s 
V 3 
AW AFTERNOON CHAT. 
“ Wliat lovely lambrequins!” exclaimed Mrs. Grey 
to Mrs. Nelson, one afternoon, when she had dropped 
in there for a friendly call. “Really I think you are 
extravagant, to buy new lambrequins when your win¬ 
dows were already so nicely furnished with curtains.” 
Mrs. Nelson smiled. There was a secret about 
those lambrequins that she had not intended to disclose 
to any one; but to be called extravagant, she could 
not stand that, so she said: 
“ Oh, those lambrequins were very cheap, in fact, I 
made them out of some old lace curtains that I never 
expected to use again. You see I had got tired of my 
long lace curtains that I had used winter and summer 
for three years, and longed for a change of some kind; 
then, you know, we use this room for both parlor and 
sitting-room; and, in the winter, when my two wide¬ 
awake boys were in the house all the time, my poor 
curtains had a hard time of it, trying to look respect¬ 
able all winter; the children must see out, and as the 
curtains were rather voluminous, it was impossible 
to keep them out of their way. I was going to get 
some cambric and line some old lace curtains that I 
have, and make lambrequins that I could use without 
any curtains underneath them; but husband thought 
that the times were too hard to admit of our spending 
even that much for curtains, when we had curtains for 
our windows, so I had to set my wits to work to 
accomplish what I wished without calling on this 
economical husband of mine. I had almost given it 
up when I was up in the garret and came across these 
old forgotten curtains—they were much nicer when 
new than the ones I had intended to use—and as they 
were close work I thought I could make them do with¬ 
out lining, so I took them down and began with them. 
I took a needle and some coarse cotton and drew to¬ 
gether all the slits that I thought would show; next I 
washed them, and bleached them by boiling in borax 
water and drying in the sun ; when they were dry, I 
starched them in hot, thick starch, and after spread¬ 
ing a sheet on the floor in the spare bedroom I pinned 
them on it, one on top of the other, putting the pins 
about five inches apart and stretching the curtains 
pretty well. When they were dry I plaited one side 
of each in three large box plaits and run a strong 
string in from the middle of each plait to the other 
edge, and gathered it up as much as I wanted it, 
making the string in the middle the shortest. You 
see I have curved hoards at the top of my windows 
that make curtains stand out from the window in the 
middle. I tacked the curtains to these hoards, and 
then got out my stock of pressed autumn leaves and 
ferns, and arranged a bouquet for each plait and a spray 
for down the middle of .each. They looked so pretty, 
when I had got them done, that I felt paid for all the 
time and trouble I had expended on them; and when 
my husband came home, and I saw he was pleased, I 
was proud. Now, you see, I have no long-looped 
curtains to bother with; nothing hut these plain, 
white blinds—which, by the way, are made of ten-cent 
muslin, with a thin stick Lasted in each end to fasten 
them up with and roll them on—and the lambrequins 
that will stay clean and fresh all winter, because they 
are out of the children’s reach, and I will have my 
curtains fresh and nice for the summer, when my hoys 
can ho out of doors part of the time.” 
Mrs. Grey looked pleased and thoughtful. After a 
time she said, ‘ ‘ I don’t see how you can find time to 
fix so many things of that kind, with your little chil¬ 
dren to attend to. My children are old enough to go 
to sc.hool, and I can scarcely find time to do any¬ 
thing hut sew for them, if I want to have them look 
like other children. And then it seems that I get no 
thanks for it; they are never willing to spend an 
evening at home, hut always have some place lo go 
to, and I have not the heart to refuse them after they 
have been housed up all day. Then my husband 
always seems to have more business to attend to in the 
evening than at any other time ; I never see him be¬ 
fore ten o’clock.” 
Mrs. Nelson knew all this, for she had seen Mrs. 
Grey’s little girls dressed up to every ruffle and tuck 
of the fashion, even to go to school, and had also seen 
the hare, cheerless rooms which they called home, and 
was glad of a chance to give her neighbor an insight 
into the way she run the machinery of her house¬ 
hold. 
“ Don’t you think, Mrs. Grey,” she said, “ that you 
could afford to hire some of your sewing, if you 
have so muuch to do, and devote the time thus gained 
to beautifying your home, adding games and amuse¬ 
ments for the children, and every thing you can think 
of that might attract your husband to his home.” 
“Oh, yes; I suppose I could afford it, hut it costs so 
much to put out sewing, and I want to save all I 
can.” 
“ Well, take a sewing girl in the house, then, for a 
few weeks each season, that will he cheaper, perhaps, 
and if you use your time to advantage, I am sure you 
will not feel that you are any poorer at the end of the 
year, and as to having your husband spend all his 
evenings away from home, why I would not stand it. 
