A Housewife's Diary

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 33, 23 February 1937, Page 14

A Housewife's Diary

• 1 1 , : Hints About The Home Por Cough, Beat to a froth tbe 'wbite of an "egg and some fine sugar. Take one teaspoonful tbree or four times at bourly intervals, Lip Stains. E.ub on a little diluted lemon juice or cold cream to remove fruit or nut stains from lips. Non-Slip Polisb. A non-slip polish for floors can be made^ by mixing together equal parts of turpentine, linseed oil, vinegar and coacb varnisb.^ Bub tbe mixture on tbe floor but do not polish. Storing Cakes. • A cake will be kept from becoming istale if an apple is put in tbe box or tin in wbicb it is being stored. Colours. Wben washing green material add a small piece of alum to tbe rinsing-water; tbhi will preserve tbe colour. A tablespoon of vinegar should be put in the water in whicb grejr or beige coloured material is being rinsed. Better Starch. A teaspoonful of salt added to boiled stardi gives a nice gloss and makes ironing easier^ Window Ledges. Keep tbem a good colonr by nsing strongly salted warm water for the scrubbing, Instead of Eggs. One tablespoon of golden syrup dissolved in balf a pint of warm milk is said tq be a mixture equal to four eggs. Jumpera. Start knitting children 's jumpera from the sleeve end so tbat, at any time, tbe cuff can be unpicked and a new one substituted, Dish Marks. Disb marks on polisbed tables can be removed by a mixture made from balf-a-pint oi linseed oil and balf-a-giil of turpentine. Apply to table marks at freqnent intervals and rub off eacb time witb a soft clotb. Tempting "Candles." , Make "banana candlesticks" froni balf a banana stuck into a pineapple ring witb a strip of angelica f or a wick, Por "Kiddies,M Keep tbem quiet and amused witb coloured pietures from magazines, a bottle of gum and a brusb, and a discarded catalogue 3itq wbicb to stick the'pictnires. Presents. Wrap tbem ttp in pretty colqured papers and put attractive tapes and seals on tbem. Cut-outs of flowers, sMps, etc^ can be easily made from a crepe paper. Making "Frost.'* Leaves and berries can be MfrostedM by dipping them in a warm solution made witb balf a pound of Epsom salts mixed in a pint of hot water, Cotton Wool. Cotton wool can be made" fire-proof by allowing it to soak, after purchase, for 12 bours in a batb to wbieh 11b. of alum has been added to every.two gallons of water, Hang np to drip and dry, Play Bheet. A sqnare of bed-ticking witb brass rings sewn at intervals to a broad bem makes a nseful "play-sheet" for little children. Thread.a stont eond tbrough tbe. rings so tbat tbe sheet can be quickly liffced from tbe. floor, like a bag, witb any toys inside it, New Year Flower. Tbe New Year flower is tbe narctesus. In China, wbere tbis flower is named the "Water Fairy," it bas been tbe eustom for hundreds of centuries to grow it in pots filled witb water and pebbles and forced, tbe idea being to time tbe opening of tbe flowers on New Year's Day. If tbe blooms do open on the first day of the year, it is said to ensure good luck and bappiness for tbe next twelve months. Flower Arrangements. Shelves, abont tbe widtb of a small flreplace sbelf, slung on tbe wall somewbere near the usual picture level, is one of tbe latest ideas for flower arrangement.. Tbey are just tbe tbing for holding bowls or pots of bulb bloomss Bowl Gardens. Bowl. gardens are eb'arming gifts. . Most novel of tbese indoor gardens is tbe fungus plot, arranged in a wide shallow bowb The yellow and creamy topped members of tbe toadstool family grow bere and there^in a grassy ground, and some tiny elves and gnomes are sometimes added, Needlecraft Novelty. . . A quilted satin cusbion witb a pocket in one side of It for tbe accommodation of a bot water bottle was sbown in a reeent exbibition of needlecraft. One of these cusbions won theapproval of Queen Mary. Tbe pocket, of course, would be nseful for needlework or a book tbat one wisbed to keep bandy but out of «ight, wben tbe bot water bottle was not wanted. Emergency Cosmetics. Have you seen |be little handbag balls made to contain an emergency supply of faee cream or powder? Tbey are about the size of a large marble and unscrew so tbat tbey come in balves, tbe top balf being coloured in red, or some otber bright colour, and tbe lower balf in cream. Wallpapers in Fashion. If you are planning new bomes for tbe New Year, remember in your deeorating tbat wallpapers are in vogue again and bave a much "warmer" effect tban the plain distempered or painted wafls. Papers witb a silk finish and a mottled surface or one tbat suggests quilting or pleats are piodern.