Our homes; how to beautify them. One hundred and fifty engravings

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

OUE HOMES;

HOW TO BEAUTIFY THEM.

Chapter I. "p A rj,|J<C!

Treatment of Walls; Wall Shelves and Cabinets; a Corner Cabinet; Pictures and Hanging them; Picture Frames; Whisk-broom Holder; Fans, Feathers, and Foliage; What to Do with the Clock; Fan-screen for Piano; Brackets; Receptacles for Newspapers; Match Receivers; Dangle Boards for keys, etc.; A Photograph Receiver.

Chapter II. Carpets, Curtains, and Drapery 33-52

Selecting Carpets; Making Rag Carpets; Window Shades and Curtains; Window Lambrequins; Mantel Lambrequins; Deck Mantels; Portiferes or Doorway Curtains; Table and Piano Covers; Chair Tidies.

Chapter III

Pretty and Comfortable Chairs; Ornamental Chair-backs ; A Decorated Milking stool ; Ebonizing and Staining Wood; Home-made Couch; Decorative Tables; Desks and Book-shelves ; Foot-rest and Step ; Transforming an old Wash-stand ; New use for Peach Baskets; Group of Home made Adornments.

Chapter VII

Our Sleepino- Rooms ; Handkerchief Pillow-sham; Design for a Hop Pillow; Pincushions for Toilet Table; Bedroom Toilet Set; Home-made Rugs; A Worsted Lamp Mat; Home-made Toilet Table; Japanese Card-receiver; Mirror Decorations ; Ornamental Towel-rack; Screens or splashers; Fancy Toilet Set; Wall Bags and Pockets; Cases for Shaving-papers; Handkerchief Sofa-pillow; Closets and Wardrobes; A Picturesque Bedroom; Slipper-cases; Smokers' Articles.

Chapter VIII. How to Make the Kitchen Pleasant 153-158

Tidy Wood-boxes ; Pockets for Dust-cloths ; Ornamental Rag-bag; Clothes-pin Apron; A Record Cushion; Receptacle for Soiled Clothes.

Chapter IX

Dressing the Home for Christmas; The Christmas Tree; Home-made Christmas Cards; Easter Decorations; Decorated Easter Eggs; Decorations for Valentine's Day.

Chapter X

Fancy Work for Ladies; Making Paper Flowers; Smyrna Rugs; Pattern for Canvas; Some Fancy Stitches; Drawn Work for Decorations; Scroll Sawing; Line Carving in Wood; Embroidered Monograms; Lava Work, or Vesuvium; Decorated Baskets; Carriage Robes.

OUR HOMES;

HOW TO BEAUTIFY THEM.

Chapter I. Walls And Wall Decorations

TKEATMEl^T OF WALLS.

The usual material for inner walls is plaster, either hard-finished or left in the rough coat. A hard-finished wall, glaring white, imparts to a room a cold, unhomelike aspect, which cannot be wholly overcome by any amount of decoration. A lime wash, renewed once a year, is a healthful and wholesome finish, but it is no less so if also made agreeable to the eye by being tinted with dry color. Rough-finished walls are treated in the same manner. There are ways of preparing these washes, using dry colors in them. The lime is slaked very smooth, and thickened with smooth flour paste, adding salt. It does not rub off, nor peel, like kalsomine, nor does it perceptibly alter the rough surface of the wall. When kalsomine is used, the wall, if an old one, must have all the loose lime well scraped off, and be sized thoroughly with glue-water, before the wash is applied. Kalsomine is made of glue, Paris white, and dry color for tinting. In selecting tints, for parlor, sitting-room, and bedrooms, delicate or warm neutral tints should be preferred; especially avoid cold colors. A very little yellow ochre, with a little Indian red, burnt umber, or burnt sienna, will produce a variety of tints, as little oif white as desired, which give the room a warm, pleasing look to the eye, and bring out and harmonize colors of carpets, curtains, portieres, and furniture. Many are fond of dark, strong colors, especially for halls, dining-rooms, and libraries. Here, instead of light buffs, warm drabs and other pale tints, the colors may be reddish brown, maroon, golden brown, olive, steelblue, or green. Some gilt introduced with these adds very much to the effect. Not long ago, painted walls were much used; when flat-finished, that is, entirely without gloss, the effect was pleasing, but the walls were hard to clean, as many paints looked clouded when water was applied to wash them ; whereas, coated with a paint which formed a smooth, glossy surface, that could be cleaned by being washed or wiped off, it was cold, hard, and pleasing to no one. They are rarely seen in these days, when more attention is paid to aesthetic effects.