Now Charlie used to think he could do the same thine, 
hut I soon put a stop to it by showing him that home 
was the most pleasant and enjoyable place he could 
find. I always keep a pair of nice slippers for him, 
and a warm dressing-gown, and have them where they 
are warm and handy; then I manage to have plenty 
of late papers and magazines on the table, and keep 
my guitar strung up, if I have to sacrifice something 
once in a while to do it. After supper, if he gets his 
gown and slippers on, and gets to reading once, I am 
sure of him for that evening at least. Then I get him 
interested, and ask his help in everything I do, till 
now he takes as much interest in adorning our home 
as I do, and he is such a help—a man can do many 
things very easily that a woman is very awkward 
about. We make all our own brackets, sawing things 
out of soft wood, and staining them to imitate any 
wood we wish. I will be happy to render you any 
assistance in that line you would want. He made the 
molds for all the leaves and for the petals of all the 
flowers I have on my wax cross. You know that 
kind of work is expensive if you have to buy all the 
molds. Mr. Grey admired the cross very much when 
he was in here the other evening, and I will tell you 
how to make the molds, and help you arrange it all, if 
you want to make something of that kind to begin 
with, it would please, him I know. To make the 
molds you must gather the natural leaves of the 
kind you want to make in wax, and with a brush, 
cover the under side of them with lard; then mix in a 
bowl one-half pound of plaster of Paris with enough 
water to make a stiff hatter; dip out quickly, as it 
soon hardens, and cover each leaf on the under side 
with a thick coat of the plaster; smooth over with a 
case knife, then in half an hour turn over the molds, 
and carefully remove the leaves with a pen-knife; let 
them stand till they are quite hard and they are ready 
for use.” 
“ Thank you; I think I will try that, and if George 
likes it, I may come to you again for help. I would 
like to do such things if I thought I could, and he 
would help me. I thought he did not care for such 
things.” 
“ Well, he does, very much; why, when he came 
in here about that book the other night, he staid 
nearly all the evening just because, he said, it was so 
cosey and comfortable here; and he admired every¬ 
thing of the kind I have in the room, even to those 
small steel engravings framed in autumn leaves. And 
he wished me to tell you how I fixed a bottom in that 
cane rocking-chair and made it so easy. You see the 
cane that was in when we got it was not very good, 
and it gave out in a few years. I thought I could not 
spare the chair, for it is the one Charlie always sits in. 
There was no one in town could fix it for me, so I had 
to do it myself. It took some time to study it out, 
hut after a time I had it all planned how I thought we 
could fix it, and after I had the materials ready, I 
asked him to help me. We first removed all the cane 
from the seat of the chair and then took a long piece 
of whip cord, tied a knot in one end, and drew the 
string through one of the holes in which the cane had 
been fastened; then we drew it across to the opposite 
side of the chair through two holes, then back again, 
and so on clear across the chair. Then we knew we 
had a foundation of rope that would never give way. 
Over this we tacked two pieces of coffee sacking, hav¬ 
ing the upper one a little larger than the other, and 
leaving it loose in front. Between these we stuffed 
ten cents worth of curled hair and then fastened the 
top down in front. This cushion I covered with scar¬ 
let flannel, over which I put a cover of rosettes of old 
black alpaca, lined with the scarlet flannel; these 
sewed together show the red flannel in between very 
nicely, and it matches the tidy that I made of scraps 
of fine, white muslin, and lined with red flannel, 
sewed together in the shape of a diamond, and 
trimmed around the edge with a crochet and fringe 
of No. 8 cotton. Now the chair looks better, and is 
much more comfortable than when we first got it.” 
Mrs. Gray went home, resolved to do what she 
could to make their home attractive to her loved ones; 
and we know she will succeed well, for she took Mrs. 
Nelson’s advice, and subscribed for The Ladies’ 
Floral Cabinet, to begin with. 
Mrs. Barnette. 
LITTLE THINGS. 
For a very pretty bracket, procure a triangular piece 
of board, slightly rounded in front, for the shelf, and 
some pieces ot old table-cloth, with a pretty pattern; 
work the pattern in suitable worsteds, fit and tack on 
the shelf. Cut another piece of the cloth long enough 
to go around, and three or four inches in depth, and 
work as before; scollop or point the lower edge; hind 
with ribbon, and finish each point with how of ribbon 
or tassel of worsted. Toilet mats are made of old nap¬ 
kins, worked, and hound or fringed at the edges. 
Perforated tin is pretty, used instead of perforated 
paper, and is useful in making presents for tin wed¬ 
dings. A match-safe is made like a cornucopia, worked 
with a pretty pattern; bind with ribbon; attach rib¬ 
bons to suspend it, and finish with a how at the end. 
One of perforated paper is made in the same manner, 
hut with a small tin spice-box inclosed. They are very 
pretty to suspend from chandeliers. A wall match-safe 
is made of the tin; the back piece to be worked with 
a pretty vine, the safes with flowers; hind with ribbon, 
and make a loop by which to hang it. 
Y 
