Chapter V: Part 5

=Materials Required.= 1. One flat camel’s hair brush. 2. Vial of vitrifiable varnish. 3. Vial of clarified spirits.

Designs go by numbers, as follows:

301. Upright Flower Bouquets, 3×4, 30 on sheet $2.10

330. Scenes, Landscapes, 2×2¼, 35 on sheet 1.50

351. Roman Heads, 2×2¾, 36 on sheet 3.60

355. Celebrated Painters’ and Female Heads, 2½×2¾, 20 on sh. 3.00

557. Ladies’ Heads, small, 1×½, 144 on sheet 2.40

401. Children scenes, Watteau style, 2×2¾, 42 on sheet 2.40

417. Ladies’ Heads, oval, 2¾×3½, 20 on sheet 2.40

502. Flower Bouquets, assorted, 64 on sheet 2.40

505. Children’s Heads. 1×1¼, 168 on sheet 2.40

507. Roman Heads, 3×2, 36 on sheet 2.40

508. Females, 4×3, 16 on sheet 2.40

509. Female Heads, 2×2½, 42 on sheet 2.40

510. Monkeys, 3×3½, 20 on sheet 1.80

511. Roman Heads, one color, 48 on sheet .75

512. Round Fruit Pieces, 5×5, 16 on sheet 2.10

513. Classical Statuary Figures in groups, 6×9¼, 6 on sheet 1.80

515. Deers, full size, 15 on sheet 1.80

521. Oval Fruit Pieces, 3×3½, 36 on sheet 2.10

521. Bis. Oblong Fruit Pieces, 3×3½ and 1×3½, 30 on sheet 2.10

522. Bis. Children’s Pieces, 3×3½, 18 on sheet 2.40

522. Children in squares, 3×4¾, 12 on sheet 2.40

523. Chinese in groups, 6×4, 10 on sheet 1.20

524. Birds in squares, 2×2½, 24 on sheet 2.10

525. Oval Flowers and Fruit Pieces, 5×2½, 22 on sheet .65

527. Garland of Mosses, Roses, etc., assorted, 28 on sheet 2.10

530. Etruscan Figures, Emblems, etc., 31 on sheet 3.00

531. Female Busts, 4×5, 10 on sheet 2.40

532. Oval Landscapes, 5¼×4, 9 on sheet 2.40

533. Children’s Heads, 2½×3¾, 21 on sheet 2.40

534. Fantastic Warriors and Females, assorted, 14 on sheet 2.40

539. Female Busts, 3×3½, 21 on sheet 2.40

543. Figures in Groups, ass’t’d, 8 on sheet 2.40

The above designs are all to be burnt in on crystal, porcelain, etc., and cannot be used any other way.

PRESERVATION OF
NATURAL FLOWERS.

WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THIS WORK BY THE FIRST PREMIUM PRESERVER OF
FLOWERS.

“’Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours,
As they floated in light away,
By the opening and the folding flowers,
That laugh in the summer’s day.”—_Hemans._

There are five distinct methods for preserving natural flowers, and no one method can be given proper for all varieties, and all families of the floral kingdom. Annuals, flowers of quick growth, of a succulent nature, cannot be preserved in their natural state. Balsams require the elaborate chemical method, and all flowers resembling the balsam require the same specific treatment. To preserve flowers as they should be preserved, a thorough acquaintance with all five methods is desired. These, in combination, form one perfect system, which requires lessons and experimental practice.

There was a process patented, and practiced for some years, which was found, after a year’s time, that the flowers grew dark, spotted, and were a distressing souvenir. This was the

=Hot Water System.= All flowers of a fibrous, woody nature, are susceptible of preservation. The fibrous nature of the wood enters into the composition of the flower.

Roses, camelias, japonicas, tube roses, and azaleas, also carnation pinks, (white), were preserved in boiling water, as below:

Take a few crystals of oxalic acid, pour on them boiling water, perhaps a pint to a half dozen crystals, thoroughly dissolving the crystals; after separating carefully with the sharp point of a fine moulding pin the flower petals, drop them into the boiling water, each flower separately—replace it over the fire and let it boil a few seconds, watching and removing each petal as soon as the waxy substance of the flower is gone, and the transparent fibre of the petals remain. Coat the back of the petal with sheet wax, pressing it down until incorporated with the fibre, and put back the flower precisely as it was taken apart, using a wax bud for the foundation of the flower, and using cotton covered wire for the stems.

At the Centennial Exposition held at Philadelphia in 1876, a white transparent camelia attracted my attention. Being possessed of every receipt in the known world, and some of my formulas being combinations resulting from experiments under the instructions of the celebrated chemical professors at Leipzig, I requested permission to examine this flower closely, and to do so, was obliged to get special permission. This camelia was transparent, clear, pure, without flaw, and close examination showed it to be a composite of several different flowers, all of the same variety, done by the hot water system, and instead of wax on the back, varnished with a fine transparent white spirit varnish. These flowers look well for a while, but I do not commend its general use. It will do where the flowers are to be worn in the hair, or on the breast, for a few times only, but after a year they grow discolored, spotted, and are unpleasant souvenirs.

