A Housewife's Diary

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 11, 6 October 1937, Page 14

A Housewife's Diary

* Hints About The Home Pantry Shelf. Smearing a little olive oil over metal covers of glass containers prevents them being made rusty by steara. Grey Flannels. To clean use nail hrush that is flrst dipped in water and then in powdered magnesia. Brush all over, in this way and then hang up to dry. When dry shake out magnesia and press. WasMng-up. Have jar handy containing hot water with a little whitening mixed in It. Stand spoons and forks in jar and when dried they will be nice and bright, Knitting. Give a professional finish to handknitted garments by machine -stitching the seams together. Hair Ciirlers. Good ones, and cheap, are ordinary pipe-cleaners. Fifteen of them can be bought for a penny. Poppies. As cut flowers, poppies will last better if stalks are placed for about ten minutes in boiling water before putting in cold water. Furniture Cream, Oilcloth that is used as a covering ffflf table-tops, kitchen dressers, or cupboard shelves is easy to keep clean but soon loses its colour and shiny surface througlj constant washing and wiping. A good way to preserve both js to give it as application of white furniture cream and polish. It then resists marks and stains more easily and only needs to b« dusted. Painted hiscuit and cereal tins and caddies respond to this treatmeni and do not fingermark so readily, Bed Sheets. Luxury sheets af fine linen of delicate pastel shades, or even of crepe-de-cljme may not be yours for everyday use, but your beds may display decorative turnover sheet tops by day quite inexpensively. You need twice as much material' as will show for each top and the turndown piece can be embroidered or embellished with your monogram im a corner of the turned-down pieca.

Embroidery. Speaking of embroidery, if you happen to have a favourite transfer that you have used and would like to use it again, it is easy enough to renew it. Make a thick creamy mixture with castor sugar and cold water coloured with blue from the washing blue-bag. Use a thin steel knitting-needle as a "pen," dip it in this home-made ink and go over the pattern on the transfer pattem. When this has dried, it can be ironed on your material in the usual way. Remember Goggles. JTalking of beach-wear, sun goggles, if you are sensible, must be included in your equipmenjt if you do not want to go home with little wrinkles round your eyes arid, possibly strained eyes. Goggles, you might think, are becoming to no-one, but with their new colourful rims they are quaint and gay enough to be distinctly decorative. Rightly speaking you should have them to match the broad-brimmed straw or linen hat that gives the eyes their additional protection. New Sleeves. A still more deflnite change fn a dress can be achieved by removing its sleeves and putting in new ones in a contrasting materiaL Natural linen was the material at a plain dress of the buttoned-down-the-front type that had nothing distinguishing in its make-up. The sleeves, which were simple ones set into a plain armhole, were taken out aiid in their place were introduced short sleeves of bright red and white spotted cotton, wide at the top to give the latest broad shouldered effect. Small bows of the red and white fabric went down the bodice front where buttons had appeared and a red buckle to the linen belt completed the revised edition of the frock.