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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 19 lo 



Artistic 

 Wax 

 Work 



A necklace made with sealing wax slabs and 

 beads. Also two hat pinheads 



By 

 Monica Bastin 



N all the finer branches of artistic handi- 

 work, originality, precision and a certain 

 deftness of fingers are indispensable to 

 striking success. With these and with the 

 necessary foundation of talent, it is pos- 

 sible to turn the artistic sense (even 

 moderately possessed) to very good ac- 

 count, and secure a result that will be of good taste. 



Among the novel, and possibly the least exercised 

 of such crafts, may be classed that of mosaic making with 

 sealing wax. Although the idea is not quite unknown, yet 

 it is not often carried out to its fullest extent. Not only 

 mosaic jewelry may be taken as a pattern, but many kinds 

 of metal work can be effectively copied. Added to this 

 there are plenty of original schemes to be devised with 

 the many shaded wax alone. 



The first articles attempted by the novice may be the 

 colored beads of various shapes and sizes so often threaded 

 into bracelets and necklaces. The foundation of these beads 

 is made with cork, one-eighth of an inch thick. The cut- 

 ting of the cork is not very easy to an inexperienced hand. 

 The best thing to use is an old, very sharp table knife, in- 

 serted with a sort of sweeping movement that will give a 

 clean unjagged edge. The knife will probably require sharp- 

 ening after every few cuts. The finishing touches should be 

 made with the small blade of a sharp penknife. The sections 

 should be cut rather smaller than is intended for the size 

 of the finished beads. Having thus prepared a center on 

 which to work, take an old hatpin, and stick the cork firmly 

 on the end of it. Select a piece of sealing-wax of the 

 principal color required for the bead, melt it over a clear 

 flame, and cover one side of the cork at a time, allowing 

 this to harden before the other is treated. Now remove 

 the bead from the pin and see that both ends are properly 

 covered. Each bead must be solid and well shaped. Any 



little irregular- 

 ities can be 

 smoothed over 

 by slightly re- 

 heating the 

 wax in the 

 flame. The 

 bead can be 

 decorated with 

 spangled or 

 metal wax ac- 

 cording to in- 

 dividual taste; 

 any device be- 

 Little pin or trinket boxes i n g carefully 



picked out in tiny drops of wax, and then melted 

 on to the background by again holding the bead close 

 to the flame. When this is done, and the bead is 

 of course quite cold and firm, heat a hatpin and pierce 

 one or more holes through to the other side of the 

 slab, and in the right position according to the design of 

 the finished article of jewelry. This must be done with 

 the greatest caution, or all the previous work will be spoilt. 

 The holes, if not clean and carefully made at the opening, 

 may block again with the half-melted wax. When the 

 required number of beads are finished, thread them on a 

 piece of wire and dip them one by one into gum Arabic 

 sufficiently thick to coat each well. Wipe off any super- 

 fluous gum and hang them to dry. Then thread them 

 after any fashion selected, interspersed with colored glass 

 or metallic beads. The finishing touch is added by var- 

 nishing them with a picture copal varnish. This will take 

 about two days to harden in a warm atmosphere before 

 the beads are ready to wear. 



The molding of hatpin heads may now be considered. 

 PVom a plain, many-colored sphere to the most elaborate 

 style which a large hatpin makes possible, there is an 

 endless variety of design at one's disposal. The shape can 

 be made over the round head of an ordinary hatpin. If, 

 however, it is to be flat or after the fashion of a coin, it 

 must be molded like the beads, over cork. In the latter 

 case, the glass head can be broken away with a hammer, 

 and the piece of cork of the required shape and size sub- 

 stituted. A very pretty rainbow effect can be obtained by 

 dropping patches of colored wax on the head, until a rough 

 circle is made, and then holding it close to the flame, turn- 

 ing it rapidly so that the colors run together. Continue 

 this until the surface is quite smooth and glossy, and until 

 the circle is regular. Then let the wax dry for a minute 

 away from the flame, still turning the pin round and round, 

 so that it may 

 not drop one 

 side more than 

 another. Finish 

 it off by dip- 

 ping it first into 

 gum Arabic 

 and then var- 

 nishing it after 

 the same pro- 

 cess used when 

 making the 

 beads. Yet an- 

 other direction 

 in which artis- Piercing a bead with a hatpin 