=The Sandwich Island Process.= In the Sandwich Islands the ferns are preserved green and fresh for months by those who sell collections to visitors of the Islands. These are prepared carefully, and picked in a dry atmosphere, (remember, _that_ is indispensable to good preservation), the fronds selected perfect in shape, brilliant in tint, and fully seeded. The fern fully spored is in its prime. The paper used for pressing should be an absorbent, not letter paper, or any satin surfaced or calendered papers. The collector should carry the book to the ground, and not depend on bringing them home in a botanist’s case, or heated by hand bringing. You must pick them dry, and place them directly in the book, bringing them home only in that manner. Arrived home, roll a small bit of cotton batting around the cut end of the stem, and seal the end over with red sealing wax, leaving as small a wad of cotton and wax as possible. Then transfer the ferns into another fresh book of papers, changing them every morning and evening until dry. The warmer the books are kept the greener and fresher the ferns after drying. Then ferns can be used ten years after pressing, cutting off the waxed end and setting the ferns into water, they will in twenty-four hours, fill out again and look like freshly picked ferns.

A preserver of flowers said once to me that ferns could not be kept green by any known process. This Sandwich Island process is splendid, and a complete success.

By dissolving benzoic acid in alcohol one oz. to a pint, coloring with aniline green, shaded up by mixing brown or black and yellow, all anilines, and dipping _old_ ferns, browned by time, the ferns can be used for decoration, in hanging baskets, or on the window curtains, but they do not bear close examination. The coloring matter is perfectly perceptible on close inspection.

=The Sand Drying Method= in preserving small flowers is good, and no process is complete without the addition of this important part of the instruction. It is within reach of every lady, and the flowers so dried will retain their colors a long time. To every 25 lbs. of fine glass blower’s sand add 1 oz. of spermaceti and 1 oz. of calcined borax, thoroughly mixed and incorporated with the sand. The sand must be kept perfectly dry, the flowers must be dry, and from all flowers where the honey gathers at the bottom of the cup, it must be removed before the sand bath is attempted. This is a delicate operation, and effected by the use of a crotchet hook, with a little cotton batting twisted around the point. Introduce it delicately in the flower, remove the honey, dew-drop or water drop, and your flower will preserve dry, in shape.

Sweet alyssum, daisies, candytuft, can be beautifully preserved and keep their freshness for a long time, under the sand drying process. Some flowers need a varnish before the sand bath, some need to be varnished after removal from the bath. All labiate corollas, all flowers cup shaped, should be first stuffed delicately and carefully with cotton batting before putting them into the sand. This knowledge is obtained only by a regular course of instruction, as the family of flowers, or the floral kingdom is so extended. After preparing the flowers, (all flowers should stand after being plucked a short time, their stems immersed in cold water, so as to give full life and strength to the flower, and if it is to be varnished it should be done while standing in the water), have ready your sand in a box with a draw bottom. This bottom is drawn out after the process is completed, leaving the dried flowers intact in the box.

Fill your box partly, with sand perfectly dry, without mixture, clip off the stems to within an inch of the flower cluster, and dip it into hot sealing wax, sealing up the end of the stem carefully and thoroughly, then immerse the stem in the sand up to the flower cluster, taking care to space between the flowers—no two touching. After filling your flowers in the box, commence by pouring in softly and gradually the sand prepared for them. Cover them perfectly, and set the box in a dry place, where no dampness can get into the sand. A single drop of water, or a particle of sap, will ruin the whole of the box of flowers.

In some white flowers a little chloride of lime mixed with the sand can be used once, but as soon as the lime slacks it must be removed. Flowers require from two weeks to thirty days in an even heat of 80 degrees, not more. As soon as the process is complete, pour off carefully the sand from the flowers, and if found to be brittle, expose them a few hours to a dry atmosphere. The ordinary atmosphere of the room will be all that is required.

For the five methods combined, regular lessons are required, but it is not necessary for any excepting those who desire to make floral preservation a business. The sand drying can be followed by any lady for winter bouquets, and the usual flowers of the garden, beautifully preserved in this method, for winter decorations, hanging baskets, etc. Jardinieres are a lovely winter ornament, with green ferns floating, one could not tell but what these flowers had just been plucked from the garden.

=The Last Process is=: Clip from the bush, without injuring the stem, the buds just as they are opening, allowing two or three inches of stem with each bud, and immediately cover the ends with hot sealing wax. When cold, wrap them up in cotton batting, separately, and lay them away in a cool place in a box, where nothing can rest upon or injure them.

At any time you wish to make use of them, bring them forth from the place of concealment, cut off the end containing the wax, and place the stems in a vase of cool water, containing a little salt. Allow them to remain in a moderately warm room for a few hours, and you will perceive the buds commencing to expand and open, and soon after you can have the opportunity of beholding a full-blown rose, representing all those beautiful colors with which nature has so wisely endowed it, and sending forth, in all the sweetness and purity of its nature, the most loving and fascinating odors, which is so much desired and sought after by lovers of flowers.

These flowers in winter command exceedingly high prices, so much so that some are making it a business of preparing them, and are making money by the operation.

PAPER-FLOWER MAKING.

THE ARRANGEMENT OF BOUQUETS, MATERIALS USED, ETC.

Much of the success in making paper flowers depends on the quality of the material, and the _form_ of the pins, moulders, pincers, etc.

