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To dry the leaves, use old hooks; begin to place I change the colors 
them at the end of the book, not too many on a page ; 
turn over five or six pages, lay in more leaves, and 
continue in this way until the book is filled j then put 
in a cool dry place with a heavy weight on it, until 
next day, then change it to dry books and replace the 
weight, and in a few days they will be ready to pre¬ 
serve. Sometimes I press the leaves with a warm 
A Dinner Table Decorated with Flowers and Fruit. 
To arrange single leaves into To make anchors, crosses, stars, and wreaths, cut 
bouquets, get green thread wire, and cut into pieces the forms out of pasteboard, and then sew autumn 
as long as you wish, for stems; break the stem nearly leaves on them, arranging the different colors and 
iron, but I think it makes the colors fade sooner. 
Get^cakes of white wax, which you can procure at 
the druggists, put in a saucer and set it on the stove 
to heat; when the wax is melted add a few drops of 
turpentine; this softens the wax and makes the waxed 
leaf more pliable, and one can bend or mold them in 
any desired form, thus being an advantage over the 
other method. Try a leaf by dipping it into the wax, 
off the leaf, then pass the end of the wire through the 
bottom of the leaf, draw it through about an inch, 
then bend it down, and twist around the remaining 
stem and long wire, so as to hold the leaf firmly. 
After the leaves are fixed, arrange them in bouquets 
with a few pressed ferns, these will be pretty for your 
small vases. For large bouquets, use large sprays of 
leaves, sumac and ferns, mix a few dried or crystallized 
grasses and grain, black alder, black brier and bitter¬ 
sweet berries, and you will have as handsome bouquets 
for your stands and mantels as you could wish. Small 
clusters of autumn leaves and ferns prettily arranged 
on the picture cords look nicely. Blackberry vines 
sizes prettily; these are very pretty to use in a great 
many ways. Sometimes I cut the centres of the stars 
out and use for a picture frame, inserting a photo¬ 
graph or a small picture. They are odd and pretty. 
I think the best time to gather ferns for winter use 
is September and October, as then the frost turns them 
white, and you can get them from deepest green to al¬ 
most white, and they add so much to winter decora¬ 
tion. 1 also collect all kinds of wild grasses, of which 
you will find a great variety, and quantities of autumn 
berries. A person of taste can think of many ways 
to arrange these bright treasures of autumn. 
E. A. Halstat. 
AUTUMN LEAVES. 
Any one who has tried to preserve the brilliant 
colors of autumn leaves by varnishing, knows that be¬ 
fore a year has passed hardly a vestige of color re¬ 
mains, and the leaves will be badly rolled. But I 
find that leaves preserved in the manner described 
below, will retain their bright hues for yeara, look 
more natural, and do not roll over at the edges. 
Gather the leaves as soon as they begin to turn, as 
they then retain their bright hues longest and best. 
I use almost every kind of a leaf, as you can arrange 
them so much prettier if you have a variety. Medium 
and small leaves are 'preferred, fine sprays of tiny 
leaves are prized for bouquets. 
face downward, then draw it slowly over the edge of 
the saucer once or twice, to remove all superfluous 
wax, and hold it in a horizontal position with the right 
side of the leaf up, and it will dry in a minute or two; 
if the wax is too hot it will wither the leaf, and if too 
cool the wax will show in lumps, if just right it will 
be perfectly even, and show the colors of the leaf as 
brightly as when first picked. Sometimes, when 
there are uneven spots on the leaf, you can remove them 
by lightly scraping them with your thumb nail. I 
never remove the wax from the stove, but move it 
back when too hot, and forward again when it cools. 
When 1 gather sprays of leaves, and cannot press them 
without spoiling their graceful shape, I dip them in 
the wax one by one, without pressing, but they do 
not keep as nicely as when pressed. Sprays of sumac 
leaves and blackberry vines I press with a flat-iron 
waxed, being careful not to have it hot enough to 
twined on the cords and left to hang gracefully around 
the picture frame, with a cluster of bright berries and 
ferns here and there, are beautiful. A butterfly on a 
cluster of ferns is pretty on picture cords. A corner 
bracket draped with Spanish moss may be filled with 
autumn leaves, and two or three butterflys among 
them. Ferns filled in around a bracket form a pretty 
background for a vase of berries and leaves. You can 
make pretty lambrequins by pinning autumn leaves 
and ferns in graceful forms on your lace curtains, and 
you can ornament your white shades with them in the 
same manner. 
Another pretty ornament is made of sticks about a 
foot high; take three and cross to form a rustic stand, 
cover them with grey moss and a few berries and 
leaves, set a bird’s nest in the hollow between the 
sticks, then get a pretty stuffed bird and set it on 
- the nest. 
