Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 April 1897 — IN JOYOUS GREETING. [ARTICLE]

IN JOYOUS GREETING.

Gifts tbit Are Fi aught with the Fcanon's Spirit. The custom of giving Easter gifts is on the increase. A few years ago a simple card sent to friends was accounted sufficient recognition of the day. But the card swelled into a leaflet, the leaflet into a book, and now the book has sought the companionship of divers and sundry articles of a distinctly feminine character, and with them proceeds to organize a Christnjas at the beginning of spring. With a slight change of sentiment even Christmas and New Year’s presents can pass muster as Easter offerings. The cards are delicate in design and spring-like in coloring. Faeetiousness creeps in through the only channel open to it, manifesting itself in groups of chickens and pictures of rabbits on cards designed especially for children. The eggshell, variously decorated, is übiquitous, as usual. The decoration of eggshells is not so difficult as it looks to one familiar only with their fragility. To prepare them, wash the shells first with vinegar and then with soda and water; puncture a small hole in each end and blow out the contents. Make a solution of plaster of paris and water, thin enough to run easily, and fill the shell half full, using a small paper funnel, then insert the two ends of a piece of narrow ribbon and continue the filling. It will take about twenty minutes for the plaster to harden. Then give the egg a sizing with gum water to make the color take, and it is ready for decoration. (loose and duck eggs filled with plaster of paris, prettily painted and arranged in a nest of colored cotton wool in one of the little Japanese baskets that may be

purchased for 5 or 10 cents, make cunning gifts for children. Anything that is just a little out of the ordinary is acceptable at Easter. Photographs mounted on bits of tinted cardboard or framed in delicate white frames prettily decorated make satisfactory presents —if given to the right people.