The paper should be carefully selected, reference being had principally to its color and texture. As a rule, it cannot be too thin, and must be soft and strong. Avoid highly glazed papers, excepting when such a flower as the peony is to be copied. In passion-flower and fuchsia there is a thickness of texture only to be imitated by placing a sheet of thin waxed muslin between two sheets of paper. For many flowers, especially roses, a shaded paper is used, so colored as to allow of its being doubled, that a number of petals may be cut from it, leaving the dark shade in the part required. Many flowers will need painting, and for this purpose powder color is employed, using it with a tinting brush, a separate one being kept for each tint. Many flowers, such as tulip, geranium, picotee, etc., require a second or third shade of color; for these, moist or transparent colors are to be used, violet, lake, carmine and sepia being most useful, but for a complete list of colors the reader is referred to page 142. The moist colors must be applied with a sable brush. They should all be mixed with water, in some cases adding a little gum, for the purpose of more completely fixing the color on the paper.

Avoid using the powdered color too wet; it should resemble a thick paste on the palette. Sometimes use the color dry, rubbing it on with the finger, but this only on rare occasions.

Several kinds of wire will be wanted, some flowers having soft and some stiff stems. In some—not many—a very light springing stem is necessary, as for poppy; fine soft wire for the stems of fuchsias, etc. I am led to insist on particular attention being paid to the stems being imitated carefully, as so many otherwise good specimens have been spoiled by having stems hard looking and unlike the natural flower.

Wire covered with cotton is generally used, also fine steel wire for the tendrils of passion-flower, or for the light and graceful stem of the common field poppy.

Floss silk is useful; this must be fine, strong, and soft. It is used as a fastening to many of the petals, to nearly all the leaves, and when a joint of many stems is to be formed.

Black tying wire, for greater strength and larger work, is sometimes necessary.

Gum water is used for fastening the work together; this must not be too thin.

The proper tools will be found at an art store, both as regards size and form, numbering from 1 to 8, but practice alone will enable the learner to judge which is best suited, some finding a large, some a small tool the more effective.

The pincers are required to arrange the petals of a flower, as for a rose, clove, etc.

Scissors adapted to cutting the paper, having a nipper-like contrivance at the bottom of the blades for cutting the wire.

As nearly all the leaves will require some painting, to give them a _warmer_ or more natural tint than is to be found in those usually purchased, mix a small quantity of the proper color, use it with a tinting brush, and having carefully painted over the surface of the leaf, leave it to dry, then hold it to the fire; or should a glossy appearance be required, as in a camellia leaf, the polishing brush must be used.

To obtain the pattern of a natural flower, proceed thus: Select one or more petals, as the case may require. Take a geranium, for example; this has two sizes, so that one of the large, or painted petals, and one of the smaller, will be required. Place these on a sheet of thin cardboard, trace round the edge with a pencil, then cut out to drawing, allowing a little additional length for fixing them. Mark on each the number necessary for the flower. In some cases petals are cut in a circle or star, as in clove, rhododendron, or passion-flower. This is done by getting one petal traced on paper, as above directed, then cutting the required number for it, and so arranging them on the cardboard as to represent, as in the passion-flower, a star of five. Take for example a

CRIMSON RHODODENDRON.

This most effective flower should be made thus: Select about twelve petals, gum the edge, draw over edge, let them dry, then gum the small bulb at base of pistil and stamens (called the “heart,”) pass the stem of this through the opening of petals, draw down tightly, and let remain for a few minutes to dry, cover the stem with pale green paper, slightly bend the pistil and stamens that they may incline towards the central petal of the flower. A piece of strong wire about nine inches long is required on which to mount the flowers and leaves; arrange three flowers on the top of this with their backs to each other, leaving the flower stalk about two inches in length, tie this with silk, roll a little stem paper round and then place on three scales, cut from palest brown stem paper; other three flowers should be placed between those already fixed a little lower down. This order of arranging the flowers to be observed until the truss of flowers is complete. Cover the stem with brown stem paper and arrange the leaves, beginning with the small ones in the same manner as directed for the flowers, only that each leaf should be a little lower down than the last; they will require coloring, and for this use burnt sienna and Prussian blue, applied with a tinting brush, afterwards using the polishing brush; this will give them the gloss observable in the natural leaf. Many of the rhododendrons are made of plain colored petals, but their beauty is much enhanced by spotting them; the process is simple, and the direction for one will do for all, only varying the color used. Select the crimson with dark spots. Take in the hand a stamped flower, and having mixed some carmine, take a tinting brush and apply to the three uppermost petals, taking care that the color becomes lighter towards the edge and deepening towards the center. Now mix a little violet (moist) with carmine, and mark the spots as desired; this must be done with a small sable brush. White rhododendrons spotted with yellow and brown, or lilac with green spots, make very striking varieties.

WHITE CAMELLIA.

For this flower use white tissue paper of medium thickness; no other paper will so nicely imitate the texture of this well known flower.

Cut from a pattern, to be obtained as before directed, (which may be purchased when the flower is out of season), the proper numbers of petals; place each set or size separately on the hand, deeply curl the edge with the same pin used for the rose, and then press down the center with the steel stem, so as to give the deeply indented vein seen in the center of each. The larger petal will require turning on the fingers previous to using the stem of the pin, so as to cause the edges to turn backwards. ’Tis well here to remark that while you use the head of the pin on the edge or other part of a petal placed on the palm of the hand, always place the petal on the fingers when the stem of the instrument is to be used.

