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TABLE COVERS AED SHELVES. 
So much lias been written on the subjects of furn¬ 
ishing, home decoration, and home-made ornaments, 
that it seems almost impossible to write anything new. 
But in my sitting-room I have some things which I 
have never seen anywhere else, and which I am vain 
enough to think very pretty. 
First, then, I will describe my table-cover. It is of 
fine gray ladies’ cloth, one and a half yards square. 
After hemming nearly all around, I decorated it in 
the manner following : With a piece of chalk I drew 
the outline of a vine running all around the cloth, 
about two inches from the edge. Then I cut, from 
dark green cloth, a large number of ivy leaves. I 
took different sizes of real English Ivy leaves for pat¬ 
terns, so my imitation ones looked very natural. 
These I placed at unequal distances apart, along each 
side of the vine I had marked ; a large cluster in each 
corner, and a simple spray running around the cloth. 
I tacked them all on first, then fastened each leaf down 
by buttonhole stitching it around the edge with zephyr 
the same shade as the leaves. This was much more 
quickly done than one would suppose, for I did not 
take the stitches very close together. Then I worked 
the vine with dark brown Berlin wool, simple over 
and over stitches, and the effect is really pretty. 
My room is heated by an old-fashioned double box 
stove, set in the partition so as to heat two rooms; 
consequently, the high, narrow mantel-piece was any¬ 
thing but a “thing of beauty.” I improved its ap¬ 
pearance very much by tacking on a strip of cloth—■ 
like my table cover—about six inches in width, cut in 
deep scallops on the lower edge, and each scallop 
decorated with a little cluster of ivy leaves, such as I 
described above. The upper edge quite straight, and 
the tacks covered by a thick cord of gray and green. 
Looking up at this mantel-piece and the beautiful 
bouquets of grasses and everlastings thereon, I am 
reminded to inform all interested- persons that if they 
wish a graceful bouquet for winter decoration, the 
grasses, after being carefully arranged, must he placed 
in a vase or jar and put in a dark ch set to dry. This 
is a great improvement on the common way of tying 
the grass in hunches and hanging up to dry, for by 
placing them in a jar the stems droop naturally, and 
the other way they dry nearly or quite straight. 
My book-shelves are decorated with autumn leaves. 
Now don’t say you know all about autumn leaves, for 
1 don’t believe you ever saw any arranged just as 
mine are. If you would like to try my way, I will 
tell you how I went to work. In the early fall I 
gathered a great number of beautiful leaves ; brown 
and yellow mottled ones from the elms, delicate wood- 
colored ones from the sturdy beeches, many-shaded 
crimson and gold from the maples—some beauties, too, 
with green centres and crimson borders—bright little 
strawberry leaves, and others too numerous to men¬ 
tion. These were put to dry between layers of news¬ 
papers, a heavy weight on top, and remained thus for 
some weeks. 
The hook-shelves are the common corner shape, 
four in number. Instead of being fastened together 
with cords, they have narrow strips of pine at each 
corner, to which the shelves are screwed. Across 
each shelf is a strip of pine about four inches wide in 
the middle, and tapering down to two inches at the 
ends, fastened on with small screws. These strips are 
what I decorated with leaves. Laying each leaf up¬ 
side down on old newspapers, I brushed over the un¬ 
der side with very thin glue, then laying it on the 
strip prepared therefor, pressed it carefully in place. I 
began by taking some of the small strawberry leaves 
for the end, then some beautiful yellow maple—you 
know all sizes can he found, and I had many tiny ones 
—then dusky brambles, and so cm, gradually using 
larger toward the centre of the shelf, where there is a 
beautiful cluster of elm, beech, and maple, some par¬ 
tially covering others, and all looking perfect. I 
think that is the only word I can use to describe them. 
When all were finished, the shelves were placed in a 
cool room to dry, and were afterwards given two coats 
of varnish. 
The shelves were such a success, that I soon had 
some cornices for my windows arranged in the same 
way, only the strips of wood were under, and 1 used 
larger leaves ; the effect, over the plain white muslin 
curtains, is decidedly brilliant. 
Iu one corner of my room I have a shelf, which, to 
me, is prettier than many a costly bracket. It is 
about thirteen inches wide in the middle, and is of 
plain wood, uupaiuted and unvarnished. Across the 
front is fastened a strip of pasteboard even with the 
shelf on its upper edge, and reaching about five inches 
below to cover the unsightly pieces of wood which are 
fastened to the wall for the shelf to rest on. This 
pasteboard I covered with the beautiful gray lichen, 
found in such quantities on rocks in old pastures. 
