Open them at the top, paint them, and they are very convenient for
house plants, as they occupy but a small space. Open them on the
side, hammer the edges down neatly and they are nice dishes to bake
small loaves ot cake or bread in. Farmers will find them the best kind
of dishes to give chickens drink from. Take one, open on the side,
with a hammer and nail perforate the other side, and you will have an
excellent grater to use for that tear-producing condiment, horse-radish.
Then again, take one opened at the end, make a few holes in it, sink it
near any choice plant or in the center of a group of flowers in the yard,
and you will find it a fine thing when a drouth comes ; for it may be
filled with water, which will leak out, moistening the earth about the
roots of the plants, and doing more good than when thrown upon the
surface.
PAINTING.
HINTS TO AMATEUR ARTISTS.
Any one wishing to sketch from nature will find it improving to draw
something every day, beginning with the simplest design, as a leaf, a
flower, etc. In learning to draw landscapes, begin by sketching a limb,
then a tree, or anything that strikes the fancy. A very good plan is to
make a frame of wood or pasteboard, with thread running from top to
bottom, and from side to side, dividing it into equal spaces ; have lines
on your paper or canvas to correspond with these threads, then you
can easily see where to make the outlines of the principal objects.
To those who paint in water colors, painting on unpolished white
wood is very easy. The wood used is chestnut, but it is very soft, and
great care must be taken in tracing a design not to lean too heavily on
the pencil. This white wood when decorated is used for many things
— covers for blotting pads, stationery cases and paper knives. When
choosing the wood, procure it as white as possible and see that the
grain of it runs lengthwise and straight.
Floral designs with an illuminated border, which should correspond
throughout the set, look very pretty. Butterflies and birds, from their
gay colors, are also appropriate, and small landscapes or sea views look
excessively well* on a blotting pad. For the drawing-room, such articles
FANCY WOODS USED. 293
as book slides, card baskets and stereoscopic slide boxes may be chosen.
For the toilet table there are glove, handkerchief, jewel and work boxes,
suitably lined with velvet and silk. For glove boxes, an ornamental
glove is a pretty design; for handkerchief boxes, baskets of fruit or
flowers look very well. Wide borders of one color, such as dark or
light blue, crimson, scarlet, black or brown, set off the painting in the
center. Tea caddies in white wood look exceedingly handsome when
covered with Chinese figures, which ought to be painted in the brightest
colors.
When the design is drawn, before commencing the painting, clean
the wood thoroughly with bread crumbs ; and while coloring, place a
piece of paper beneath the hand so that it shall not soil the wood. Be
quite sure the wood is perfectly clean when ready for polishing, other-
wise the marks will show clearly, and cannot be erased.
Page 259
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AI-modernized reading of the original text
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Open them at the top, paint them, and they are very convenient for
house plants, as they occupy but a small space. Open them on the
side, hammer the edges down neatly and they are nice dishes to bake
small loaves ot cake or bread in. Farmers will find them the best kind
of dishes to give chickens drink from. Take one, open on the side,
with a hammer and nail perforate the other side, and you will have an
excellent grater to use for that tear-producing condiment, horse-radish.
Then again, take one opened at the end, make a few holes in it, sink it
near any choice plant or in the center of a group of flowers in the yard,
and you will find it a fine thing when a drouth comes ; for it may be
filled with water, which will leak out, moistening the earth about the
roots of the plants, and doing more good than when thrown upon the
surface.
PAINTING.
HINTS TO AMATEUR ARTISTS.
Any one wishing to sketch from nature will find it improving to draw
something every day, beginning with the simplest design, as a leaf, a
flower, etc. In learning to draw landscapes, begin by sketching a limb,
then a tree, or anything that strikes the fancy. A very good plan is to
make a frame of wood or pasteboard, with thread running from top to
bottom, and from side to side, dividing it into equal spaces ; have lines
on your paper or canvas to correspond with these threads, then you
can easily see where to make the outlines of the principal objects.
To those who paint in water colors, painting on unpolished white
wood is very easy. The wood used is chestnut, but it is very soft, and
great care must be taken in tracing a design not to lean too heavily on
the pencil. This white wood when decorated is used for many things
— covers for blotting pads, stationery cases and paper knives. When
choosing the wood, procure it as white as possible and see that the
grain of it runs lengthwise and straight.
Floral designs with an illuminated border, which should correspond
throughout the set, look very pretty. Butterflies and birds, from their
gay colors, are also appropriate, and small landscapes or sea views look
excessively well* on a blotting pad. For the drawing-room, such articles
FANCY WOODS USED. 293
as book slides, card baskets and stereoscopic slide boxes may be chosen.
For the toilet table there are glove, handkerchief, jewel and work boxes,
suitably lined with velvet and silk. For glove boxes, an ornamental
glove is a pretty design; for handkerchief boxes, baskets of fruit or
flowers look very well. Wide borders of one color, such as dark or
light blue, crimson, scarlet, black or brown, set off the painting in the
center. Tea caddies in white wood look exceedingly handsome when
covered with Chinese figures, which ought to be painted in the brightest
colors.
When the design is drawn, before commencing the painting, clean
the wood thoroughly with bread crumbs ; and while coloring, place a
piece of paper beneath the hand so that it shall not soil the wood. Be
quite sure the wood is perfectly clean when ready for polishing, other-
wise the marks will show clearly, and cannot be erased.