Toilet Cushions. — Pretty covers for toilet cushions can be made of bits of muslin and lace that are not large enough , to do anything else with. First make the cushion ; fill it with sawdust which has been heated until it is perfectly dry, otherwise the sawdust will shrink and the cushion be spoiled. Sawdust is preferable to bran, for there is danger of mice destroying the cushion if it is filled with bran. Cover the cushion with silk, or evei;! pretty cambric or cash- mere will do. Then make a square of the little pieces of MISCELLANEOUS HINTS 81 lace and muslin, and put over. Finish the cushion with a muslin ruffle edged with narrow Italian lace, which costs a few cents a yard. New Fringe Out of Old, — Cretonne table covers and mantel lambrequins may be finished with fringe of which almost every one has a supply. The worsted dress fringe so much worn a year or two ago can now be made Use of. It is also serviceable as a finish to mats made of burlap. If the fringe is dark-colored, it may be brightened by tying in lengths of gay worsted. Cleaning Tin-ware. — Do not set apart one day on which to clean your silver or scour your tin-ware ; there is danger of its not being done at all. Have your cleaning material ready, and when you are "doing up" the dishes after each meal, clean and polish the silver or tin you have been using. This is a good habit to cultivate. Reading and Washing Dishes. — I do not believe in the practice highly recommended by some excellent women of attempting to read while washing and wiping the dishes. I do not think it an economy of time at all ; it can be done, but not by a young housekeeper, who needs all her wits about her to see that her plates are properly dried, that no lint is left on the saucers, and no drops of water left in the teacups. Then there is danger of her being too much en- grossed with her new thoughts if she is reading anything that is worth taking so much trouble to read. The very best way is for her to use all her energy and culture — ^if she has it — in doing her work thoroughly and quickly. (If there is one word which occurs oftener than any other in these pages, it is the word "thorough." A good motto to hang on a kitchen-wall would be, "Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.") Then, in the sweet rest which she has earned, let her enjoy the treasured book. We know of one young woman who read this year Maudsley's "Pathology of Mind " in the few minutes she had to herself after doing 82 HOUSEHOLD HINTS. her morning round of housework and before she began preparations for dinner. Window Shades. — Scarlet holland shades, trimmed across the ends with antique lace, are very pretty and serviceable for a dining-room, giving a soft and warm light to the room, Scrap-Bags. — It is a good plan to have pretty scrap-bags in sitting-room, bedroom, and dining-room, and to hang one near the sewing-machine. They may be ornamental, and are certainly useful. Since trying this I have saved paper rags enough to buy all the new tin-ware needed in the house, and have occasionally bought a broom also. Every bit of cloth, every postal-card and circular, that would otherwise have been put into the stove as not being worth the trouble of a walk to the regular rag-bag, finds its way into the little scrap-bag. Pretty bags are made of perforated paper, with a simple vine worked around the top, the bottom of the bag being of silk or merino, and the top finished with a crocheted scallop ; or they may be made of Java canvas, with wire around the top to keep it in shape ; a piece of old hoop- skirt may be used for this purpose.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Toilet Cushions. — Pretty covers for toilet cushions can be made of bits of muslin and lace that are not large enough , to do anything else with. First make the cushion ; fill it with sawdust which has been heated until it is perfectly dry, otherwise the sawdust will shrink and the cushion be spoiled. Sawdust is preferable to bran, for there is danger of mice destroying the cushion if it is filled with bran. Cover the cushion with silk, or even pretty cambric or cashmere will do. Then make a square of the little pieces of lace and muslin, and put over. Finish the cushion with a muslin ruffle edged with narrow Italian lace, which costs a few cents a yard. New Fringe Out of Old, — Cretonne table covers and mantel lambrequins may be finished with fringe of which almost every one has a supply. The worsted dress fringe so much worn a year or two ago can now be made Use of. It is also serviceable as a finish to mats made of burlap. If the fringe is dark-colored, it may be brightened by tying in lengths of gay worsted. Cleaning Tin-ware. — Do not set apart one day on which to clean your silver or scour your tin-ware ; there is danger of its not being done at all. Have your cleaning material ready, and when you are "doing up" the dishes after each meal, clean and polish the silver or tin you have been using. This is a good habit to cultivate. Reading and Washing Dishes. — I do not believe in the practice highly recommended by some excellent women of attempting to read while washing and wiping the dishes. I do not think it an economy of time at all ; it can be done, but not by a young housekeeper, who needs all her wits about her to see that her plates are properly dried, that no lint is left on the saucers, and no drops of water left in the teacups. Then there is danger of her being too much engrossed with her new thoughts if she is reading anything that is worth taking so much trouble to read. The very best way is for her to use all her energy and culture — ^if she has it — in doing her work thoroughly and quickly. (If there is one word which occurs oftener than any other in these pages, it is the word "thorough." A good motto to hang on a kitchen-wall would be, "Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.") Then, in the sweet rest which she has earned, let her enjoy the treasured book. We know of one young woman who read this year Maudsley's "Pathology of Mind " in the few minutes she had to herself after doing her morning round of housework and before she began preparations for dinner. Window Shades. — Scarlet holland shades, trimmed across the ends with antique lace, are very pretty and serviceable for a dining-room, giving a soft and warm light to the room, Scrap-Bags. — It is a good plan to have pretty scrap-bags in sitting-room, bedroom, and dining-room, and to hang one near the sewing-machine. They may be ornamental, and are certainly useful. Since trying this I have saved paper rags enough to buy all the new tin-ware needed in the house, and have occasionally bought a broom also. Every bit of cloth, every postal-card and circular, that would otherwise have been put into the stove as not being worth the trouble of a walk to the regular rag-bag, finds its way into the little scrap-bag. Pretty bags are made of perforated paper, with a simple vine worked around the top, the bottom of the bag being of silk or merino, and the top finished with a crocheted scallop ; or they may be made of Java canvas, with wire around the top to keep it in shape ; a piece of old hoopskirt may be used for this purpose.

Household hints