Then a good-sized flower pot was set in the centre of 
the shelf containing a splendid Maiden-hair Fern. The 
soil was such as Ferns delight in; leaf mold from 
their native woods, mixed with a little sand, and 
plenty of charcoal in the bottom of the pot. On 
each side of this Centre piece I placed a small pot 
of German Ivy. I fastened one end of a long piece of 
hoop skirt wire to the outside of one pot of Ivy, then 
bent the, other end down and fastened it to the out¬ 
side of the other pot for an arch over the Fern. To 
cover up the flower pots. I arranged a small forti¬ 
fication the whole length of the shelf, consisting of 
sheets of green moss, hits of old stumps covered with 
fairy-like lichen, small white stones, and as many 
dainty little “ red cups” as I could find. The Ivy 
.soon covered the arch prepared for it, and-then ram¬ 
bled over the moss and lichens, finally hanging down 
in graceful festoons several feet below the shelf. The 
whole cost was exactly forty cents, the price of three 
flower pots. 
1 hesitate to tell you what iny lounge is covered 
with, hut it looks so well I think I may venture. 
Nothing more nor less than crimson gray wincey. I 
wanted something the same color as my table-cloth, 
and could not afford anything expensive, so a few 
yards of twenty-five cent gray wincey covered my 
lounge and two box ottomans. After having been 
used constantly for three years, and washed several 
times, I begin to think wincey a very suitable cov¬ 
ering. 
I would like to tell you about my home-made foot 
stools and tidies, hut am afraid it would make this 
article much too long, so I leave them for another 
time. Mamie. 
HOW TO BEAUTIFY OUR HOMES ECO¬ 
NOMICALLY. 
First of all commence with your lawn. Sow it 
thickly with white clover and blue grass ; have the 
walks and flower-beds neatly, kept. Fences and gates 
should always he in good order. 
• We will now proceed to the house. As the parlor 
is noticed more than anything else, we will commence 
with it. Of course you have plenty of old rags lying 
around, so you can get them and make a rag carpet. 
Sew more than you need, and sell enough to pay for 
the weaving ; and as you will be compelled to dye it, 
j let .the colors he deep, having red and green predomi- 
| nate. Take some of the nicest rags, braid three to¬ 
gether, and make some rugs to save your carpet and 
brighten the room. We have one made in an oval 
form with these rags, which is nice; another way is, 
color some wool and sew it on a heavy cloth in the 
form of moss and flowers. 
Perhaps you cannot paper your house. If so, white¬ 
wash it, putting in a gallon of lime one ounce of Ven¬ 
etian red. 
You love pictures, do you? Well, cut some paste¬ 
board for a frame, and glue on autumn leaves or 
shells. Your frames need cost nothing. 
Make some brackets of wood, which is in almost 
every house ; mark them out, and the hoys or your 
husband will whittle them out. Now, the wood-box 
never looks well iu a parlor. Make a triangular box, 
place in a corner, and curtain it, leaving the top for a 
favorite plant or book. 
If you have no sofa, get some good hoards, nail 
them together in the form of one, and cover all over 
with some thin green cloth, stuffing well with straw or 
husks or paper, torn in strips. For the windows, 
snowy curtains, even of muslin, are all that are neces¬ 
sary. Of course, if you can get them, ornaments are 
lovely, but we are not giving these directions to peo¬ 
ple of means. Now, if your room is carpeted, your 
stove polished, windows clean, curtains white, and 
pictures well chosen, your room cannot fail to he 
handsome. 
If you can keep plants from freezing, you will add 
them to the list, especially the Ivy, which will do al¬ 
most anywhere around your windows, pictures, etc., 
but if it requires your hardest efforts to keep a few 
sickly plants, do not try it, hut prepare a cave for your 
plants, and do not kill yourself working with them. 
No one loves flowers better than ourselves, hut we do 
not commend the work often given over a few plants 
that are so nearly frozen as to he ugly. 
Your bedroom must have a carpet, rag of course. 
Make a small stand, and place a wash-bowl on it, and 
keep your bed clean, making a spread of white mus¬ 
lin, with candlewick drawn through iu diamonds or 
squares. This will he easily kept white, which is the 
beauty of a bed. Place a few handsome pictures, 
brackets, and autumn-leaf-crosses in the room, and 
your work will be done. 
Next we come to the kitchen. If you find it nec¬ 
essary to have the hare floor, oil it well with linseed 
oil. You will thus save many a weary hour. Now, 
there is one thing that always spoils the looks of a 
kitchen. That is the old clothes hanging in it. Make 
a cupboard as you made the wood-box, only higher. 
Curtain it, driving nails inside for all clothing which 
has to be kept in the kitchen. Do not scold, hut ask 
your men folks, as a favor, to try it, and my word for 
it, you will have no trouble in keeping it full. Paint 
your wood-box and all the woodwork in the kitchen, 
if possible. Lead color would he handsome. Do not 
forget that curtains are nice for the kitchen as well as 
parlor. 
The only trouble is the washing, but let ine tell you 
how we wash. Take all the white clothes Monday 
evening and cover with lukewarm water, using plenty 
of soap. Tuesday you will find that all they require 
is rubbing through clean water, boiling, and rinsing. 
