FLOWER DESIGNS AND HOLDERS.
In order to make saucer bouquets you can take those with short
stems, like the balsam, stock, pansies, tea rose, oleander and lady slippers ;
these should be arranged with rose geranium leaves or ferns. Put on
an edge of the ferns and leaves alternately in a shallow dish ; next lay
some stiff stems crosswise on the water to prevent the flowers from
sinking; then lay in the dainty blossoms, mixing with them some fine,
small white flower to blend and harmonize the colors.
Shells make beautiful receptacles for flowers, and the beautiful tints
can be brought out by boiling them in acids and then polishing them.
These can be mounted on little stands of wood or wire, thereby making
beautiful ornaments for the sitting room, filled with ferns or cut flowers,
or will make a useful and unique ornament for the sideboard if filled
with small fruits or bon-bons. When filled with cherries, peaches or
plums the bright colors are brought into vivid contrast to the pink and
pearl tints of the shell. Some of the smaller ones can be filled with a
single flower and ferns. Or small holes can be drilled in them and they
can be suspended by means of a cord or ribbon ; the silver wire is also
pretty for this purpose.
The little white wood cages (in which canaries are sent on their
travels), if lined with dried moss and filled with grass and berries are
very beautiful ; these can also be filled with moss and hung in the win-
dows as floral ornaments. A low glass dish filled with moss, edged
with leaves and filled in with fine flowers, then starred with daisies or
pansies, makes a lovely table ornament. By saturating with fresh
water, flowers will keep a long time in wet sand. A large shell filled
with wet sand and any fine creeper falling over its edge, with a dash
of scarlet and white, will throw glows of brightness into dark corner
brackets or on library shelves.
WATER BOUQUETS FOR THE TABLE,
To make a bouquet for the table the articles required are a glass dish
(circular) and a low glass shade to fit inside the dish. Then make a
bouquet according to the size of the 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✪ Water Bouquets for the Table as much as possible to hide the
stalks, Which must be tied firmly together, and cut close. Then place
the dish in the bottom of the bath, with sufficient water to go over the
top of the shade. Then weight the bouquet, which has already been
TO KEEP FLO WERS FRESH. 19
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. Place the bouquet in the center of the dish
which is at the bottom of the bath, and take the shade holding it side-
ways underneath the water, and place it carefully over the flowers,
resting it on the dish.
Page 22 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
FLOWER DESIGNS AND HOLDERS.
In order to make saucer bouquets you can take those with short stems, like the balsam, stock, pansies, tea rose, oleander and lady slippers ; these should be arranged with rose geranium leaves or ferns. Put on an edge of the ferns and leaves alternately in a shallow dish ; next lay some stiff stems crosswise on the water to prevent the flowers from sinking; then lay in the dainty blossoms, mixing with them some fine, small white flower to blend and harmonize the colors.
Shells make beautiful receptacles for flowers, and the beautiful tints can be brought out by boiling them in acids and then polishing them. These can be mounted on little stands of wood or wire, thereby making beautiful ornaments for the sitting room, filled with ferns or cut flowers, or will make a useful and unique ornament for the sideboard if filled with small fruits or bon-bons. When filled with cherries, peaches or plums the bright colors are brought into vivid contrast to the pink and pearl tints of the shell. Some of the smaller ones can be filled with a single flower and ferns. Or small holes can be drilled in them and they can be suspended by means of a cord or ribbon ; the silver wire is also pretty for this purpose.
The little white wood cages (in which canaries are sent on their travels), if lined with dried moss and filled with grass and berries are very beautiful ; these can also be filled with moss and hung in the windows as floral ornaments. A low glass dish filled with moss, edged with leaves and filled in with fine flowers, then starred with daisies or pansies, makes a lovely table ornament. By saturating with fresh water, flowers will keep a long time in wet sand. A large shell filled with wet sand and any fine creeper falling over its edge, with a dash of scarlet and white, will throw glows of brightness into dark corner brackets or on library shelves.
WATER BOUQUETS FOR THE TABLE,
To make a bouquet for the table the articles required are a glass dish (circular) and a low glass shade to fit inside the dish. Then make a bouquet according to the size of the 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, which must be tied firmly together, and cut close. Then place the dish in the bottom of the bath, with sufficient water to go over the top of the shade. Then weight the bouquet, which has already been
TO KEEP FLO WERS FRESH. 19
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. 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.
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Water Bouquets for the Table