The stem of cotton wire No. 2. On this roll some pale-yellow wax; make it about the size of a small plum stone, the three smallest petals so placed that the edge turns inward and the points meet, leaving the base of each petal just touching the wire stem; three of the next size must now be placed on between the preceding, slightly raised. It is found that the most expeditious method of fixing the petals of this flower is to take a small piece of white wax, as large as the head of pin No. 2, used as a wafer, only without being wet. Place this at the bottom of each petal, it will then only require carrying to its place and firmly pressing with the finger or point of the ivory pin to make it adhere; this is both quicker and more easily performed than with gum water. The three following sizes may be arranged in the same order, and each set standing higher up and spreading open as the petals increase in size; all the remaining petals placed on in rows, gradually getting them to bend over, so that the last stand at right angles with the stalk; the calyx cut from pale green stem paper, thickened by the use of wax, this requires the edges to be curled, so as to give a rounded appearance. The edges should be shaded with brown, which may be applied with a small sable brush; a bud placed close to the flower, and some good dark leaves being added, we have one of the most perfect representations of nature to be obtained in paper.

ROSE.

(_Gloire de Dijon._)

Cut from pale yellow shaded paper, petals Nos. 1 (the outside petal) and 2, and from shaded paper of a lighter shade, but having pink in the middle of the stripe, so placing the pattern on the paper as to bring the pointed end of it to the darkest part of the paper, and so fold it as to allow of eight petals being cut at once. Sixteen of each size will be required. Cut off a proper length of the medium cotton wire, bend over the top of it several times, so as to make a head to it about the size of a pea, on this tie a few of the proper stamens, and around it roll a small quantity of pale green wax. All the petals should be treated as follows, as a preparation for other moulding. Take eight petals of a size, place them on the palm of the left hand, so that they can be held in their place by one of the fingers of the same hand, holding in the right hand pin No. 1, so that it may revolve easily round the edge of the petals, held as described in the other hand. The object of this rolling of the edge is to overcome the hard or unnatural look of the paper, and is _essential_ as a preparatory step to all other modeling. This done, turn the bunch of petals, press them in the center with the finger, after which roll over all parts of it excepting the edge, with the head of pin No. 2, this will leave the edge of the petals turned backwards, and this moulding must be continued until sufficient roundness has been obtained.

Separate the petals. This is best done from the points, so as not to disarrange the form already given to them. Take five of the smallest petals, place each on the hand as before described separately, and with the head of pin No. 2, indent it deeply down its center, _beginning at the top_, so as to curve the petal, that when placed on the foundation already prepared they will curl over and nearly conceal it.

These must be tied on with silk. To form the groups of petals, take two of the smallest, and three of the next size; the smallest place in front, the larger behind, and so arrange that each petal should be slightly elevated above the one in front of it; hold them together by the points, and then open the petals from the top, so as to be able to insert the end of a fine gum brush; a mere spot of gum is all that is required, as much as possible in the center of the petal, so as to leave the edges perfectly free.

Place this bunch of petals on the hand, as before directed, and round it in the same manner, only not to the same extent. Five or more of the bunches or nests of petals are required. Each should be placed in its proper position, and tied with floss silk. The two next sizes of petals must be treated in a similar manner, and placed on behind the bunches already fixed, so as, in fact, to give to the center of the flower the appearance of being divided into five or more divisions.

Petals No. 3, require the same rounding as applied to the preceding, two or three being placed together, giving them a more open form; fix these round the petals already on. Elevate them, so as to produce the cup shape observable in nearly all good roses. As the petals become larger, the thumb is found more convenient than the finger, it more quickly produces the roundness on which the beauty of a rose so much depends. The larger petals must be treated in a similar manner, only the edges require to turn back with more freedom and boldness, and the petals gradually receding, so that those placed on last will stand nearly at right angles with the stem, in some cases being even more bent backwards. Two or three of the last may be slightly shaded with green at the base, and carmine and burnt sienna at the edge, so as to give the faded appearance of the outer petals. Frequent reference should be made to the illustration of the flower or its parts as the work proceeds; the calyx should then be passed up the stem, so as to fit close to the back of the flower, and the stem covered with pale green stem paper.

Add a bud or two. These should appear close under the outer petals of the flower. The leaves start from the junction of these stems, being set round, each a little lower than the preceding. They should be colored and polished as directed in “general observations,” to give them the bold and waxy appearance seen in this deservedly popular and beautiful rose.

PINK FUCHSIA.

(_Duchess of Lancaster._)

Place a sheet of pale yellow waxed muslin between two sheets of pale pink shaded paper. So arrange the pattern as to bring the points to the white, and the darker shade of color to come to about the center. Cut the four petals from deep cherry paper, made thick as before described. The sepals, to be placed on the hand, and with the head of pin No. 2, gently roll from the points, so as to produce a number of faint lines, and also to unite the paper and wax firmly together, giving at the same time the proper transparency and gloss. The petals require considerable working with the large pin, to give them the roundness necessary after they are formed. They will require shading with a mixture of carmine and “magenta,” put on with a large tinting brush, the color being almost dry. The pistil made of a large white seed, which must be attached to a piece of fine cotton wire. About two inches from the edge of pistil roll round some wax or cotton wool, then add eight stamens. These will not be as long as the pistil; they must be shaded with pink; top of pistil of a pale green color. Stamens may have a small quantity of white pollen on them; and this being finished, fasten on with a small quantity of wax the four petals, and then tie them with silk. The neck of the flower can be made either of wax or wool, the former being the best. The four sepals having been properly bent, are now placed on, great care being taken in forming them perfectly on the neck before mentioned, which, if it is made of wax, can be done by rolling over each petal as it is placed on with stem of ivory pin; but should wool be used, the petals must be fastened on with gum.

