or two or three days under a heavy book.

[Illustration: VASE (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).]

NOVELTIES IN FERN-WORK.

We hope some of you have collected a good supply of ferns of the
different colors,--deep brown, yellow, green and white,--for by means
of a new process you can make something really beautiful with them. It
requires deft fingers and good eyes, but with practice and patience
any of you could manage it. Supposing it to be a table-top which you
wish to ornament, you proceed as follows: Paint the wood all over with
black or very dark brown; let it dry, and rub it smooth with pumice.
Next varnish. And here comes the point of the process. _While the
varnish is wet_, lay your ferns down upon it, following a design which
you have arranged clearly in your head, or marked beforehand on a
sheet of paper. A pin's point will aid you to move and place the
fragile stems, which must not be much handled, and must lie perfectly
flat, with no little projecting points to mar the effect, which when
done should be like mosaic-work. As soon as the pattern is in place,
varnish again immediately. The ferns, thus inclosed in a double wall
of varnish, will keep their places perfectly. Next day, when all is
dry, varnish once more. Small articles of white holly-wood decorated
in this way are very pretty, and a thin china plate with an overlaying
of these varnished ferns becomes a beautiful and ornamental
card-receiver.

[Illustration: CARD-RECEIVER (AUTUMN-LEAF WORK).]

A SHOE-CHAIR.

An old cane-seated chair will answer perfectly to make this, provided
the frame-work is strong and good. Cut away the cane and insert in its
place a stout bag of twilled linen, the size of the seat and about ten
inches deep. Around this bag sew eight pockets, each large enough for
a pair of shoes. The round pocket left in the middle will serve to
hold stockings. Have a bit of thin wood cut to fit the seat of the
chair; fasten on this a cushion covered with cretonne, with a deep
frill all around (or a narrow frill, provided you prefer to fasten the
deep ruffle around the chair itself, as shown in the picture), and a
little loop in front by which the seat can be raised like the lid of a
box, when the shoes are wanted. This chair is really a most convenient
piece of furniture for a bedroom.

[Illustration: A SHOE-CHAIR, WITH COVER (OR SEAT) REMOVED.]

SCRAP-BAGS IN TURKISH TOWELING.

These are convenient little affairs. Hung on the gas-fixture besi