4=63 
1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE MOSIEME,©. 
B37" (For other Household Items, see “Basket ” pages.) 
Christmas Presents. 
BY MRS. A. B. MCK. 
Christmas presents for four persons and only five 
dollars with which to buy them. O, dear ! Could 
any one tell me liow to purchase a foot rest for 
father, paper holder for James, lamp shade for 
Aunt Ann’s poor eyes, and a bracket to hold the 
pretty statuette that cousin Mary gave Millie on our 
last visit to town, with only five 
dollars ? Each of these articles had 
been by me priced and repriced, 
in the vain hope that five dollars 
could be stretched to cover a sur- 
Fig. 1.—rARTS OF LAMB SHADE. 
face requiring fifteen; until at last I came to 
the conclusion that I must make them myself, 
if they were to be forthcoming at all. After that, 
for a whole week, whether sweeping, dusting, 
churning, or baking, the pros and cons of these 
coveted possessions, and the most plausible way of 
setting about their construction, constantly floated 
through this very feminine brain of mine; when, 
about the seventh day, a happy idea dawned, all 
became clear, and order was evolved from chaos. 
The first article attempted was Aunt Ann’s lamp 
shade. Now the common round ones when used, 
left the whole family, as well as herself, in the dark. 
I wanted something to shield her eyes, and yet 
allow the rest of the room to be flooded with light 
For this purpose I had 
looked longingly up¬ 
on a porcelain standard 
shade, displayed very 
temptingly in a certain 
shop window, but alas! 
it cost far more than 
the whole contents of 
my purse. However, I 
concluded to get some 
good out of my disap¬ 
pointment by using it 
as a model. Having 
procured a heavy wire 
frame from the tinman 
(A, figure 1), I moist¬ 
ened a little plaster of 
Paris, filled an old, tin 
blacking box with the 
creamy substance, and 
placed the lower end 
of the standard in the 
center, where I held it 
firmly with my left 
hand until the mixture 
hardened; meanwhile 
with my right hand I 
expeditiously arranged a row of coffee berries 
around the edge of the box, which, as well as the 
standard, were soon securely held in place by the 
hardened plaster. I next took four pieces of wire, 
which I bent and fastened to the standard and box 
as at B (figure 1). This I accomplished by means 
of very fine wire and small bits of putty. The 
edge of the upper part, or screen, I also ornamented 
with fancifully coiled wire, making the figures c, c, 
c, (at G, fig. 1,) double. Upon the edge of a round 
board, two inches larger ju diameter than the black¬ 
ing box, I puttied a row of coffee berries ; fastened 
wire feet to the bottom, and glued this second and 
broader base to the first one,already at the bottom of 
the standard. (Had I screwed the box and wood to¬ 
gether before using the plaster of Paris, it would 
have been much better.) Then I gave to the whole 
three coats of dark brown paint, and as many of 
Fig. 4.— BACK OF FOOT REST. 
varnish, letting each one dry thoroughly before ap¬ 
plying the other. The last coat of varnish was 
mixed with a quantity of hair powder called “gold 
Fig. 5.— FRONT OF FOOT REST. 
dust,” before being applied, which gave to the frame 
the appearance of having been made from the gold¬ 
en gealing-wax, so much in vogue years ago, Hay¬ 
ing cut a transparency from bristol-board, 1 gave to 
each side a coat of white glue; afterward, two of 
varnish, and inserted it between the double wires at 
fig. 1 (C). When com¬ 
plete, it presented the 
appearance of fig. 2, and 
was pronounced by all, 
beautiful. 
A F oot Rest. —An old 
saleratus box 14)^ by 17, 
by 17 inches, furnished 
the foundation for fa¬ 
ther’s foot rest. These 
Fig. 0.—DIAGRAMS OF PAPER HOLDER. 
boxes are generally made stronger and smoother 
than ordinary dry goods boxes. I removed the 
top, cut the sides and one end down to 8% inches, 
as in figure 3, and pointed the other end as at 
a, b, a, around which I nailed two small boards, 
c, c, (figure 4,) so as to form a box in which to keep 
the slippers. (A cover to this part would be an 
improvement, but I was not carpenter enough for 
that.) I nailed a second bottom or baseboard, 1% 
inch projecting, to the rest when thus prepared, 
and screwed to the corners, feet 2% inches in hight, 
e, e, c. These I purchased of a carpenter. They 
were stained to imitate black walnut. Then I care¬ 
fully covered the whole with walnut figured wall 
paper, (except the front of 
figure, which had only a 
border of 1% inches,) fast¬ 
ening the edges and cor¬ 
ners securely, and being 
sure that no air bubbles 
were left under the paper. 
When dry, I gave it one 
thin coat of glue and three 
coats of varnish, after which it would have taken 
a skillful eye at a little distance to detect that 
it was not really walnut. In autumn I had put a 
new cover of reps upon the sitting-room lounge. 
A remnant was left from which I cut a piece by 
14 inches. In the center of this I embroidered a 
medallion with initials, and tacked it over the 
front, as shown in the engraving (fig. 5), with up¬ 
holsterer’s gimp and white headed nails. Aunt 
Ann and father say it looks “just as bougliten as 
can be,” which is their highest term of praise. 
American men are noted for wanting their feet, 
while sitting, nearly as high as their head. This 
rest enables father to indulge in his favorite atti¬ 
tude without occupying an extra chair. He de¬ 
clares it a splendid affair for warming the feet. When 
not in use I keep it in the chimney corner, the 
pointed back fitting in 
so as to occupy but little 
room, and the front be¬ 
ing very ornamental. 
Paper Holder. —For 
the paper holder I pro¬ 
cured two butternut 
boards the size of H, and 
J, figure 6. II, is 17inches 
fromi, to k, 1G inches 
from i, to l, 28 inches 
from m, to n. J, is 13 by 
14 inches. 0, is red kid, 
13 inches long, and 4 
inches wide at the top, 
where it is bound with 
narrow ribbon. There are 
two such pieces for the PArER 
ends, and also a strip 13 inches long by 2 wide. 
After smoothing the boards with sand-paper I drew 
upon them the design, (figure 8). I stained the body 
of II, a rich brown, leaving the ornamental work of 
the original color; while on J, the corner figures and 
a wavy margin around the edge were stained, and 
the remainder of the board left in its natural state. 
To lighten the effect of the designs I painted a 
