prettiest things which we
have seen lately.

AN ILLUMINATED BORDER FOR A PHOTOGRAPH.

St. Nicholas has given us of late such precise directions for the
process of illuminating in color,[2] that it is not needful to repeat
them; but we should like to suggest an idea to those of you who have
begun to practice the art. This is to illuminate a border or "mount"
around a favorite photograph. The picture must first be pasted on a
large sheet of tinted card-board, pale cream or gray being the best
tints to select. You then measure the spaces for your frame, which
should be square if the picture is oval or round, and outline
them lightly in lead-pencil. Next you sketch and paint your
pattern,--flowers, leaves, birds, butterflies, or a set pattern, as
you prefer,--putting the designs thickly together; and, lastly, you
fill all the blank spaces in with gold paint, leaving the pattern
in colors on a gilded ground. The outer edge of the frame should be
broken into little scallops or trefoils in gold, and the card-board
should be large enough to leave a space of at least three inches
between the illuminated border and the frame, which should be a wide
band of dull gilding or pale-colored wood, with a tiny line of black
to relieve it. The ornament should, if possible, chord in some way
with the picture. Thus a photograph of a Madonna might have the
annunciation-lilies and passion-flowers on the gold ground.

[Footnote 2: SEE ST. NICHOLAS, Vol. IV., page 379.]

A BOOK OF TEXTS.

Another choice thing which can be done by a skillful illuminator is a
small book, containing a few favorite texts, chosen by some friend.
Half-a-dozen will be enough. Each text occupies a separate page, and
is carefully lettered in red or black, with decorated initials, and
a border in colors. A great deal of taste can be shown in the
arrangement of these borders, which should be appropriate to the text
they surround. A title-page is added, and the book is bound in some
quaint way. A cover of parchment or white vellum, illuminated also,
can be made very beautiful.

A CARTE-DE-VISITE RECEIVER.

For this you must procure from the tin-man a strip of tin three times
as long as it is wide--say six inches by eighteen--with each end
shaped to a point, as indicated in the picture. Measure off two bits
of card-board of exactly the same size and shape; cover one with
silk or muslin for a back, and the other with Java canvas, cloth, or
velvet, embroi