ARRANGEMENT OR GROUPING OF FLOWERS.

The lighter flowers, both of form and color, should be so placed as to be at the top, excepting such flowers as passion flower, fuchsia, etc., which are drooping or climbing plants.

Aim at simplicity in coloring rather than too great a mixture, which gives a confused look.

The foliage is used as a background; there should be no stint of this. The great fault observable in the arrangement of bouquets, whether natural or artificial, is that they rarely have the leaves brought as prominently forward as they should be, consequently the bouquet loses both character and elegance.

Ferns, of which there is now so large and beautiful a collection, add very much to the elegance of the bouquet.

EXAMPLES IN GROUPING. _No. 1, Roses._ Gloire de Dijon, apricot; Geant de Bataille, scarlet and purple; Aimee Vibert, small white; pink cabbage; forget-me-not; maiden hair fern.

_No. 2._ Rhododendron, crimson; red spotted do.; deep pink do.; pale do.; white do. Some large ferns and orange azaleas of various shades.

_No. 3._ White camellias; red camellias; pale yellow azalea; pink fuchsia; deep blue cineraria; ribbon grass.

_No. 4._ Passion flower (various); fuchsias; thunbergia; hop; ivy leaves.

LIST OF MATERIALS, TOOLS, &c.

Moulding pins, moulders, pincers, tinting brushes, scissors, three sizes of cotton wire, silk for tying, fine wire for tying, gum water.

COLORS IN POWDER. Carmine, burnt sienna, Prussian blue, ultramarine, chrome 1, 2 and 3, white, magenta, violet.

MOIST COLORS. Carmine, lake, violet.

The papers most used are: White tissue, carmine, pinks (various), shaded for roses (various), stem paper (green and brown), violet, 3 shades, yellows, scarlet for poppies, etc.

THE FRENCH ART.

A BEAUTIFUL AND PRACTICAL PROCESS
FOR DECORATING WOOD,
LEATHER, SILK AND OTHER FABRICS.

It is simple to perform, durable, and very effective. The designs are printed in colors, upon paper so prepared that after they are cemented to the surface of the article intended to be decorated, by simply dampening the back of the paper, it may be at once and entirely removed, and the finished work exactly resemble painting; nothing but the colored designs remaining upon the work.

Suppose that a white earthenware or porcelain plate is the object to decorate: Take the design, and after having cut off the larger portion of the margin of the paper, pass over the colored design, fine brush, a slight coat of _Fastening Varnish_, being careful to cover the whole of the design and not go beyond the outlines. When the varnish has partially dried, or has become “tacky,” which will happen in five or ten minutes, place the varnished surface in the position you wish it to occupy upon the plate, and then press it well down with the roller; then take a damp piece of cloth or sponge and press well the back of the picture, (if you were decorating a curved surface, such as a vase, the ivory knife may be used for the purpose), and allow it to remain for a minute or two, then thoroughly wet the back of the design and raise the paper with the hand evenly and carefully. Now wash the picture, which is transferred as gently as possible with the water brush, to remove any soil; this done, carefully press the work with a piece of fine linen slightly wetted, so as to absorb the water and nearly dry the design, this prevents it from blistering and causes the work to dry flat and evenly. Then after having left it at least one day, apply a coat of retouching varnish, and the work is complete.

=To Decorate Silk and other Delicate Fabrics.= Apply a coating of fastening varnish, and allow it to dry, then with the water brush, wash the paper surrounding the design carefully; this removes from the paper the preparation which would otherwise soil the silk; now apply a second coat of the same varnish, and when this has slightly dried, place the design upon the silk or other fabric to be decorated, and with the roller press it well down. With the water brush wet the back of the paper covering the design and the paper may be at once lifted off.

=Another Method.= Cut out the design carefully and cover it with a thin coating of fastening varnish, and allow it to dry, then lay it upon the silk or other fabric, and roll thoroughly; dampen the back of the paper with the water brush, and lift it off as previously directed.

=To Decorate Articles of a Dark Color.= In decorating Japanned goods, or any dark material, it is necessary to take the prepared pictures covered with white lead or gold back, and follow the directions as before. Should there be any design you wish to remove, or any spots of varnish accidentally dropped upon the article decorated, you can easily remove it by applying the clarified spirits.

* * * * *

A few of the many articles which can be easily and advantageously decorated. Vases, trinket stands, and other ornaments in white china, with or without a border of gold; tea or coffee services in china, earthenware, or Bohemian glass; dessert services, flower pots and boxes, candlesticks, urn and jug stands, carriages, sleighs, wagons, furniture, tinware, and many other china articles which have been made expressly for decoration by this art; white wood articles, straw dinner mats, silk or cloth sofa cushions, scent bags, slippers, hand screens, fans, ribbons, articles in ivory, book covers; indeed it is difficult to say what ornamental article may not be thus decorated, from the panels of a room to the tiny articles of the dressing table.