Paper is, after all, the favorite wall -covering. There is such an almost infinite variety of color and style to select from, that nothing is a surer indication of either natural or cultivated good taste than their proper choice. It is well to bear in mind that the paper of a room need not be all of one pattern. Some pleasant effects are produced by what is called a '' dado'' — like an old-time wainscoting — of a different pattern, and sometimes of darker shades of the same color as the paper of the rest of the wall. The old-fashioned simple narrow borders have been deepened into friezes, for high rooms, twelve to eighteen inches in depth. These should not be dark, as they have the effect of lowering the ceiling; but if light, and, where appropriate, some gilt is introduced, and if not too broad, a room can be made to look much higher. Another important fact for economical people is that the aesthetics of wall-paper is quite independent of its price. Many of the cheapest papers have delicate tints and pretty, inconspicuous figures, and work in admirably with pleasantly contrasting dados and friezes. Glaring contrasts in color and large patterns should be avoided. Neutral tints which harmonize and blend agreeably with the furniture and carpets are the most desirable. Rooms with low ceilings appear higher if the paper has vertical stripes.

In some modern houses, beautiful effects have- been produced in certain rooms by a revival of the ancient custom of using tapestry hangings. Anything suitable for this purpose used to be very costly, but now there are draperies of all prices. Furniture sateens, moreens, brocades, and even ingrain carpets have been used. When walls are to be treated in this way, they should have strips of wood attached to them wherever it is necessary to tack the material. Where figured goods are used, care should be taken to match the figures, and to have a border of some suitable material at the ceiling. In libraries, dining-rooms, or halls, a wooden wainscoting of hard wood is used, with the material put on plain or in box-plaits above. As a general thing, however, tapestry is not desirable in a house, and, if used at all, it calls for the exercise of a high degree of taste and skill, and requires constant care to keep its folds free from dust. It is very easy to overdo the matter of drapery in a house, and plain walls are preferable to an unskillful use of hangings.

WALL SHELVES AND CABINETS.

Hanging shelves for books or other articles are very convenient in the sitting-room^ dining-room or bedroom. They are readily removed when the whitewash or paper on the wall is to be renewed. Hanging shelves may • be made very cheaply of walnut, maple or birch, half an inch thick. Ea .h shelf is to be twenty inches to two feet

OUR homes; how to beautify them.

long, rounded at the two fi'ont corners. A hole is bored through each corner for the supporting cord. *The twisted white wire cord is much stronger and more reliable than string of any kind. Pieces of board the same

thickness and width as the shelves are cut as long as it is desired to have the shelves apart. Then one end of the wire cord is put down through a hole in the lowest shelf, brought up through the opposite hole, and drawn through until the middle of the cord is left under the bottom of the shelf. The other cord is secured likewise, and additional shelves are then strung on, the short pieces are set up between the shelves to support them, and the whole is suspended to the wall by a strong screw, or, what is much better, a screwhook made for the

l.-A WALL CABINET. purpOSC. If it Is dc-

sired to impart a more decorative character, fringes or lambrequins may be attached to the front edge of each shelf, or a curtain hung from the top, to fall over the whole.

A more permanent arrangement is the wall cabinet.

FIG.

WALLS AN-D WALL DECO RATIO J^TS. 11

shown in Fig. 1. It is made of walnut or other wood, three eighths of an inch thick. Length of back and sides thh'ty inches, width of sides seven inches. Length of shelves twelve inches, with shoulders one inch long and one inch wide, having slots cut for pins, Figs. 2 and 3. The shelf above is four inches wide, with slots like the others. Ornament over the door two and a quarter inches wide. — The door is in one piece, sawed in panels with strips screwed to back to strengthen it and hold glass. One light of glass, ten by twelve, placed on back of the door is much more convenient than several small lights, and equally as good. All is fastened together by the

FIG. 2.— ORNAMENT ABOVE DOOR.

wooden pins, except the back to door. — To lay out the ornamental pattern, cut a card or small piece of paste-

FIG. 3. — FORM OF SHELF.

board in shape of an acorn or leaf and mark around it ; the designs will then be all alike. — The size may be changed to suit taste or convenience.

A CORNER CABINET.

The cabinet shown in Fig. 4 can be made very ornamental. The case is of black walnut, with panels of light wood. Wild roses are painted on one panel, and rushes on the other. There are three ph elves to hold vials.

u

OL'R HOMKS; now TO IJEAUTIFY THEM.

