155 
THE LADIES' FLORAL OABINEl. 
of it a pretty design of flowers. On one of the strings the 
name of the guest for whom it is intended should be 
painted in fancy lettering either gilt or some color that 
will contrast well with the satin. The bags are filled 
with French candies, and laid beside each place at the 
table. The effect is good to have each bag a different 
color and arrange them that they may contrast well. 
A miniature straw wheelbarrow gilded is very pretty 
filled with fresh-cut flowers, a ribbon-bow with ends 
is tied on one handle, and on one end of the bow, the 
name of the guest is painted. These little arrangements 
decorate the table, and are dainty little souvenirs which 
may be kept by each guest. ^ Whittemore. 
CAMEO OIL-PAINTING. 
• This is one of the names by which a certain form of 
decorative work is designated, although it might with 
equal propriety be called illuminated photography, 
crystal-painting, etc. It is an art easily learned and 
comparatively inexpensive. It may be applied, not only 
to photographs, but to pictures of any kind that have 
no printing on the back and which are not on too thick 
paper. Much more attention has been paid to this form 
of decorative art in France than anywhere else. There, 
photographic copies of famous paintings have been 
made to glow with all the coloring of painted copies of 
the originals, and possessing at the same tune all the 
added advantage of being absolutely faultless in out¬ 
line. 
Various worthless systems have been taught in this 
country by Raveling “professors,” at prices ranging 
from three to ten dollars per lesson, the chemicals 
which were used causing the picture to entirely fade out 
in a few weeks or months. 
By the process I am about to describe, you have a 
picture as permanent as a steel engraving, while the 
beauty of its coloring will, of course, in a great measure 
depend upon your artistic taste. 
Many of you have probably seen those photographs on 
convex glasses, colored to the life, with, perhaps, 
flowers of natural hues in the hair, the contrasting 
colors of the dress and surroundings given with a fideli¬ 
ty which is a marked improvement over the dead black 
and white of an ordinary photograph. It is this work 
which I will endeavor to explain, first beginning -with 
the materials used : 
No. 1. The Paste .—Take one sheet of transparent 
gelatine, to be obtained at any apothecary store at a 
trifling cost; half a tea-spoonful of nitrate of strontia, also 
inexpensive; one tea-spoonful and a half of coin starch. 
Mix in six ounces of water; put it on the stove and allow 
it to just come to a boil. 
No. 2. The Transparent Mixture .—One oimce bal¬ 
sam of fir ; one ounce poppy oil; one-half ounce spirits 
of turpentine. Mix these together in a bottle and keep 
corked except when using. 
No. 3. The Varnish —One ounce balsam of fir, one- 
half oimce spirits turpentine, mixed. 
Now, take the photograph you wish to color, place it 
in a dish of clean boiling water and let it remain un 
the thin paper on which the picture is can be ta en o 
easily. If it does not start before the water gets cool, 
pour it off and put in fresh hot water. When ie pic 
ture has been finally detached from the card, place i 
between two sheets of clean blotting paper to renaov^ 
the superfluous moisture. There is no necessity, id _ 
ever, for allowing it to become perfectly dry. 
Next take one of the oval glasses, or if you 
have them, flat glasses will do. Spread the pas e ( 
evenly over the face of the picture and paste it to the 
concave side of the glass. With your finger or a soft 
handkerchief, press out all the wrinkles and all the su¬ 
perfluous paste and ah- bubbles. Begin at the centre and 
smooth toward the edges. Be sure all the air bubbles 
are pressed out from between the picture and the glass, 
for unless they are you will not be able to make it trans¬ 
parent. Looking directly at the picture, you may not 
be able to detect them ; but hold it horizontally on a 
line with your eye and you will see them more readily. 
Now set the work away and allow it to get perfectly 
dry, which may take fifteen minutes and perhaps two 
hours ; but at any rate, don’t be in a hurry. 
The next step is to render the picture transparent. 
For this you use preparation No. 2. Drop it around on 
the back of the picture and then with your finger or 
some smooth instrument, like a paper-knife or spoon- 
bowl, spread the mixture evenly over the whole picture. 
Now set away again where there is no dust, and leave it 
until it has become transparent. This will take from 
half an hour to two days, according to the quality of 
the paper. I have made thick engraving paper translu¬ 
cent in twenty minutes, while thin photograph paper 
has taken 48 hours or more, and occasionally I have 
found paper that would not become entirely transparent 
at all. As long as there are any white spots to be seen 
in the paper the work is not done. When completed 
the picture should be nearly, if not quite, as plainly 
seen on the back as on the face. 
After the transparency is made, wipe off the surplus 
mixture. A clean, smooth piece of glove kid is the best 
for this. Wipe smoothly and evenly and not too hard, 
in order not to leave any streaks. 
Next take No. 3 varnish and give the back of the pic¬ 
ture one smooth coating with the finger. Now, if you 
choose to wait long enough, this varnish will dry hard ; 
but there is no necessity for waiting for more than a 
few hours, unless you choose. But you may proceed to 
get ready for the coloring. To do this, you must first 
place narrow strips of thin cardboard, not more than a 
quarter of an inch wide, along the back of the picture, 
close to the edges. Then on this place the second glass. 
The object in using cardboard, you will understand, is 
to keep the glasses a trifle apart. After this is done, 
have ready strips of thin, tough paper, just wide enough 
to cover the edges and lap over perhaps a quarter of an 
inch on each side. Spread some of your paste on the 
strips and fasten your glasses together, and after this 
has dried, the photograph is ready for the colors. You 
must have good artist’s brushes to do fine work. Be 
sure that the brush will come to a fine point when wet. 
Now, of course, before you begin the work, you have 
provided yourself with an assortment of colors. Hold 
the picture up to a good light, back towards you, and 