To the house decorator this art offers a complete substitute for the costly process of hand painting for panels of rooms, and other portions of his work which require artistic embellishment.

As to the choice of subjects, of course that must be left to individual taste. The variety is large, comprising flowers, birds, figures and landscapes, of all dimensions and in every style, the beautiful products of Sevres, the works of modern artists, and inlaid woods.

The brushes may be easily cleaned with a little of the clarified spirits, as well as any accidental spots of the varnishes upon the dress.

As all designs are covered with gold, or plain, the latter will show on a white ground only, and are mostly used for ladies’ work. The covered designs will show on any ground, dark or light, and are principally used for manufacturing purposes, such as tin, woodenware, etc.

WAX ART.
Flowers and Fruit

WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR
MAKING THE WAX AND MOLDS, MATERIALS USED, ETC.

Wax Art was supposed to have reached the height of perfection many years ago, but since the invention of the various machines for cutting and molding designs into form from wax, the rapidity with which the work is executed, and the endless variety of artistic productions in wax art, it is evident perfection has not yet been reached, and we are led to believe it susceptible of attaining a still higher degree of excellence. The reason of its being taught so little during the past few years is owing principally to the fact of its simplicity since the use of molds and cutters, so artistically arranged that the form of any desired leaf or flower may be chiseled out at will, from the varieties of colored wax before you.

Nothing in fancy work excels the art of making Wax Flowers for interest, amusement and fascination. Only a few tools are required. A good eye for colors and a little taste in arranging them. There are two distinct methods. First,

=By Molding Them.= All tubular flowers must be made by molds, viz: Calla lily, lily of the valley, iris, morning glory, scarlet cypress vine, stephanotis, and all other flowers tubular or labiated. A good set of _wooden molds_, carved carefully, is the best, but any lady can prepare her own molds in the following manner. Get your flower fresh as possible, and stand it in water to give it perfect strength. Fix a little pasteboard box, or any small cup shaped box; prepare these yourself with strips of pasteboard, some larger or smaller, just according to the size of leaf or flower you intend to mold from; mix the finest dentists’ plaster of paris, (practice alone can perfect one in the proper consistency), and pour it into the flower, having enough mixed to fill it and cover every little part of the flower, let it remain until hard, tear off the flower, and you have a _perfect_ mold, every little vein and impression perfectly taken. With a sharp knife trim off all ragged edges and superabundant plaster, leaving your mold small as possible, and lighter to handle. These _leaf_ molds are much better for all uses, even for _sheeted_ wax flowers, than those _metal_ molds that _cut_ the wax, and never give the fibrous look needed for a _natural_ looking leaf. The lily of the valley needs a _wooden_ mold, the flower is so delicate a plaster mold cannot be made.

=Preparation of the Wax for Molded Flowers.= These recipes are of the times of our great grandmothers, who kept a few bees in their gardens, making honey from the fields of sweet clover, the apple and other fruit blossoms in the spring of the year, and buckwheat patches in the summer. The wax was brown, and they bleached it by melting it, clarifying it by selecting the whitest, running it off in thin sheets, and laying it in the hot sun to bleach. All bleacheries do this on a larger or smaller scale. After bleaching the wax white as muslin, you can make your parlor mantel ornaments of it.

Keep a set of tin cups for your different tints of wax, your white cup being the largest.

=To Mold a Calla Lily.= Have ready a basin of hot soap suds, strong as possible of soap, and hot, so that your lily will be smooth, not lumpy or bubbly. Melt your wax by setting the tin cup in _boiling water_, as glue is melted. To every pound of white wax add a tube of Winsor & Newton’s flake white paint, dissolved and thoroughly mixed with one tablespoonful balsam fir, or Venetian turpentine, and half table spoonful of dissolved gum mastic, the _whitest_ possible. This is a _good_ recipe for _sheeting wax_ for your own use, and will be given below in preparations for sheeted wax flowers.

Your liquid being thoroughly mixed in two cups, your white and yellow chrome cup, the yellow prepared exactly like the white, only _yellow chrome_ paint substituted for the white tube paint; your molds all prepared by standing soaked in the hot soap suds, you commence with the yellow cup, dipping your spadix mold, or the center of the lily, in the yellow cup, making as many spadix as you wish to make lilies. After finishing dipping spadix, you take your white cup and large mold, dipping once and letting it cool a moment, and then immersing the second time, to give a double thickness to the heavy portions of the flower.

A hundred lilies can be molded in an hour.

The stems of wire can be prepared next. Fasten the spadix to the stem, and slip the stem through the hole at the bottom of the molded flower, then with a brush dipped in the hot _green_ cup solder the whole together, spadix, stem and flower.

All molded flowers are made exactly alike. All tools dipped first in hot suds for every flower, after in the hot wax. It is well, as a rule, to make all _white_ flowers first—afterward, the colored flowers.

All variegated flowers are _painted_ with a brush, using Winsor & Newton’s moist _water colors_. All yellow flowers, like Thunbergia, spadix of lilies, etc., by dipping in the _yellow_ cup. A scarlet cup for scarlet flowers, blue for blue flowers, rose colored for roses, Naples yellow for sofrano and tea rose tints.

All roses and double flowers are made of separate petals molded and joined together afterward.

All large leaves should be molded, and all small leaves, all dipped in the green cup.