Below is a drawer for court-plaster, pieces of linen, string, I etc. A lambrequin of vel-

veteen, embroidered and edged with fringe, gives a handsome finish to the cabinet, while the top can be used as a shelf for a vase or other ornamental object.

The lamj) may be kept there during the day.

PICTURES AND HAKGING THEM.

No other wall decoration ministers to a refined taste as much as plenty of good pictures. Some one has said that ^'pictures are windows through which one looks out into the ideal.'' In these days of really excellent engravings and piints at low prices, all can afford to have them. The arts of wood- and photo-engraving have attained such a high degree of excellence, that pictures are cheaply produced by those processes which are well worthy of a place on the walls of refined homes. Chromos of the style of fifteen years ago are little seen in the market except as -^^ premiums. '^ They have been largely supplanted by really beautiful colored prints, not made to imitate oil-paintings on canvas, but sold for just what they are.

To produce a decorative and pleasing effect, pictures must be hung symmetrically. In paintings or colored

FIG. 4. — CORNER CABINET.

prints, violent contrasts of tone should not be brought

FIG. 5.— FRAME OF WOOD MOULDING.

near together. If a picture in which blue, green, or silver-gray is the prevailing tone is hung beside another in glowing reds and yellows, a discordant effect is produced, injurious to both. As to size, the largest should be given a central position, with the smaller grouped tastefully around it. A very common mistake is to hang them too high: artists call it '^^ skying ^^ them. It is usual to hang them so that the tops shall project forward, otherwise there is a glaring reflection which strikes the eye and prevents the picture being seen. This is done by placing the screw-eyes in the back of the frame low enough to obtain the right angle.

Picture mouldings have largely replaced the old-fashioned spikes with movable heads. These mouldings are made of walnut, ebonized, or other wood, with or without gilt beads, or in all gilt. They are firmly fastened to the wall near the top, unless the ceiling is very high, in which case they are fastened just below the frieze or border. Hooks which fit these mouldings are sold by all dealers in picture-frames and paper-hangings. Twisted wire cord is much stronger and more durable than the strings formerly used. It comes in silver or gilt, of various thicknesses. It is best to use the smallest size compatible with the weight of the picture which it is to support.

PICTURE-FRAMES.

An oil-painting looks best in a gilt frame, but even for them a costly and elaborate moulding is not indispensable. Very handsome frames are made of ash or chestnut, covered with Dent^s gold paint ; but in this case a light beading of burnished gilding next to the picture greatly improves the effect. Oil-paintings require heavier frames than other pictures. Colored prints and engravings have wide margins, and a light inconspicuous frame shows off the picture much better than a more conspicuous one. Whatever the picture may be, the frame should not only be sightly in itself, but ought also to harmonize with its surroundings. A frame may be made at home by the exercise of taste and skill, which will go farther to make a home attractive than a gorgeous and costly gilt moulding. Fig. 5 shows a plain wood moulding such as can be made by any person '^'^ handy with tools.^' The material is about an inch thick, and may be of walnut, maple, poplar, birch, or any handsome wood, oiled and rubbed down on the fc. '^S

^^KIm

FIG. 6.— FRAME OF PLUSH AND SATIN.

grain, or of pine covered with bronze-powder. Sprays of twigs and foliage are painted across two of the corners in rather subdued colors.

A frame suitable for photographic portraits or small bright pictures is shown at Fig. 6. The frame is made of pine covered with satin ribbon, shirred on the edges and fastened with small tacks. The panel is of stout junk-board cut to fit the inside of the frame, with an oval or diamond- shaped opening to receive the picture. The panel is covered with plush, garnet, seal-brown, or old gold in color, to liarmonize with the satin, fitted smoothly, and turned in at the opening. This is backed by a similar piece of pasteboard, to which the picture is fastened, with glass over it. After all is put together a sheet of stout paper pasted over the back will hold all 'together and exclude dust.

The horseshoe frame, Eig. 7, is a very neat style for

FIG. 7. — HORSESHOE FRAME.

small pictures. The horseshoe is sawed of pine board in two equal pieces, each piece making half the frame. They are glued together at the top, and the whole covered with plush of any suitable color. A panel of pasteboard is cut an inch larger than the opening in the shoe, the opening cut for the picture, and covered with velvet. This piece is tacked on the back of the frame. The nail-holes in the shoe are imitated with bits of the dark velvet glued on. The back is covered with muslin, and screw-eyes are placed in it, through which to run a cord

FIG. 8, — PICTURE-FRAME OF FUNGUS.

to suspend it by. The picture and glass are fastened in the centre, the panel of velvet ornamented with some natural grasses, and a butterfly fastened. A little glue

OUR homes: how to beautify them.

on each stem will keep them in place^, thus making the arrangement complete.

