NOVEL DECORATION

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 266, 5 August 1932, Page 6

NOVEL DECORATION

Stained Glass Window Made at Home HOW TO GO ABOUT IT There is hardly any limit to the variety of articles that can be made with a fret-saw, and of these a richly-coloured window that seems to be made of coloured glass Is unusual and effective. Real stained glass is expensive, because specially treated glass is cut to various shapes, and framed with lead strips, special tools and appliances being needed. An excellent imitation of stained glass may be made by using thin plywood in place of the lead, and coloured papers in place of the tinted glass. The idea may be applied in various places, such as the tops of screens, and the lower halves of bathroom and kitchen windows. A piece of plywood must first be cut to the exact size of the window to be filled. If this is larger than 15in. by 12in., 3-161 n. material should be used, but if smaller than this l-Bin. wood will serve. The outline of the pattern to be cut out is drawn on the wood if the design is simple, but if the design is more intricate, it should be drawn on paper first, and traced or stuck directly on the wood. Bird and Animal Patterns. It is not difficult to make a design fill a space of any size or shape, and a simple design is usually more pleasing than a very complicated one. Patterns with birds or animals are suitable, and look well when picked out in varying colours. The design is then cut out with a fretsaw, the outer margin or frame around the design being about 8-Bin. or iln. wide, and the “ties” making up the design are Jin. wide in a small panel, and a little wider in a large panel. Each panel will be somewhat flimsy when cut out, and should be handled

carefully, but as the rest of the work is done with the pattern fiat on a table, it should not be broken. The sharp edges of the front of the design are rounded off a little with sandpaper, and the whqle pattern painted dead black. . Choosing and cutting the paper Is very simple. Bright colours should be chosen, such as reds, blues, greens!, and yellows- Care should be taken when deciding the colours for the separate openings. . „ , Paper Under the Design. A piece of the paper to be used is laid under the design, and the shape of the space marked round with a pencil. The shape is then cut out of the paper, allowing tin. margin all round to fix to the wood. Two pieces of paper filling adjoining spaces may overlap on the same tie to give a firm hold. When the paper shapes are glued on the bdck of the wooden design, the panel is fixed on the window with short brass nails, or narrow strips of wood may be nailed to the sides of the window to keep the panel in place. Several suitable designs are given, and observation of stained glass windows wdl enable a worker to plan his own designs, and if the work is carefully done the effect will be most pleasing. nr * T T n 4 W A T>MTTT

A piece of the paper to be used is laid under the design, and the shape of the space marked round with a pencil. The shape is then cut out of the paper, allowing ixn. margin all round to fix to the wood. Two pieces of paper filling adjoining spaces may overlap on the same tie to give a firm hold. When the paper shapes are glued on the bdek of the wooden design, the panel is fixed on the window with short brass nails, or narrow strips of wood may be nailed to the sides of the window to keep the panel in place. Several suitable designs are given, and observation of stained glass windows will enable a worker to plan his own designs, and if the work is carefully done the effect will be most pleasing. WALLPAPER WARMTH Unique System of Heating A new kind of wallpaper which warms the rooms in which it is used has just passed successfully through a series of tests. It was fitted to the ceilings of some of the cabins in the Canadian Pacific Railway’s liner Duchess of Richmond. Occupiers of the cabins found that in the coldest weather they wore able to keep them at a pleasant temperature. The wall or ceiling covering, which is a British invention, is constructed rather on the lines of the suits worn by airmen in very cold weather or when they contemplate ascents to great heights. Into the fabric of which this clothing is made is woven a network of fine wires, through which an electric current is passed. The current heats the wires and ..tl-ms the wearer. These new wall and railing papers are constructed of thin insulating material in which wires are embedded in such a way that they are invisible. By connecting the wires to the electric mains the walls and the ceilings can be made to give out a gentle and pleasant heat PAINTING IRONWORK Good Protective Dressing A common practice with ironwork is to use a priming coat of red oxide and then apply oil colours. A more effective protective dressing is a paint composed of 2Jlb of Portland cement. 41b lampblack, slb whiting, Tjlb graphite, and 51b each of whitelead and zinc oxide ground in suflicient linseed oil to make a stiffish mixture. Still better results for adhesive and resisting powers are obtained with pure bituminous paint. This should bo applied direct to the iron, without any priming,' and in two well-brushed-on coats. If already painted, and the paint is fairly sound, one coat will suffice. But the surface must be thoroughly Cleaned first, and all bare spots touched up. Where the sombreness of the bituminous paint is a drawback, and more decorative effects are desired, after the bituminous paint is dry, clean, apply two coats of knotting, and then ordinary oil paint of any colour; one coat will be sufficient. All Ironwork before being painted must be thoroughly cleaned, and rust and scale must be removed. .