Your green cup is made of all your refuse colors melted together, and the tube green tint added. Never use any darker tubes than No. 1 chrome green. Your olive and other tints are made by the refuse tints thrown in from the drippings of red, yellow, purple, and odd tints.

=Directions for Sheeting Wax.= To every pound of bleached wax, after dissolving thoroughly in an outer crucible of hot water, add 1 oz. balsam of fir, or Venetian turpentine, in which dissolve a little resin, white or mastic. If white wax is desired, one and one-half tube Winsor & Newton’s flake white paint should be added—yellow, orange or rose, and just what other tints are required. All sheeted wax by machine is first molded into square blocks or bricks, and the machine slices off the sheets. But these machines are expensive, and no lady cares to have one who only makes wax flowers for pleasure.

_Green_ wax is made from the drippings of all the other tints, and from the yellow unbleached wax, with green tube paint added.

After preparing your cup of melted wax, have ready a plaster mold made on a tea saucer or tea plate. Dip your mold in hot soap suds, for flower molding, and with a small ladle pour over its wet surface the melted wax, trimming off the sides and making even sheets, remelting the clippings and resheeting it.

A wooden spaddle size of ordinary sheet wax is sometimes made, and used instead of the plaster mold, called _paddle wax_, and a great many teachers use a bottle, dipping the bottle, and forming wax thin at one end, thicker at the other. Either plaster, wood or glass must be dipped in the hot suds between every dipping in hot melted wax.

=Wax Fruit= is made in molds, and is always used with the paints in preparing the crude wax, and painted afterwards with dry powder paint.

Almost all molds for Wax Fruit should be made in halves—pears in three pieces—and some fruits require the mold in several pieces. Unless the molds are perfect the fruit will be defective, and nothing can make it beautiful when it is once molded wrong.

Your fruit should be perfect, and in making your molds care should be taken that there are no open places or leaks in the molds. Grease your lemon, apple, orange, or whatever is to be molded, well first in every part. Have ready your pasteboard cup, made a trifle larger than your fruit, nearly filling your cup with the plaster, mixed with cold water to the consistency of pound cake unbaked. Your fruit being oiled, _be very careful_ to sink it down _just half_ in the dissolved plaster. If you do not get in half, or if you sink it in more than half, you will have an imperfect mold, and your fruit will be defective. A little care makes it perfect.

As soon as the plaster is a little hardened, with a pen knife make four holes in the outer plaster rim, not touching the fruit. These holes, half an inch deep, are to hold the top of your mold; lock it into the lower half, blow off all loose pieces of plaster, and when completely hardened, oil the top of the fruit and the new half plaster mold, and the holes for the locks; then prepare the second half. Be sure and have your plaster fresh and strong, when thoroughly mixed to the same consistency as the first, pour over the fruit into the pasteboard cup, and even it all over. Leave it standing a good half hour, then remove the pasteboard cup, and if the mold seems hardened, carefully open it, being careful not to break off the locks, for upon the perfection of these consists the perfection of the fruit.

In a basket of fruit, lady apples are beautiful, crab apples, Seckle pears, Bartlett pears, a lemon, an orange or two, California plums, two peaches, and grapes are desirable. Two pounds of wax will make this elegant variety. None of the fruit should be large—all small, high colors, and _perfect_ in painting.

After preparing your set of molds, prepare your wax, as before directed, and there should be twelve gill, or half-pint cups kept ready for this work, with the different tints. A small sharp pouring spout on each cup is a great help. The half-pint cups being generally used for apples, peaches, pears, oranges and lemons; the plums, cherries, and little fruits are made with the gill cups.

All fruit makers, _masters_, will tell you to be very careful and not get too deep tints; for a lemon use common lemon chrome paint, dry; orange, orange chrome, dry, and after making those two fruits, you make from the same cups your apples, peaches and pears, because the solid, clear color is needed first, and after, you can paint them to their natural tint. 1st, Lemon. Match the color of the wax to the lemon you imitate. Dry patent powdered yellow, gives a splendid lemon tint.

After melting and tinting your wax, two cakes for one lemon, have ready your mold—remember that every mold must be soaked in hot, strong soap suds—have the upper half ready to put on as soon as your lower half is filled with the hot wax. Pour in the even half of the mold with the melted wax first. Never allow any to slop over the edge. Place on the upper half immediately and lock closely together, holding them clasped and turning them gently over and over, keeping every part in a slow, steady motion until the liquid sound has all ceased. About ten minutes is needed to every piece of fruit the size of a lemon or an orange.

Let them stand inside the mold for some time, opening very carefully. If your mold is perfect, very little trimming will be required. With a sharp penknife remove every trace of the rim where the fruit mold joined together, and wash off with benzine, rubbing a little dry powder over the lemon to give it a fresh picked appearance, and painting the stem end with water colors.

=Orange= is made precisely like the lemon, only orange chrome is used instead of lemon.

=Apples= are made from the lemon cup or the orange cup, with a little green chrome added to vary the foundation tint, and after molding, trimming and washing off with benzine, paint red with dry carmine, producing a splendid effect.

