The Washington herald., 1914-05-13

That precious first bunch Of violets
and the wedding bououet that followed
II need no longer be thrown away. Not
that 1t ever was Of course. But 1t need
no longer moulder between the leaves
of the biggest wedding present book.
A little New York art student has
discovered q process by which she can
turn tbs flowers into beads. They re-
tain their color and most of their fra
GRANGE. And they will never wear out.
for they are as hard as china.
AT began experimenting during my
Christmas vacation" says Miss Louise
Wood. the inventor, who lives In Gram
ford, N. J., and attends the Cooper Union
classes in design. "I had read about the
orange blossoms in California, but they
came cut black. So I began to expert
ment to find q substance that would
harden the flowers and give them body
without spelling their color. My mother
helped me and at last we found a spark
ling substance that could be boiled up
with the flowers. and turned them into q
mass of dough. I worked this up on q
bread board, kneading 1t like the most
careful housekeeper. Then I moulded
the beads in the palm of my hand. some
round and some pear shaped. They were
baked on pins to make them hard and
BAfc Tue opcuiiS " slriue- tncIu.
Faded Ones Do as Wen.
IT combined them with real beads, crys-
tai or the same shade as the flower
beads, to heighten the artistic effect
Sometimes I used contrasting colors. It
was hard to get the flowers during the
winter, but found that faded ones would
do Just as well, so made arrangements
with the greenhouse at home to take
theirs at wholesale.
"A month ago came my first commits
sion. A little neighbor won a prize in an
oratorical contest and her. mother sent
over the bunch of salmon pink carna-
tions she had carried to have them turned
into beads. They came out the loveliest
rose pink and the child was delighted
with them. She can show them to her
grandchildren. They were like this"
She picked up a lovely string COM
bined with rink and cut glass beadlets.
with all .he fragrance of the flowers. 1t
is arcusing to identify the strings lying
on thei: white cotton beds in their little
square hikes. The purple ones we're
violets of course But what were these
dark red Iear-shaped ones strung with
silver that look as il they were made to
match the new mahogany gowns? Car
kind Galsworthy talks about
in the Dark Flower" And the grays.
that look as IL they were meant for
some dear old lady? French lilacs.
Lilies of the valley are corn-colored.
I'VE haven't been able to make a
white bead signs the experimenter.
I'm sorry because wedding bouquets are
almost always lilies of the valley-and a
wedding necklace should be white! But
the chemicals give them this cream tint
/ think they are pretty though with the
little gold beads. And I am making
some hand-painted boxes that will be
dainty enough for any bride.
Made of Ferns.
What are those green beads?" Ferns.
Some of them came with the flowers
one day and I tried them. The maiden
hair makes those soft green ones and
the real ferns the bright ones. I use
only the tip ends of the fronds. The
dark purple beads are made of hello
trope, and the mottled ones are pink and
white sweet peas. OF course I have to
work them up to gether in my hands
like marble cake-but it gives the effect.
don't you think so? The saffron beads
are jonquils. I'm sorry the suffrage
flowers don't come out a bright yellow.
Il can hardly wait for summer to
bring the roses, I am so anxious to work
with them. They are so expensive and
in such demand that I haven't been able
to get hold of many. had few Ameri-
can Beauties once and they made the
loveliest beads-almost the same color. ]
strung them with black beads and they
were bought at once
Gould I make beads of mistletoe: II
there were enough of it, though I am
afraid they would come out gray. But
holly ought to be lovely, the red and
green beads together. Oh, I try every
thing Mother does too. She makes
the beads when I am not at home"
Mrs. Wood. who looks hardly older
than her daughter. smiled brightly. st
used to try to write" she said, but my
typewriter is getting a long rest. I be-
l.. LIZ 4 SI.A