CORNER FOR BUSY BEES

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 17, 20 January 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

CORNER FOR BUSY BEES

THE FRAGRANCE OF A

GARDEN

ARE YOU MAKING POT POURRI?

(Conducted by TINKERBELL.)

Dear Girls, —

Everyone is busy makihg pot pourri these days, when gardens are at the very height of their summer glory. Several .Busy Bees have written me about the lavender plots and pot pourri patches in their gardens, and it all sounds so attractive and delightful x that I made up my mind right away to turn gardener next summer and have a little patch all my

I have a letter here from Dorothy Vause, which I have been holding for some tirtie in the hope of "squeezing" it in when space permitted. Dorothy writes: —- "The best way to make pot pOurri is to collect all dead flowers, especially gaily-coloured ones, place in a flat dish and put in a dark, dry place. We find the hot water service cupboard an excellent place and the flowers dry quite quickly, retaining their beautiful colours. These may be mixed or kept separately in jars (air-tight to retain the scents). If there is not quite enough scent for your liking, a few drops of perfume may be added, but I myself prefer it without. I will tell you what flowers I put into this little bag of pot pourri. The bright orange is marigohl, and intermingled with it are all shades of sweet peas, stocks ar.d Canterbury bells. In the front are blue irises and violets."

Dorothy sent along with this letter one of her little pot pourri novelties, and I know you would all love it if you could only see it. She also sent instructions for making a little lavender novelty, which seems to me so attractive and unusual that I am publishing it, feeling certain that other Busy Bees will wish to make it.

A LAVENDER BASKET. Take eleven stalks of strong, dry lavender with the flowers left on three Or four of them. Tie these at the flower end and start moulding like a basket, weaving in and out between the stems of lavender. We used ribbon |in wide and a skewer as a mould. When half way up the stem fill the

Fl<S I shape with the cut-off flowers and other pot pourri if desired. Continue weaving with ribbon nearly to the ends, fill tightly with flowers or lavender, and then tic all stems tightly

together. ' Decorate with a bow of ribbon at one end and a ribbon handle tied to each end of the basket. This looks lovely when finished and requires about 1 i yards of satin-faced ribbon. Altogether the cost is about

Dorothy has enclosed some little sketches to help us make her novelty. Fig. 1 shows how you set about making it, and Fig. 2 shows the finished article. Our other sketch illustrates another of these dainty little pot pourri gifts. Just a handful of rose-leaf pot pourri

in a little bag of "faded pink" chiffon. The top of the bag has a cluster of silk roses sgpd a loop of silver ribbon.