mere decorations. These may be made 

 very bright and pretty at home, with but little 

 expense. .VU sit around the table some evening 

 and cut Inim newspapers, little patterns of 

 shields, bntlcrflies, maltese crosses, hearts, or 

 whatever is fancied, until a pretty good pattern 

 is secured. Then cut out the figure in )iaste- 

 board, and cover with any bits of biiglit paper 

 you have (as red, blue, gilt), and daintily bar or 

 dot them with some contrasting color. IJright 

 paper, in all colors, may be bought for a lew 

 cents eacli, at any stationers, and one of a kind is 

 quite enough. Little fans of red or blue paper, 

 with a gilt border, look very pretty among the 

 green leaves and so do large butterflies. A 

 bright card iiere and there is very effective, so 

 are reti apples, and cakes in fanciful shapes. 

 Having the tree decorated, it is easy to furnish it 

 by adding the gifts you propose to give to one 

 another, and these should l)e kept secret as far as 

 you can. It spoils half the poetry of Christmas 

 for the little folks to " know beforehand." I 

 know it is hard to keep such secrets, but it does 

 " break the charm " partly, to tell thcni. Kspe- 

 cially does "the child that peeps," detract a 

 good deal from her days enjoyment. Shut and 

 lock the warm parlor, and let some trusty person 

 trim the tree and lock it up securely until Christ- 

 mas morning. Then make an unbending law 

 that each must dress completely to the last shoe 

 button, before they go down to the well-warmed, 

 well-lighted room. For if you do not see that 

 dressing is done beforehand, you will find it a 

 hard matter to enforce the law afterwards The 

 dressing will go on witli a rapidity and a chatter 

 and laughter that will be unusual on a cold win- 

 ter morning. You will not need to " hurry up" 

 even your laziest boy. 



Even simple presents look twice as valuable 

 coming from the branches of a well-trimmed 

 Christmas tree, and the associations are better 

 even than the gift. Bridget in the kitchen will 

 by no means be forgotten. And it is well to 

 teach each of the children to be thoughtful with 

 regard to domestics; especially the little daugh- 

 ters of the house. Presents she will best appre- 

 ciate, will be of a substantial, practical kind, 

 and a litttle tact and discretion on the part of the 

 mather can contrive something acceptable. The 

 domestic machinery will run far more smoothly 

 if she is in good spirits for the day, to .say noth- 

 ing of the moral duty of kindness to "the stran- 

 ger that is within thy gates." Try to fix the good 

 lesson of giving as well as getting on the hearts 

 of all the dear children. 



HOITB MADE. 



The little Conovers were ai)t to come in with 

 feet all snowy and wet, making a- change of 

 stockings necessary at once. That bi-i[igdone, 

 the school shoes were placed in a row by the 

 kitchen stove to dry, and the little folks trotted 

 around stocking-footed for the remainder of the 

 evening. This worried Aunt Esther, who did a 

 good deal of knitting, and who had sat up nights 

 with eroupy children, many times'in her life. 



"They'll wear their stoclcing-feet all out, Cyn- 

 thia, and catch their death of cold besides," she 

 said. "They ought to wear slippers in the even- 

 ing." " I know it," said mother, looking troub- 

 led, " but it would take five dollars to slipper 

 them all around, and I have not the money to 

 spare." " Oh," said auntie, " 1 will see that 

 they all have slippers, and it shall not cost us 

 five cents." Mother was rather incredulous, but 

 cheerfully brought out her old rolls of thick 

 cloth, for inspection. Some thick pieces were 

 found,"and laid in a pile, and then Aunt Esther 

 proceed to cut a pattern over a Sunday shoe front. 

 The back of the slipper was a straight strip. A 

 pair of slippers were cut out and fitted to Josie's 

 feet, and thick cloth soles were sewed in, and the 

 top bound with a strip of silk. They proved so 

 popular that their was a clamor as to who shiuild 

 have the next pair. But as it took only half an 

 hour to make them, all were soon supplied, and 

 walking about with great content, often looking 

 down to their feet. Aunt Esther assured them 

 that they " would not pinch their toes in the 

 least." 



Any skillful needle-woman can easily fashion 

 these simple moccasins for her children use, 

 morning and evening, and will find them a great 

 saving and comfort. 



Little mitlens, too, can be cut from soft woolen 

 cloth, and quickly slitched up on the sewing 

 machine, and they will iielp greatly to keep the 

 frost away from little fingers. They are espe- 

 cially good for rough work, like handling wood, 

 which would soon tear out your boy's fine knit* 

 ted mittens. 