A fungus frame^ Fig. 8, is one of the richest in its effect that can be made, and looks well in almost any situation. The fungus used is the kind known to science at 2^oly2)orus3 and is found on old trees, living or dead.

FIG. 9.— POLYPORUS FUNGUS.

as shown in Fig. 9. There are many varieties, each one having a color of its own, when cut transversely across the pores. Those found upon the hemlock are of various shades of brown ; those growing upon the beech and maple are also brown, but generally of i? lighter shade ; while those taken from the birch are, in color, buff of various shades. The grain of the birch

WALLS AND WALL DECORATIONS.

fungus is very beautiful ; it resembles, in a marked degree, the grain of veneering sawed from the large knots or excrescences grown upon forest birches, which equal in beauty the French walnut. The fibre of this fungus is less woody, and more cork-like, than the others. The frames are made by sawing off the lower side of the fungus, and then cutting it into thin slices. Unless one piece can be found large enough for the frame, smaller

FIG. 10.— FAN FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.

pieces are glued upon a pine frame, care being used to match the pieces so neatly as to conceal the junction. This kind of fungus may be largely employed in decorative work of various kinds.

A novel receptacle for a photograph is made of a Japanese fan, as shown in Fig. 10. For an imperial picture, a fan of the ordinary size will be needed. Cut a square or oval opening in the centre of the fan, and cover it on the outside with light blue or bright red satin. Select a few small peacock-feathers, and sew on the fan as seen in the engraving, cutting them in two where it is needed. Baste a lining of silesia on the other side, and overhand the edges neatly together around the opening, but not the outside edge. Cut a fan out of card-board of the same size as the body of the one already covered. Cover it on both sides with silesia, and overhand the two together, leaving a space large enough at the top to slip in the picture. Finish the fan on the edge with a gold cord ; having tied a bow of satin ribbon of some pleasing shade of color on the handle, sew two small brass rings on the back to hang it up by.

FAI^S, FEATHERS AKD FOLIAGE.

Japanese fans are largely employed as wall decorations. They are very cheap, and when arranged with taste and skill are very effective in giving color and brightness to a room. No specific directions can be given as to their arrangement, for good taste must govern in this as in other matters of home decorations. It is well to arrange them in shadowy angles and other places, then study the effect and make such changes as suggest themselves until the desired result is produced. Peacock^s feathers, used sparingly, also form very handsome and showy decorations. Autumn leaves when properly prepared and arranged retain their bright, rich colors for a long time, and are very serviceable. When first gathered they should be pressed with a hot iron between two sheets of soft paper to expel the moisture or they will wrinkle and curl in drying. A very thin coating of paraffine or wax is sometimes given. The leaves are arranged according to their individual character. Maple and similar broad leaves look well in masses; the brilliant crimson leaves of sumac should be mingled with paler colors, and a fine

WALLS AlsB WALL DECORATIONS.

effect is produced by stringing together the sprays of Virginia creeper, and arranging them in graceful festoons and wreaths over and between windows. Wax leaves and flowers are sometimes emjjloyed in a similar maner, but they require much attention to keep clear of dust.

WHISK-BROOM HOLDER.

To make the holder for an ordinary whisk-broom shown in Fig. 11, cut a piece of pasteboard seven and one half

FIG. 11.— WHISK-BROOM HOLDER.

inches square, and cover it on both sides with silk, or satin, if it is to be painted. A very pretty cover can be made of figured satin or cretcmne for every-day use. Fold it as shown in the engraving, and fasten a bow of

OUR homes; how to beautify them.

satin ribbon on the front, to cover the place where the two corners join.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE CLOCK.

