ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 26 November 1927, Page 11

ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS GIFTS

What to Choose and How to Make It

Scene: A comfortable living-room. An everyday family sitting around a table, each person in an attitude of despair, clutching a pencil and pad. Time: Less than a week before Christmas Day. Everyone looks worried except Father, who is sitting peacefully smoking and reading the paper. You see he bought his Christmas presents some time ago and is not drawing up a list at the last moment. Yes, there’s a moral in it: Don’t leave your Christmas shopping until the last week.

PLAN EARLY AND SANELY. Start early and draw up a list of the people to whom you will give presents, write against each name the present you are likely to buy, and tick each one off as you buy or make their gift. Probably the list will be altered as you go along, but it will be something to work on. Study your friends’ tastes. A fancy cigarette case would hardly be appreciated by- old Aunt Eliza, while Uncle Toby (who is a staid Prohibitionist) would look askance at a cocktail shaker. It would be indelicate to give Bobby, aged eleven, a box of soap—such things revolt the soul of young boys. It would be far more appreciated by Ethel. There are ever so many pretty things you can buy, especially for girls — boxed stationery, scent, powder, powder bowls, scent sprays, fancy garters, and of course more expensive articles. But usually there are so many people to remember at this time that one cannot afford to pay too much for one gift. After all, it is the thought that counts, not the intrinsic value of a thing. HOME-MADE PRESENTS. Numerous small presents can be made at home, and this allows for individual artistry. Shoe-trees may be bought, the ends gilded or silvered and ribbon ruched on; coathangers are □added with cotton wool and covered with bright silks. One ,ery pretty one was covered with silvery-grey chiffon velvet, with a small cluster of cyclamen flowers. Or you can buy tins of talcum powder. Cut a strip of satin or taffetta, doughly about Bin. x

lain, (it depends on the size of the tin), run about six horizontal gatherings on the machine, allowing for a frill at the top, turn in the two side hems, wrap the gathered strip around the tin and sew up the side. If you are careful the joining will not show. Finish around the top with some rosebud trimming (a yard will trim four or five tins). The backs of powder-puffs can be covered with a round of satin or silk, and the ever-useful rosebud trimming will make a neat and pretty edging. A very dainty gift is one of the fashionable Dolly Varden aprons. These may be bought already stamped, or you can buy j-yard of Indian Head cloth, and a, transfer, then, hey presto! from these small beginnings may be fashioned a dainty apron. A quick and effective way to finish the edge is to tack it, then running-stitch it in one colour and fill in the gaps with another. This will hold the hem quite firmly, yet is quicker than blanket stitch. Another idea for talcum powder is to get a kewpie, cut a small squire in the centre of its back, half fill it with the powder, and paste a piece of stamp paper or adhesive tape over the opening. After it is dressed with a frill around its “tummy,” prick holes in the head with a darning-needle, and you have a novel powder-shaker. (If you are sending it away, don’t prick the holes in the head as the powder will escape. You can easily give the necessary instructions in a covering note.) So you see, with a little time and thought, you can contrive all sorts of dainty little knickknacks.