488 THE IIOUSEHOL]). 



corked up in a bottle, and it is always ready for use; if it strikes too deep a 

 c61or, add more water. 



Staining with lonine. — Wood may acquire an oak, walnut, or cherry tree 

 color by staining it with ordinary tincture of iodine diluted with spirit until 

 the exact shade is obtained. While shellac must be added to the iodine 

 solution if the stain is to be made penuauent, or the wood after the stain is 

 applied may be French polished. The iodine may be laid on with a rag or a 

 brush. 



Fiirple. — Boil a pound of chip logwood in three quarts of water for an 

 hour; then add four ounces of alum. 



i?^^e.— Boil four parts of alum with eighty-five parts of water. 



Hanging Wall Paper. — There are many housekeepers who have one 

 or more rooms they would like to re-paper, but are kept from doing as much 

 of this kind of work as they would like on account of the expense of getting 

 a professional pape^-hangcr to put the paper on. Any one who takes the 

 pains to notice, can soon learn to put on paper as well as the best paper- 

 hanger. In the first place, you can often find among the cheap papers one 

 or more lots that look just as well, and are of as good quality as the more 

 expensive ones. When you have got your paper home, trim off the edge on 

 the right side, as it is better for an inexperienced hand to commence at the 

 left side of a door or window, and go toward the left. When you are ready 

 to begin, make yoiir paste with boiling water, and let it boil about as long as 

 common starch, and it should be no thicker than starch after it is cold Let 

 it cool and strain it through a common salt sack to take out the lumps. 

 Then take a piece of washing soda as large as a walnut with the hull off, 

 dissolve it in water, and put it in the paste and you need not use any glue or 

 anything else whatever. Let an assistant hold tlie paper up to the wall, so 

 that it will match with the piece already on, and cut it off the right length, 

 always half an inch short, as it will stretch that much. Lay the paper 

 wrong side up on a lai'ge table; let your help hold one end while you put on 

 the paste quickly and evenly with a whitewash brush. Be sure to get eveiy 

 part covered. Take hold of the upper end, while your assistant takes the 

 lower end, fasten it at the top, then sweep it down with a soft broom or 

 brush, pick all windy places with a pin, and pat gently with a soft cloth. If 

 it should become fast at the bottom too soon for the rest, pull it out carefully 

 from the wall and replace it again. Paper put on Avith washing soda in tho 

 paste will not crack and come loose on greasy walls, as it often does without it. 

 Try this plan, and your rooms will look nice and new with but little expense. 



Table Etiquette. — There ia nothing so disagreeable as careless and 

 untidy table-manners; and to acquire graceful and pleasing habits while 

 eating, sometimes takes years of practice. But it can be done; wo see everj-- 

 where ladies and gentlemen, and sometimes children, who show their good 

 breeding by their conduct at the table. To begin to make youraelves like 

 these, the first thing to do is to sit down and think how you really behave at 

 the table. Are your- hands and nails, and face clean, and hair brushed 

 back smoothly ? Do you seat yourself quietly, and remember to put on your 

 napkin ? Do you sometimes put your knife in your mouth, instead of a fork 

 or spoon ? Do you pour your tea in your saucer, instead of drinking fron^ 

 the cup ? How do you pass your plate, if you are to be helped a second 

 time ? The best way is to hold your knife or fork in your hand, and then it 

 ■will not fall on the cloth. 



