August, IgII 
Older girls often become very pro- 
The illustration 
her aesthetic sense. 
ficient in the making over of their rooms. 
of a young lady sewing beside her window shows what a 
The book 
clever girl can do with the plainest of things. 
shelves were made of 
rough packing box boards, 
but they look delightful 
with the gold braid nailed 
to them with brass tacks. 
The desk is an ordinary 
kitchen table which cost a 
dollar and a quarter. The 
small articles on the desk 
were all made of nothing, 
practically. The blotter is 
a five cent sheet of straw- 
board with corners of cre- 
tonne. The tray for hold- 
ing penholders is made of 
cretonne, as is also the 
lamp shade and the letter 
paper holder. 
The window is a little 
bower, made by planting a 
few seeds in a box and the 
striped awning itself adds 
its note of cheerfulness. 
The window curtains are 
cretonne almost the exact 
size of the window-panes 
and edged with cotton 
braid to make them hang 
well. They look like 
panels and keep out the 
strong summer light. 
The beauty of such an 
arrangement is that one does not have to wear it out be- 
fore making a change, or feel the folly of extravagance. 
In making the shirtwaist cases there are several extra. 
touches which may be put in with only a little more work. 
For instance it is a great convenience to have a transverse 
hinge in the lid of the boxes used for these cases. It saves 
taking the whole 
box out every time 
some little thing is 
wanted. These 
hinges are made of 
cloth and glue. 
Cut the box lid 
in halves down a line 
from side to side, 
being careful to 
make a clean cut. 
Wake a strip of 
strong drill the 
length of the lid and 
an inch wide, and 
cover it thoroughly 
with glue. To 
paste on lay the 
two edges together 
and smooth out the 
strip. 
This strip is for 
the upper side of 
the lid. Now if you 
want to make a 
very good job of it wait till the first strip has dried and then 
prepare another strip of the drill with glue, lay the lid over 
the edge of the bench or table upon which you are working, 
being sure that the edges are at right angles to each other. 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Making a frame for a screen 
Fitting a box lid with a cloth hinge 
291 
When you smooth the strip down to fit closely to the edges 
of the hinge, the cloth will be at right angles to the other 
edge. This will give the needed spring to the hinge. 
Delightful small cases for the little objects which usually 
litter the boy’s or girl’s 
bureau can be made of old 
cigar boxes. The frame 
for such a small case needs 
to be substantial, though, 
or the little box drawers 
will not draw smoothly. 
The quarter inch boards 
upon which cloth is wound 
would make the _ nicest 
material for such work. 
They may be had for 
nothing from your friend 
the merchant or the janitor 
of a big department store, 
or bought for two cents 
apiece from a_ second- 
hand box factory. They 
are pleasant to work with 
because they are smooth 
and the lumber has been 
thoroughly seasoned and 
will not warp. 
Good cigar boxes are 
made of cedar and have a 
delightful odor after they 
have been thoroughly 
soaked in water and the 
cigar labels scrubbed off. 
The black lettering which 
1s always printed upon the 
wood will come off with 
sandpaper and there you have a perfect little drawer for 
your case. 
The difficulty will be to get four or five boxes of the same 
size, but there is nothing very serious about such a task if 
the carpenter has brains. 
Cigar boxes may be covered with cretonne or wall-paper 
can be pasted over 
them if the maker 
insists upon their 
being covered. 
These cabinets 
make perfect cases 
for holding spoons, 
knives and forks, or 
for spice closets. 
Eos tihve stomlette 
table they may be 
made invaluable in 
holding hairpins, 
jewels, powder 
puffs and what not. 
In making this 
as in everything 
else in life the suc- 
cess will depend 
upon getting the 
piece nicely made 
and in making the 
proportions right. 
There is a balance 
COC veer yetran mo 
Especially is this true in regard to the sewing screen. Good 
measurements for such a screen are three feet by a foot and 
a-half for each of the two pieces. The brace should not 
be put in the exact center of the frame because you want 
