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187 
FANCY FRAMES AND HOMEMADE 
ORNAMENTS. 
(This article received first prize as the best on Household Topics.) 
Well-made rustic frames and ornaments are pretty 
and artistic, are admired by everybody, and can be 
made from very unpromising material. Many with a 
love for such things become disgusted with them from 
seeing the careless ill-shapen work and horrid taste of 
people who put everything together indiscriminately, 
such as bright-colored beans, corn, and shells, with 
nuts, acorns, &c. 
As a rule, nothing should bo used which is not 
black, or some shade of brown, in rustic work. In 
making frames where the ornaments are glued, or 
otherwise stuck on, put the glass in first. Glue will 
not fasten acorns, nuts, &e., to wood firmly; some 
kind of cloth should first be glued on. Black pepper, 
or coal broken in small bits, makes a good ground¬ 
work. Some of the largest things should be fastened on 
with brads. A preparation better than glue for this 
work is made by boiling a kettleful of paper all day, 
mashing into a pulp, and draining all the water out of 
it; then add some thick paste and glue until about the 
consistency of soft putty; color with burnt mnber or 
logwood. This can be used for a great many things ; 
it is what ornithologists use for trees when mounting 
birds. Spread on the frame evenly, then with a table- 
knife check off the ground-work, and you will need no 
other; it must be stiff enough to retain its form,'and 
can be used for the raised foundation of ornamental 
figures. Coffee, or very small acorns split, are best for 
the inside edge; split peach seeds or acorns for 
the outside. English walnuts, buckeye, coffee, 
nuts, and pawpaw seeds, are good to form figures. 
Old frames can be ornamented with twigs tacked or 
glued on. 
A nice frame can be made by taking three pieces of 
grapevine of equal lengths, and coil .them in a kettle 
of hot water till perfectly pliable. Bend around an 
inverted oval dish, putting on weights to keep it in 
place ; allow the ends to cross, and tie together with a 
piece of vine. The rough bark should be stripped off, 
leaving the tendrils. A square frame can be made of 
pieces of grapevine or hickory twigs with the bark 
left on, allowing three for a side, long enough to cross 
at the corners; a short piece should be tacked across 
each corner. Hollow knots of trees sawn in pieces, 
trimmed smooth and varnished, make nice small oval 
frames. These are also easily made of pasteboard, 
with the large thin scales of pine cones at top, bottom, 
and sides. 
Gilt oval and small square frames are made by 
covering a pine frame with gilt paper. For the 
beaded ornamental edge you can buy strips of 
paper, for that purpose, at the booksellers, for about 
five cents a yard; it is also used under the glass as gilt 
edge for any frame. The standing frame for photo¬ 
graphs maybe made by cutting pasteboard in the form 
of a triangle, with scalloped edges, bound with brown 
muslin, and covered with cones, acorns, seeds, or 
lichen. For the foot, use a thin strip of board, with a 
muslin hinge. 
Small oval or square frames, and cornucopias, are 
beautiful made of lichens and little shells ; also hang¬ 
ing and other fancy baskets. A nice little colored 
picture, cut round and varnished, looks well in the 
centre of the cornucopia and in each section of the 
basket. Carved wood frames, such as are sold in 
shops, can be made by any one handy with a pen¬ 
knife ; not the elaborate, but simple designs, which 
are pretty. Imitations can be produced by laying hot 
pieces of iron on the wood, so as to burn the impres¬ 
sion into the surface. Various figures can thus be 
formed, and their darkened appearance is not objec¬ 
tionable. The hest material is black walnut, finished 
in linseed oil, but any soft wood will do which can, 
when finished, be treated with a coat of Vandyke 
brown mixed in turpentine. (This is stain, not paint.) 
The frames can then be sand-papered and oiled. Still 
better imitations are made by the addition of leaves 
and flowers made of thick leather, an ivy vine en¬ 
twined around the sides, or a few leaves in the cor¬ 
ners. 
A pretty frame is made by combining cone and 
acorn with leather work; for example, a group of 
acorns with oak leaves, of leather. Unfinished oval 
frames may he obtained from the. turners, stained, and 
finished at top, bottom and sides with acorns and 
leaves. Other frames are made of bark from pine 
trees, the under side of which will be fouud to be beau¬ 
tifully variegated, and often showing the curious tracks 
of worms, in very good imitation of carving. By 
spreading out the pieces with a weight upon them 
they will season in a few weeks in a dry place ; then 
cut into strips and glue on to a rough frame and 
varnish. 
For leather work use sheepskin; cut leaves by 
patterns, wet them in cold water, squeeze dry, and 
pull them into shape and dry in the oven; dip them 
into a solution of vinegar and Venetian red, and, when 
perfectly dry, into thin black varnish. This must also 
be used on the wooden frame. Take gum shellac and 
dissolve in alcohol; dip the flowers in this and dry in 
the sun. Grapes are made by tying marbles, peas, 
&c., into the leather, using wire for stems; for tendrils 
wind the wet leather around a stick, secure and dry 
quickly; vein the leaves, while wet, with a pointed 
stick. In making flowers, cut in one piece when you 
can; use gimp tacks to fasten the ornaments to the 
frame. 