=Peaches= molded from the lemon cup, or orange, according to the tint required. The fault with fruit-makers consists in getting too deep a color in the cup, or melted tint, and that always produces the coarse effect of the fruits usually displayed. Peaches should be molded of a very delicate foundation tint, first trimmed while hot from the mold, as little rubbing as possible on them, painted _hot_, and after the carmine cheeks are rubbed on, (dry powdered carmine being used), white flock should be rubbed all over them, to give them the soft, downy effect.

Plums are painted with ultramarine or indigo blue added to the carmine.

Grapes are made over glass globes, blown for the purpose, first stemmed, then dipped in green or purple wax, and bloomed over with corn meal (sifted on them).

The California grapes are easy to imitate, for the green wax, after dipping, simply needs a little carmine painting outside.

No cross, piece of statuary, or vase, can ever be taken from the molds unless the molds are made in a number of pieces. After running the body of a cross, there must be a standard through the upright before it hardens, to support it. Pour the lower part on afterward.

=Molds for Leaves=, consisting of a great variety of beautiful formations, from almost every tree or shrub in nature’s garden. Among the number you have to select from are: Oak, maple, myrtle, lily of the valley, ivy, willow, currant, cherry, grape, orange, strawberry, blackberry, chestnut, etc., etc.

Wet the molds before placing them in wax, to prevent them from sticking. It will require but a little time for you to become familiar with the method of cutting and molding the leaves and flowers, and by the aid of your good judgment and exquisite taste you may soon be able to arrange in form almost any leaf or flower you may desire to see produced in wax.

=Wires.= The wire used for making the stems and branches is covered with silk or cotton, and of different colors, and can be had in coils or by the spool, each spool containing from twenty to twenty-five yards. Paper wire comes in bunches. Silver wire on spools or in skeins.

=Steel Molding Pins.= The molding pins are used for molding and changing the wax leaves and flowers into form desired, before placing them upon the stem. They are made of steel with glass and porcelain heads. Sizes run from 1 to 8.

=Moss= can be had by the package, or small sprig, for moss roses.

=Miscellaneous Articles.= Glass shades, glass balls for imitating currants, grapes, cherries, and other fruit, small sable brushes, and dry or liquid colors for tinting.

=The Wax=, consisting of a great variety of colors, you can purchase by the sheet. The size of a sheet of wax is 3¼×5¼ inches.

Having given those who desire to do wax work an outline of the art, with the materials used, and the method of applying them, I leave the rest with the learner, who requires taste for the art, and perseverance to acquire excellence.

THE NEW
SPRINKLE WORK

FOR THE BEAUTIFUL DECORATION OF
WOOD AND CHINA ORNAMENTS.

An idea of turning the standard accomplishments of the day into a remunerative, as well as an agreeable occupation for one’s leisure hours, has in the past few years so asserted itself in the refined female world, that the study of wood painting, and etching with the pen, as well as the production of sprinkle work, are now all much sought after.

There is no other handiwork that offers such enjoyment, to those possessed of a sense of the beautiful, as the different methods of wood decoration. While the study and practice requisite in difficult etching, and the decorative embellishment of useful articles with stylish ornamentation, makes one an acknowledged artist, so through the medium of sprinkle work, with the ever new and beautiful effects to be produced by the aid of pressed leaves and flowers, or by the simple method of painting bouquets and landscapes upon wood, there is endless scope for the taste of the amateur.

Sprinkle work upon wood, the subject of this article, is easily acquired. In the manipulation of the materials required, good taste is all that is necessary, although a knowledge of drawing is of great advantage. Besides the possession of the necessary utensils for the production of sprinkle work, one should not fail to secure a rich assortment of leaves, grasses and flowers, adapted to the purpose. A walk in the country in the early spring or autumn will provide one with a goodly quantity of lovely material; or suitable specimens can be procured from some neighboring florist. There are so many fancy articles prepared for this work, upwards of a thousand, that it is well to have a great variety of leaves, grasses and other designs, such as figures, initials, monograms, mottoes, arabesques, butterflies, etc., cut from paper, so that one can produce from the simplest to the most elaborate arrangement. The pressing and drying of leaves is so well known that we need not refer to it here, but it is well to select leaves of perfect form, as the correcting of deficiencies sometimes destroys the entire work. The leaves best adapted for this work are: Ivy, oak, clover, geranium, rose, myrtle, gentian, maple, edelweiss and ferns, avoiding the thick, fleshy foliage plants.

It is advisable for beginners to arrange their designs upon a piece of wood or paper beforehand, to judge of the effect. Bouquets are appropriate for the smaller articles to be decorated, wreaths for larger or round pieces. For those more advanced, Konewka’s silhouettes are recommended. With these and the addition of a little painting, highly artistic effects can be produced.

=Utensils.= The necessary utensils can be procured in complete outfits, neatly arranged in cases of different sizes. The contents are as follows: One wire sieve, with handle, one coarse painting brush, one fine painting brush, three hundred pins, one small pair of pincers, several china saucers, one tube prepared Vandyke brown, one drawing pen, one Herbarium with artificial leaves and space for the preservation of natural leaves and flowers, one envelope containing initials, six models of leaves.

In working with the sieve and brush, an irregular distribution of color is made almost impossible. The principal colors used in sprinkle work are the following: Prepared sepia, Vandyke brown, black, and dark green. A mixture of black and brown will produce quite a number of shades. The colors used are water colors, specially prepared, and come either in tubes in a moist state, or in cakes which require moistening. Great care should be taken not to get the color too thick.