Home-made Christmas Gifts.

In these days of severe economy it is sometimes difficult to plan pleasing and original gifts at a small cost. Tins with well-fitting lids may be utilised by painting them in gay colours and filling them with favourite home-made sweets, biscuits, shortbread or cakes, etc., or a set of painted and labelled tins for a pantrv shelf would be appreciated by the housewife.

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One would need an assortment of tins in different shapes and sizes, small tins of enamel paint in good colours (the gayer the better), three brushes (one thick and two fine), and turpentine for cleaning the fingers, brushes, etc.

Have the tins thoroughly clean. Apply a coat of the enamel paint thinly and evenly and allow it to dry. Then add a second coat. When this is dry commence your decoration. It may be dashing and gay or in dainty designs. Do not attempt a too ambitious design at the beginning. A few splashes or lines or a geometrical design would be effective in orange with black, green with mauve or yellow, etc.

For a set of tins for the pantry it is well to match the colour-scheme of the kitchen. For instance, one could paint a number of small tins for holding the different spices, etc., the names of the contents to be otencilled or written in black on plain ground. Large tins could be used for rice, icing sugar, etc., and so on. The tins look neat and give quite an air to the pantry shelves.