An Artistic Card Tray
Serving and card trays can be made very beautiful and artistic with the use of butterflies, natural grasses, and the fluffy part taken from the milkweed pod, formed to make a natural scene beneath the glass bottom of the tray. If an old tray is to be used, remove the old panel, or painting, beneath the glass bottom, and clean the glass thoroughly. Lay it upside down on a flat table top and carefully place on it a cluster of grass, or weeds, or some botanical specimens, that are well dried. Arrange the dried butterflies in a natural way around the grasses with their backs, or tops of the wings, facing out, or on the glass.
The silky down of the milkweed seed, with the seed removed, is used to cover the specimens and grass, which forms the most delicate background possible. It is laid on quite thick at the bottom of the scene, gradually thinning it toward the top. Be careful to see that the fibers of the down are placed so that they will radiate from the bottom of the grasses to the outer edges. A piece of white, pearl, or gray cardboard is then placed on this background, and another glass or board back is sealed tightly over the whole with glue or wax.—Contributed by Joe V. Romig, Allentown, Pa.