THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
163 
Pale turquoise green or blue are very pretty for plain col¬ 
ors. Should carmine be used at any time, add a little 
ivory black, to give body to it, and some of the amber 
enamel, but no siccative. 
For painting the leaves and flowers an artist’s flat red 
sable brush No. 12 is a suitable size, and a half-inch wide 
red sable for applying the background. The badger 
blender is used to remove the traces of brush strokes, 
that they may not show after the enamel is applied. 
Great care must be observed when painting this ware 
that it is kept perfectly free from dust, and when the flowers 
and background are finished, place the vase safely away 
until the paint becomes thoroughly hard and dry ; then 
glaze with one coat of amber enamel. Should the vases 
be ornamented with gilt or metal handles, wrap them with 
paper that they may not become defaced while painting 
the vase. 
If painting a uniform tint for a background, a sufficient 
quantity of color should be mixed to cover the entire 
vase, the flowers and leaves, of course, excepted. To 
make a turquoise-green background, use white, a little 
Naples yellow and cobalt blue; for turquoise blue, use 
white, cobalt blue and a little emerald green; or for 
crown derby blue, mix together French ultramarine and 
a little rose-madder. A vase with roses is very beautiful 
with a shaded background, the dark shade at the bottom, 
gradually blending to a lighter tint at the top. Begin 
with Vandyke brown, then blend from this to burnt 
sienna, adding, as a lighter tint still is desired, Naples 
yellow, and as the top of the vase is reached, Naples yel¬ 
low only. 
This background may be mottled from one shade to 
the other, giving a mossy effect, or softly blended that 
the changing from one shade to the other shall not be 
perceptible. The roses and leaves are then painted in 
their natural colors, using rose-madder, and white for 
the flowers, adding more or less of the madder as a deep 
or light shade may be required, and for the leaves use the 
three shades of zinnober green. The result, when fin¬ 
ished, is beautiful. 
The enamel, of course, cannot be applied until the 
colors are hard and dry. The lustra colors or bronzes 
are powders and should be mixed with a varnish espe¬ 
cially prepared for them. 
The bronzes are ten cents an ounce ; the varnish or 
preparation fifteen cents a bottle. * 
If gold is preferred, West’s gold paint, which comes in 
a powder, with liquid for mixing, can be procured at fifty 
cents a package. 
The same directions will also apply to the terra-cotta 
vases, but before painting them it is necessary to give 
this ware one or two coats of shellac, as it is so porous, 
and a smooth surface is thus obtained upon which 
to paint. Shellac can be purchased ready for use, and 
is applied to the interior as well as the exterior of the 
vase. The shellac must be dry before beginning the 
painting. 
The interior of the vases is painted with some solid 
color that will contrast prettily with the outward ground 
coloring and flowers, and should also be glazed with the 
enamel. 
These are also very handsome, and do not seem so 
frail after the painting and glazing are finished. The 
work is very pleasing, and the articles, whether plaques 
or vases, make very beautiful ornaments. 
M. E. Whittemore. 
Decorative Notes. 
A STAND with square top can be tastefully covered 
with olive-green satine ornamented with an all-over 
conventional design embroidered with gold and pale pink 
silks in stem-stitch. The stand top should first be cov¬ 
ered with cotton flannel and then the embroidered satine 
placed over this, drawn tightly and tacked on the edges. 
A border of the satine four inches deep should then be 
fastened around the sides with brass tacks, which have 
broad fancy heads, and the lower edge of the border fin¬ 
ished with triple plush balls the same shade of green as 
the satine. Such stands are very helpful in furnishing a 
room and can be gotten up with very little expense. If 
the plain stands cannot readily be obtained at a furniture 
store they can easily be made by any carpenter; the 
square top consists of common boards and is supported 
by three plain legs fastened together after the manner 
of a tripod and can be made to resemble mahogany, 
black walnut or ebony by staining with the preparations 
which come especially for such uses, and which can be 
obtained for a small sum at most paint shops. 
Pansies serve as models for many fancy articles, but for 
none more suitably than for a blotter-cover. Tinted 
bristol-board is cut in shape of an immense pansy (four 
inches across), and then painted with water-colors to re¬ 
semble perfectly a light lavender-blue pansy; several 
pieces of gray blotting-paper are cut the same size and 
shape as the cover, and are tied to it with a narrow laven¬ 
der ribbon. 
Small tin cans, in which prepared cocoa is sold, can be 
made into very pretty match-receivers by crocheting with 
medium-sized crochet cotton a cover to exactly fit the 
box ; the stitch most appropriate is a shell composed of 
four double-crochet stitches, separated in the centre by 
two chain stitches; around the top, just above the tin, 
should be a row of full shells for a border. After draw¬ 
ing the cover on the tin, coat the outside first with shellac, 
and when that has dried with gilding, and suspend with 
bright ribbons. They resemble very closely a handsome 
basket, for the tin takes the gilding as well as the cro¬ 
cheted cover. 
Among the many pretty articles exhibited at the Wo¬ 
man’s Exchange are some very delicate hand-screens, 
made of the Japanese fans that do not fold. All the 
portion covered with the fancy paper, except the outside 
rim, having been removed, a covering of transparent can¬ 
vas or bolting-cloth, which resembles fine Swiss muslin, 
is substituted ; the outside edge is bound with narrow 
white ribbon, and a strip is also used to finish the portion 
of the cover which curves across where the little reeds or 
sticks are tied. A branch of white alder, with its delicate 
blossoms, is painted on the bolting-cloth with water- 
colors, and a double bow of white watered ribbon, two 
inches in width, is tied where the handle joins the main 
