BOYS AND GIRLS.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 219, 10 September 1887, Page 3

BOYS AND GIRLS.

GOLI>EN RULES. 1. Surr every door af'cr you, and without slamming it. 2. Never shout, jump or run in the house. 3. Never call to persons upstair? or in the next room ; if you wish to speak to them, go quietly where they are. 4. Always speak kindly and politely to the servants if you would have them do the same to you. o. When told to do or not to do a thing by either parent, never ask why you should or should not do it. 6. Tell of your own faults and misdoings, not of those of your brothers and sisters. 7. Carefully clean the mud or snow off your boots before entering the house. 8. Be piompt at every meal hour. 9 Never sit down at the table, or in the parlour, with dirty hands or tumbled hair. 10. Never interrupt any conversation, but wait patiently for your turn to speak. 11. Never reserve your good manners for company, but be equally police at home and abroad. Let your first, last and bast fiiend be your mother.

Decorattng Pottery. Select a medium sized red pot, taking care that it is quite clean, and rub it all over with coaise glass paper to make it perfectly smooth. Have leady a bottle of Brunsu ick black, with which you paint the pot all over. If you find it too thick, pour in some turpentine, and . c tu" it well till of the proper consistency. You will find itdry rather quickly, but do not hurry it. When quite dry, paint it over with a second coat, and again let it dry thoroughly. Now trace on it the pattern you wish, with a fine paint brush and Chinese white. Do not be afraid, for if your black has been thoroughly hardened, the white can easily be effaced with water or w ith a moist sponge, if jou chould make a mistake. If you are not a good enough draughtsman, select your flowers from a picture, cutting them out to the exnch shape of the outline ; lay them against; the pot, and trace by means of their edges The flowers can bo placed in a group or made into a wreath by being repeated or reversed. Having thus got an outline, paint in the design with the colour*, putting on the first coat very thin, and when dry gh ing a second coat to touch them up whoie necessary, and veining the leaves. When all this is dry -and be sure it is quite dry, or you will spoil it -varnish over the whole article, in«ide and out, with clear copal varnish, not too thick, adding another coat if it seems to need it. Do the varnishing quickly and very smoothly. There ate plenty of diffeient articles that can be decorated in this manner, and by this means quite ordinary vessels, which we should think quite impossible to give as a present to anyone as they are may become specimens of tasteful work On a tall pot or jug a group of daffodils is s'mple to paint and is eflective, as also the narcissus, both of which aie easy to trace and require little variety of colour. The large marguerites are also very pretty done in silver, with golden eyes and delicate green leaves. The ivy forms a very pretty wreath as heading or border. For those who are not fond of anything in the way of sketching, I would suggest that a very pretty effect, resembling china, can be produced by means of decalcomanie, which, is so easy that anyone can do it. The transfers are very cheap, and the resemblance to china will be even greater if, instead ot Brunswick black, ordinary oil paint of some ■delicate tint be used as a foundation. After the transfers have been

applied and aro dry, the varnishing must bo done as already described.

Tasteful Lkttkr Weights. Several littlo knick knacks can bo made by careful aid ingenious fingets. Large shells, for instance, can be cleaned by me vis of sulphuric acid and water, in which they can be soaked, but not left too long, or they will become biittlo Molt .some lead in an iron ladle o\cr a clear fite, and, u hen boiling, pour it into tho shells which must be quite dry first, or they will break. When the lead is &et and cold, the shells* may be ornamented according to lastc, and as their shapes will admit. Whelks, which are more often selected, Jook besfc simply gilt or painted with a coat of some blight colour or black, and then tiacings or lings of gold to finish them. Flatter shells could be t-eated after the fashion above described for pots, ere, with a small design. These can *be used a? letter weigh te, or if pavly filled with lead poured in so as to pteucy them, the upper paits can be fitted in with a cushion for work. Stones can also be turned into ornamental weights if selected of a suitable shape with a nice smooth surface. A good vainich for them is 7-nado by melting gelatine in hot water. With some of the sheets of cut out pictures and sheets these c,\n bo beautifully decorated. Put some of the gelatine on tho back of the picture, and press it down smoothly on to the stone. When quite stuck, paint over the who'e stone with the gelatine, first on one side and then on the other. It may require to bo varnished afterwards, if not shiny enough.