Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1879 — How to Make a Water Bouquet. [ARTICLE]

How to Make a Water Bouquet.

Lately, when on a visit to a country house where the dinner table decoration is much thought of, I saw some varieties of what is called “ a water bouquet,” which, I think, some ladies who do not already know it may be glad to hear about, especially at this time of year when flowers are scarce and ingenuity is taxed to the uttermost for novelty and variety. The articles required are a glass dish (circular) and a low glass shade to fit inside the dish. You then make a bouquet according to the size of your shade, as there must be a margin of an inch or so between the glass and the flowers. The few flowers—and very few will suffice if the shade is small—should be lightly put together, with fern or moss arranged as much as possible to hide the stalks, wilich must be tied firmly together and cut close. To look well for the center of a dinner table, the shade should not be smaller round than a pudding plate. A larger size would look even totter; but the difficulty in making it is the quantity of water required, as you must place the dish in the bottom of a bath with sufficient water to go over the top of the shade. Then weight the bouquet, which has already been made (this can be done by attaching the glass stopper of a decanter to the short’stalks of the flowers), to make it stand upright and prevent the bouquet from floating; a smaller stopper on each side would perhaps keep it more upright. Place the bouquet in the center of the dish which is at the bottom of the bath and take the shade, holding it sideways underneath the water, and place it carefully over the flowers, resting it on the dish. Care must to taken to keep the shade well under water, as, when the bouquet is completed, the shade must

be quite full of water, to the exclusion of all air. Lift the whole thing out of the water, slowly and with care; dry the dish and place it on the table. It is unnecessary to say that it will be very heavy. The effect is beautiful, as the flowers appear magnified, through thuwater,- and a sparkling silvery eflect is given to the leaves. This bouquet will last for two or three days as it is, and by changing the water for much longer. 1 must not omit to mention that in removing the shade it must be placed underneath the water, and care must be taken to do this gradually or the glass may crack and break. Even if the flowers have a withered look when seen without the water they appear fresh again when the water is re-, newed. A bouquet in this way renovated has been known to last a month. Lycopodium looks very well with the flowers, so do any scraps of fern. If other flowers are not forthcoming, holly and laurustinus, with the leaves stripped off, are most effective. Adding a wreath of real fresh flowers or moss around the edge of the dish outside enhances the beauty and makes a tasteful centerpiece. This can be done with a real wreath or by filling the small glasstroughs fprmiing wcufcle. Very small water bouquets can be made with finger glasses, and pink ones have a pretty effect These ornaments are cheerful looking on a breakfast table. Table decorations can bo arranged with various kinds of leaves, a few flowers and pieces of soft cotton wool put in, with a preparation called •• frost” sprinkled thickly on. The cotton wool should only peep out from among the leaves as a sort of snow foundation. Gum must first be applied4o the leaves, etc., or the “frost” will notremain. This, it,tastefully arranged, looks well for lighted supper or dinner tables when flowerS are scared. Autumn leaves, with their rich tints, especially the beech and chestnut, look particularly pleasing. Well matched ones should hide the edge of the glass and fall on to the table.— London Queen.