HOME DECORATIONS. 
Tidy or Scarf for a Chair. 
O NE of the prettiest and most inexpensive tidies that 
has come under my notice for some time is shown 
in this design. 
It is made of linen scrim with leaves cut out of velvet 
and appliqued to it with tinsel. The tinsel is also carried 
from leaf to leaf, forming a network between them, thus 
giving it a very bright, pretty appearance. 
The scrim costs twenty cents a yard, and half a 
yard is sufficient for one tidy. The tinsel comes in 
balls at fourteen cents each; it does not take quite 
a ball for one. Shades of red, brown or green are 
used for the leaves; you can get a pattern for them 
from the natural ones; those of the 
running blackberry are very pretty, 
and the smallest of the oak leaves 
as well as many of the maples will 
furnish suitable shapes for applica¬ 
tion. 
Make the hem on the ends of the tidy 
two inches deep, and draw out threads 
to the space of one inch above the 
hem; fasten the loose threads together 
as is done in drawn work, and finish 
the sides with a half-inch hem. Cut 
the leaves out of the velvet and baste 
them on the scrim; vein them and go 
all around the edges and between the 
leaves with the tinsel, which is fastened 
to the material by catching it down 
with fine white thread. 
E. S. Welch. 
Shell Pen-Wiper. 
F OR the case which holds the pen-wiper, two clam¬ 
shells, large or small, as one may wish, are used. 
Hinge the shells together by means of a strip of cotton 
cloth, which must be strongly gummed to the back, to 
hold the halves together. 
When perfectly dry the shell should be gilded, both in¬ 
terior and exterior, with gold paint, or better still, with 
gold-leaf, as this will not change color. 
The gold paint is applied with a brush, but for the 
gold-leaf the shell must first be coated with gold siz¬ 
ing, and the gold-leaf applied when the sizing is nearly 
dry. 
Each leaf must be taken up with a piece of cotton bat¬ 
ting, and allowed to fall smoothly on the shell, padding 
it softly to make it adhere. Then carefully brush from 
the edges the surplus gold. 
The pen-wiper is of black and colored cloth; two 
strips of black and one of blue, scarlet, or any shade one 
may wish. 
Each strip should be twice the length of the shell, the 
corners rounded, and the edges pointed or pinked. 
Then box-plait each strip, place the colors together, the 
blue in the middle, with black above and beneath. 
Sew them through the cotton cloth which serves for the 
hinge, place a bow of ribbon where the shells are joined, 
paint a pretty design on the upper shell, and the pen¬ 
wiper is finished and forms a pretty little ornament for 
the library table. 
These clam-shells gilded make very pretty receptacles 
for small sprays of wild-flowers. One which was made 
to serve this purpose, held two or three harebells, with a 
bit of delicate fern, and a more dainty little flower cup 
could scarcely be found. 
Another use to which they may be put is that of an 
ash receiver, and after coating with gold, silver or bronze, 
Shell Pen-Wiper. 