>.iany mothers cut and sew little polo caps for 

 their boys, out of pieces left from their suits. 

 A little oliservation of a " regular made " cap, 

 will show one how to make it, and it is quite the 

 style to have one match the other clothes. 



If you make the small jackets and pantaloons, 

 spare ni) pains to procure an excellent jiattern to 

 begin with. It is hard on the little fellows to 

 shuffle aronnil among well-dressed school-mates 

 in ill-fitting, ill-made garments, all for want of a 

 litttle pains-taking on the part of the mother. 



VENTrLATION IN WINTER. 

 Bxj OUvr. 



Some house-mothers complain of a large in- 

 crease of head-ache as soon as the house is shut 

 up, and the tires lighted for winter. One reason 

 is that they pursue the Icelandic plan of ventila- 

 tion. 



A gentleman spending a night in an Icelandic 

 house, slept in a room with a number of Ice- 

 landers. During the night he woke up almost 

 suflbcated for a breath of air. He awakened his 

 host anil asked if some air could not be obtained. 

 The man reluctantly arose, and going to a knot- 

 hole in the side of the house, pulled out a cork 

 and held it in his hand a minute or two, then 

 with a shiver, he put it back and piiunded it 

 down, saying they should " all freeze to death," 

 and returned to his jiillow, 



A warm house is an excellent thing in the 

 winter. So are warm sleeping rooms, despite the 

 old ]>rejudice some still hold against them. 

 There is nothing health-giving in children shiv- 

 ering half the night in cold beds trying to get 

 warm. Many a delicate little oue has gone to its 

 grave by such a hardening process. No doubt 

 one great cause for the increased longevity of the 

 race in our land, is because of our warmer houses 

 in winter. My children have slept in well- 

 w'armed roonis all their lives, and are never 

 under the doctor's care ; often for a half dozen 

 years at a time, never have to consult one, an 

 uncommon thing among village children of my 

 acquaintance. Depend upon it, there is a fallacy 

 in this theory of toughening children, and har- 

 dening their I'onstitutions by exposure to cold. 

 Dr. William Hall, .>ays he " would as soon think 

 of improving a new hat by banging it around." 

 The only way to harden the constitution, is by 

 taking good care of it. 



Well-warmed sleeping rooms in winter, are a 

 blessing indeed, and a stove in an up])er hall can 

 often secure'this. But the rooms should also be 

 well aired sometime during the day, and all the 

 blessed sunshine of the short winter day let in 

 somewhere. 



RECLPBS. 



Roast Beff. — Almost every Christmas table 

 will be supplied with a generous roast of beef, 

 and even so common a dish needs to be well pre- 

 pared to be a success. To insure this, it should 

 oe well floured to keep in the juices, should be 

 basted often, and tnrneil frequently, and the oven 

 should be kept at a good even heat. Place in the 

 dripping pan, with the bony side up, at first, and 

 finish with the other side uppermost, just as you 

 wish to serve it on the table. A general rule is 

 twenty minutes time for each pound. 



Oyster Soup. — Most Christmas dinners begin 

 with soup, and proVjably nine out of ten have 

 oyster soup. To make it, take 2 quarts of water, 

 1 tablespoonful of salt, 2 of butter, half teaspoon- 

 ful of pepper. Heat to a boiling point. Add 

 pint of oysters, 6 rolled crackers, 1 cup of sweet 

 cream. ^Remove the moment it boils up, and 

 serve immediately. No one asks for soup twice, 

 nor is it considered good style to pass the plate a 

 second time for any dish. On Christmas day 

 especially, is it unwise, if one desires to live and 

 dine another day. 



The De-SSEKT. — The dessert on Christmas day 

 is the feature of the dinner to which the little 

 folks especially look forward. It sliould be made 

 as decorative as })ossilde, so it may gratify the 

 finer sentiments as well as please the palate. A 

 central dish shonld contain oranges, apples, 

 grapes, and bananas, gracefully arranged. On 

 one side of it should stand a dish of almonds and 

 raisins, on the other, one of candies. Plum pud- 

 ding and mince pie (especially the latter, with 

 us American folks), have come to be thought 

 most necessary adjuncts to this feast, and almost 

 every comfortable child in the land will believe 

 that his "mother's mince pies " were the best 

 that ever were eaten. So, no housekeeper wants 

 a receipe for them ; all know how. The order of 

 serving a desert is, pudding and )iastry, first, ices, 

 fruits, nuts, raisins, bonbons, and then small cupa 

 of black coffee, (by way of medicine probably). 



^m\ 



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