A very neat device for a pretty mantel clock is shown in Fig. 12. The shelf and cabinet are made of threeeighths inch walnut or other hard wood. The back and sides are twenty inches long; the door ten inches square. The shelf is fourteen inches long and five inches wide. A lower shelf, nine and a fourth inches long and four

PIG. 12.— CLOCK-SHELF AND CABINET.

inches wide, is inserted just at the lower edge of the cloor, and forms the bottom of the cabinet. As will be seen, the shelf is supported by the upright pieces, whose lower ends are slanted off from the bottom of the cabinet. Such an arrangement would be available only in case the clock possessed some beauty of its own. But the plainest and most inartistic style of clock may be

WALLS AND WALL DECORATIOITS.

made to assist in decorating the room, by means of an old cigar- box covered with phish. Cut a hole in the bottom of the box, large enough to "admit the face of the clock, cover the box neatly with plush, cut the opening in the plush an inch smaller than the one in the box, slash it around, and draw it through, and glue it to the inside of the box. The lid should be covered separately, and fastened on the box with small hinges, or by means

FIG. 13. — ANOTHER PATTERN.

of pieces of muslin glued on the inside, to serve as hinges. Fasten the clock securely in the box. The vine may be either embroidered or painted; if embroidered, it must be done before the covering is put on. Cover a small shelf for the clock with the same material, and finish it around the edge with fringe. Fig. 13 shows another pattern for the plush cover. A neat bow of satin ribbon is added in one corner.

OXTB homes: how to BEAUTEFT TBTIC.

Tlir rS'M-ri, shown for z::— :ir the oI'X mometer wood. It L^ :^ phish drawn in Fig. 14 k -and thereat of . nil brown

OTer it and throngh :' .^ made for the

dock, an 1 „^ it on the back.

The centre is woven with yellow silk

cord: small tack& are pla^d aroand

the edge at a certain distance apurt,

and the c<Hd wound »oiind then

from side to side to form the Uods;

-.z.i Tacks are concealed with a heaTj

: ~:i plnsh cord. A bow of satin

::l the color of the phish is tied

1: _e handle^ with a loop of

_T -eft on the hack to hang it

The clock is &gtened in se-

c f themioiiietffl' tacked

^ : _ very ample way of

FIG. 14— ra: ;-i:r ::. l . :he clock and thermometer,

and at the same ume iornii a pretty ad»nment tor the

waD.

There are few accessories :: ii — r '-r:.-::^'i which combine a greater d^ree

than tastefid brackets. They m^^v .c ^ .

walnut or other hard wood, ofl-finished, or of pine eoneealed by drapery, and held in place either by screws suspended by screw-eyes in the dielf, oar screwhooks in the walL Fig. 15 shows a very neat design for a comer bracket. The shelf may project twelre to eighteen inches from the inner comer, with rounded front. The cover may be of felt or other suitable materiaL Cur one piece for the top two inches larger than

WALLS AXD WALL DECORATIONS. 'io

the board, so that it can be tacked down over the edges. Cut a straight piece, ten to twelve inches deep, according to the size of the bracket, and long enough to go around its front. Trim this piece with a band of a conuusting color about two and a half inches wide; finish

FIG. 15.— A COEXEB BRACKET.

the lower edge with fringe, and seam the two pieces together. Dark red felt, with a band of deep gray or brown plush, makes a pretty cover. The good part of a worn-out coat can often be used. Many kinds of gray or brown cloth are very good on the wrong side, after the right side is quite worn and faded, and by cleaning and pressing it may be made to look almost as well as new cloth. A band of embroidered canvas may be used in place of the plush, or some pattern may be worked di-

OUR homes; how to beautify them.

rectly on the stuff. Lambrequins similar to patterns shown elsewhere may also be used.

A very quaint bracket is made with a pair of polished horns for support. The base of each horn encloses a block of pine, which is first cut to fit neatly into the horn, and is then screwed to the board which forms the back of the bracket. The shelf is held in place by screws through the back into the rear edge, and one screw running through it into each horn. This style of bracket is peculiarly suitable for a library.

FAN SCEEEN for PIAI^O.

A novel drawing-room decoration is shown in Fig. 16. It is an immense fan, at least three feet across, formed of peacock feathers, to be placed behind a piano or organ. If the latter, it is made the full length of the in-

^ ^BlM'M

FIG. 16.— A PEACOCK PIANO FAN.

strument. Cut a half-circle from heavy book-binder^s board, and cover both sides with dark green cambric. On this arrange the feathers, using the largest for the outer edge; sew them firmly and regularly to the foundation, and finish with a large double bow of bright satin ribbon without ends. It is then tacked to the wall with small nails.

WALLS AND WALL DECORATIONS.

MATCH-RECEIVER.

