Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-12-22
THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
How II May BE Effectively and Inex-
pensively Decorated.


| Wise mothers save all the brillian,
fancy ornaments from one Christmas
to another. and. allowing for breakage,
there are always enough to make a
start on. Then get roll each of pink,
blue, white and rich red crepe paper,
can of gilt paint. some cotton bat
ting. few ounces OF diamond dust,
a pot of mucilagc and some narrow
ribbon to match the colors of the pa.
per.
Walnuts are gilded or silyered and
fastened to the tree by ribbons glued
to the nuts. They Lay hang In fes-
toons. Empty spools gilded and hung
in festoons or lunches are pretty.
Oranges and apples add their rich col
ors, and little gauze bags hold bright
colored candies. They are tied by rib
bons and made bright by dabs of gold
or other metallic paint, of which there
are several tints-copper. green. and
blue. besides sthe silver and gold. III
the tree is large, 1t can be decorated
with stars, half moons. hearts, arrows,
animals and dolls which may be cut
from card board Paper dolls cut this
way may be dressed very quickly with
the crepe paper by the aid of mucil-
age. These add greatly to the bright
ness of the tree and cost little bevond
the labor. The dainty little Japanese
napkins, which cost 10 cents thous-
and which can be used afterwards to
put in the children's lunch baskets, are
very pretty tied with ribbon to hold
candles or other things. The crepe
paper is used to make rosettes, flow
ers, streamers and snowballs. The
prettiest snowballs, however. are made
by fastening cotton baton In the form
of a ball and giving 1t light coatins
OF mucilage and sitting diamond dust
upon it. They look like real snow
balls.
Little round cakes for the tree are
frosted and then have features mark
ed upon them by chocolate icing and a
frill of crepe paper tied around them.
Animals, birds, boys and girls are
made of gingerbread. and either frost
ed or gilded. Sets of dominoes are
made by cutting warm fiat cake into
oblong squares, frosting them and
marking them with chocolate. They
are very much liked by the children
The candles for Lighting the tree
should be put on by man. Women
have never yet understood distances,
and science Of heat and art of precau-
ton. But whoever does 1t the greatest
care should be exercised. No candle
or tiny lantern should be placed SO
that its heat could set fire to anything
above it or so that L could tip over.
THE candles should be put on the tree
last of all so that the weight Of the
new burden could not cause branch
to sag near enough to take fire. The
list of fires caused by badly lighted
trees should make people careful.
Great care is the only safeguard.
The tips of the most prominent low
er branches may be slightly coated
with mucilage and diamond dust or ev-
en- table salt, but no -four. Flour Is a
nasty thing to get on carpet or gar
ments.
After the things are all ready to
hang on the tree the most snowy are
to be put up high, with the highess. like
fancy balls and the paper things, while
the festoons of popcorn, fancy candies
and copper. gold and silver tinsel are
placed all about. Dolls of every kind
make good ornaments. Their out
stretched arms are very appealing.