Twentieth century home cook book

the latter to be in daily, familiar contact with the pretty house- hold decorations that are always found in such rooms, when oc- cupied by persons of taste, and an ordinary faculty of feminine ingenuity. We have seen bet- ter-kept and more healthj^ plants, in such a room where the family did the labor, and a prettier arrangement of them, than we ever saw in households where the care was left entirely to servants. One case in particular we recall. A large oriel window like that shown in the illustration made one side of the room. The carpet was a good ingrain, in pretty figured squares. AN OKIEL WINDOW. THE PARLOR AND LIBRARY. 357 There was not a costly piece of furniture in the room, and yet it had an air of com- fort and of refinement that is within the reach of all. Another room we remember where there was no bay window, was made fully as handsome, by the arrangement shown in the illustration of Living-room Window. The projection is inside, not out, and yet the effect is as pleasing, as unique ; serving, not only to hold and protect the plants, but adding to and ornament- ing the room. Except the ordinary furniture and the prints, everything. THE LIVING-ROOM WINDOW. DEAGOX-LIKE OENAMEXT. including the frames for the pictures, had been made by the members of the household. The chair covers and the back of the lounge were made of patch- work, resembling embroidery, which is named applique. Some of the individual figures were grotesque enough, as for instance, a dragon with bat-like wings, came near the present fashionable rage for Japanese ornamentation. The backs of the chairs were covered in designs something like that in the illustration of Chair Cover, or rather, ornamented by pieces like those fastened to the back, for the cut really represents what the ladies call a tidy. XII. A Rocking -Chair. The rocking-chair deserves more than a passing notice, for it is " mother's chair," and made for her especial use. The boys, let us suppose, having reseated and cushioned the old rocker, the girls covered it. The seat and back were cushioned with hair, covered with soft grayish material. Then Turkish toweling was cut some- what larger, to allow for fold and nailing. The figures were cut from dark cloth, and appliqued to this foundation with zephyr worsted, the fringe and tassels made of ravelings of the toweling colored red. The cross-stitch at the edges was worked with the same color. The dragon rampant was considered especially appropriate, since the grandfather had once been a sailor to the " China Seas." 858 TWENTIETH CENTURY HOME COOK BOOK. XIII. A Practical Family. The old grandfather had reason to be proud of his descendants. There were three boys and three girls, and each " wonderful for something," as the old gentle- "iTiLiiiii i' ; ^".'"i'^^ '- ....rp''''Tr! Ill" DESIGN FOR CHAIE COVER. THE DRAGON CHAffi. man expressed it. Dolly and Tom engineered the chair and other work of like kind, Aleck was good in carpentry work, and Sarah in designing. The Work-box and Seat was made by Aleck, Dolly and Sarah ; the designs and fittings being by Sarah, and the embroidery by Dolly, of course, while Aleck made the frame. The WORK-BOX AND SEAT. SCISSORS CARE. appliques were of velvet, caught down with a button-hole stitch of silk, and the embroidery in a large loose stitch, but delicately rendered. THE PAELOR AND LIBRARY. 359 Sarah was the "author," as Tom called it, of all the " cute fixtures." The Scissors. Case was her work, of course. Tom was a genius in his way — a maker of A PLANT CASE. rustic work and a florist helper to Anna, the artist. The Plant Case was the joint work of Tom and Anna. A PLANT FUMIGATOR PLANT-CASE BOTTOM