The receptacle for burnt ends of matches, shown in Fig. 17, is made of a small tin dipper with upright handle, such as is used by milkmen. Cut a piece of black cloth the width of the cup, and long enough to fit snugly around it. Baste points of yellow felt on it, and then work them with black floss; work the black points with yellow, and sew it around the cup. Make little tassels of the black floss, and attach them at each yellow point.

Cover the handle by cutting two pieces of the black cloth a seam's width wider than the handle, trim the front as seen in the engraving, and sew the pieces together on one side in a seam, and overhand the other side together after basting them around the handle. Tie a bow of yellow satin ribbon through the ring by which it is suspended, at the fig. 17.— matchretop of the handle. ceiver.

DANGLE-BOARDS FOR KEYS, ETC.

There are many very neat devices for hanging keys, button-hooks, and similar small articles. The one shown in Fig. 18 is made of an ear of corn. It is first given two coats of varnish, and when the second one is just dry enough to acquire the right "tack," it is covered with gold-leaf or bronze-powder. Five brass hooks are then screwed into it, bows of bright-colored ribbon are tacked on the ends, and also a piece of the same is used to hang it up by. Another way to make these articles is to saw a padlock or horseshoe out of a piece of cherry or walnut wood, oil and polish it, and screw in the hooks.

FIG. 18.— ORNAMENTAL EAR OF CORN.

A bow of ribbon is tied on each side of the padlock.

Another form, shown in Fig. 19, combines a keyboard and watch-case. It is made of a toy rolling-pin, potato-masher and a piece of half-inch pine board. A hole is sawed in the board, half an inch larger in diameter than the watch it is to hold. Cut away the lower half of one side of the rolling-pin, so the board can be tacked to it.

The upper part of the pin being left round, it will keep the board and watch from contact with the wall. Gild the board, rolling-pin, and potato-masher, or, if preferred, they may be covered with plush. Cut a piece of plush an inch larger than the opening in the board, and tack it

PIG. 19.— BOLLTNG-piN "WATCH- ou tlic back ovcr it. Screw ^^^^- a brass hook into the board,

upon which to hang the watch-chain. The potato-masher

WALLS AND WALL DECORATIONS.

has three screws in it upon which to hang keys, buttonhook, etc. Tie a bow of ribbon on each end of the rolling-pin, and another bow at the top of the ribbon on which it is suspended. The masher is suspended by a similar ribbon.

A PHOTOGRAPH-RECEIVER.

The hanging receiver for photographs seen in Fig. 20 is made of dark-brown plush, with forget-me-nots embroidered in light blue.

First cut out the foundation or back, which should be of heavy pasteboard, seven and a half inches wide, and as long as desired.

It can be half as long again as in the engraving. The pieces for the outside are seven and a half inches wide, the top cut in squares measuring an inch and a half each way, and long enough to lap over one another.

The forget-me-not spray on the top of each piece should be embroidered before it is covered.

Baste the plush neatly on the pasteboard, and line it with light blue silk or silesia. When all the flaps are finished ni this manner, sew them firmly to the plush-covered back. If the sprays are painted instead of embroidered, it can be done better after it is all finished.

Fasten the top to a brass banner-rod, and hang the receivei with a light blue silk cord.

FIG.

20.— A PHOTOGRAPH- RECEIVER.

EECEPTACLES FOR KEWSPAPERS.

It is presupposed that newspapers are taken in every family, and there is almost a necessity for some accessible place to keep them oS. the tables. Many very pretty articles for this purpose are offered in the market, but far handsomer ones can be made at home. A portfolioshaped wall-pocket may be made of heavy junk-board. Cut two pieces eighteen inches long and twelve inches wide for the back, and two pieces the same length and ten inches wide for the front. The back pieces are covered vfith gray linen, and sewed or bound together. The inner piece of the front is also faced with linen. The outside piece is covered with bronze-green felt, with corners of a darker shade, worked on with featherrstitch in black silk floss. The bands are of darker shade, worked with bright colored silks in various hues. The band is fastened on the front with '' blind stitch.^' The long stitches which go across from one edge of the band to the other are of bright yellow brown; the shorter stitches which cross them are of dark red and light blue, and the stitches which extend outwards from the edge of the band are of black and pink silk. The bands are put on before the felt is attached to the pasteboard. After the two front pieces are put together, the back and front are sewed together along the bottom, and a cord is attached to the front piece near the top, taken through two holes in the back, and fastened. Three brass rings are firmly sewed to the upper edge of the back, by which the rack is hung against the wall.