Shell-work requires great care in construction, or it 
will fail in beauty. To clean shells, boil in lye ; then, 
while wet, rub well with a coarse cloth; bleach with 
chloride of lime; fasten on to a wooden frame with 
white lead or putty; if the shells are used brown, this 
can be colored slightly. It takes either of these a long 
time to dry. A preparation made of two parts white 
wax and one of glue, melted together, is said to be 
better. Arrange the large shells around the outside, 
and the small ones inside ; make the ground-work of 
very little shells or pink and white pebbles. Have a 
clear idea of your figures. To form a rose use the 
shells resembling rose leaves; have a raised founda¬ 
tion of wax; take first the smallest and arrange in 
circles like a rose; oblong shells use for leaves. A 
tiny doll’s head is an improvement for the centre of 
the rose. It also makes a pretty cherub, using clam 
shells for wings. A butterfly can be made from tire 
shell of a crawfish, putting in beads for eyes, and using 
shells for wings. The claws can also he used for 
figures. 
It improves shells to tint them with water-colors, if 
delicately done. Care should be taken in varnishing ; 
some prefer without. 
Of all kinds-of fancy-work that I have tried, I like 
paper work best; it is substantial, pretty, and very 
easily made, and resembles leather. For edges of 
frames, cut a piece of paper an inch square and double 
it in the middle; then double once more, forming a 
point. For the centre row cut the same size, trimming 
one end into a rounded point; then lay a small plait 
in the other end, thus forming a leaf; sew these all 
around, overlapping each other. If a square frame, 
form rosettes of the leaves on the corners ; if oval, on 
top and bottom. A small cone improves the rosette. 
Paint with common brown paint. This idea can be 
carried out in brackets, wall baskets, &c., cutting 
your shapes in pasteboard, sewing on the paper, and 
then tacking on to a wooden foundation. I have a 
swinging corner what-not, with three wooden shelves, 
on the front of which I tacked pasteboard cut into an 
ornamental point. This I ornamented as above, en¬ 
larging the leaves toward the centre, on which I formed 
rosettes with cones for centres, one large cone swinging 
on a wire attached to hooks under each point. 
I have another of simple make, which is quite pret¬ 
ty ; two shelves of the same width, one shorter than 
the other, with a straight strip of pasteboard with the 
folded paper points on the edge and a row of leaves in 
the centre. These are suspended on four cords with 
empty spools slipped on to keep the shelves the right 
distance apart, and which look like turned wooden 
posts; the whole painted brown. The cords to these 
what-nots have cones attached to them in place of 
tassels. This is a pretty idea for rustic frames. Imi¬ 
tation of coral ornaments are made in this way : Take 
hoopskirt wire, the largest size, with the cover left on, 
cut equal length, and form into rings. To make a 
bracket from twelve of these rings into a diamond- 
shaped piece, commencing with one, then two—in the 
middle ring, four tying together with strong wax 
threads, this forms the back. For the shelf use five, 
with two tied firmly underneath, in the centre of 
it, for the brace. Tie split candle wick or coarse 
wrapping twine in short tags of unequal lengths, two 
or three in each ring, not arranging two alike. Take 
equal parts of beeswax and resin and color with Ver¬ 
million red; melt together in a baking pan, as the 
bracket can be held over it while you apply the wax 
with a spoon; hold the wrong side up, as the wax will 
run down and cool in rough nobs. When partly done 
allow to cool slightly, and you can bend the little 
twigs formed into any desired shape; then put on 
more wax—the more the better. Baskets are also 
formed of the rings, using four for the bottom. 
Hanging baskets, comb cases, and a variety of other 
things are made in this kind of work. Hanging bas¬ 
kets filled with dry moss are beautiful. These should 
be the red coral; for most things I prefer the black, it 
is not so common as the red, and is prettier, I think; 
for this- use ivory black or drop black, instead of the 
Vermillion. 
“Where there is will there is a way,” and if costly 
ornaments are not within the reach of us all, our homes 
need not go unadorned. 
Bertha Lee. 
A Pretty Lamp Mat.— Cut out a circular piece of 
pasteboard four inches in diameter, cover it with red, 
blue, or a light green paper, make scallops an inch 
and a halt wide, the same in height, of gold paper, 
each piece to be plaited twice (they meeting in the 
centre); sew or paste them all around the edge, then 
cut a piece of the gold paper to fit the centre, overlap¬ 
ping a little, that its edges may be cut in little points ; 
double it in eight parts, cut any device you wish, such 
as hearts, crosses, stars or triangles ; unfold, paste it 
over the cardboard, and my word for it you will have 
a pretty ornament for a parlor. I have one, the total 
cost was fifteen cents for the gold paper; other materi¬ 
als cost nothing; invention, my own Will some 
lady please tell how to make stars of paper ? 
I. E. Newton. 
