January 1949

News not pictured

Glass curtains now may really be glass; Fiberglas yarns are woven into fine marquisette to give you stretchproof and shrinkproof curtains that resist wrinkling, repel water and soil, and launder like magic. Rehang curtains while they're damp and they need no stretching or ironing, but fall into place crisply.

Help yourself to better-looking bookshelves

HOW NOT TO WORRY

SO YOU'RE a worrier? Well, why do you worry? You may think it is because of your problems and troubles. Actually, psychological studies show that nothing could be farther from the fact. Your problems have little if anything to do with your worrying.

10 ways to worry less and accomplish more

Desk-table-cabinet

HERE is a home woodworking project for the man who has never hammered anything but his left thumb, and never made anything tougher than his point in an argument.

Garden clinic

Here's an ideal solution for slopes hard to mow and quick to wash away-- evergreen groundcovers which are attractive winter and summer. Select one of the three hardy groundcovers below or-- just as effective-- vinca, pachistima, bearberry, or winterberry.

You can remodel without raising the roof

How to slipcover a sofa bed

COVERING a sofa bed doesn't involve much more work than covering an upholstered couch. All you need to do is plan plackets and openings so the sofa bed's mechanism will work correctly without collapsing the whole slipcover. Here are instructions for covers for the most common kinds of sofa beds.

Building costs

HOME-BUILDING costs reached an all-time high in 1948. Thousands of you Better Homes & Gardens families have held off buying or building new homes, waiting for the price situation to clarify itself. To you, the question is: Where do costs go from here?

How to have quick bloom this summer

Well planned for a narrow lot

YOU can plan a house before you buy your lot. You can plan a house without considering the furnishings you have available for it. But it's not smart.

Fresh charm for your windows

ANY window can be a picture window: pretty as a picture. It all depends on how you treat it. Sparkling, original window dress-ups can give a whole room new charm, so look around and find just the right window treatments for your rooms.

The most house for your money

YOUR house must be built of materials that will keep maintenance costs at a minimum. It must be easy to keep clean.

You can nail down building costs with your own hammer

BEFORE this story begins, Julia and Wallace Stege were like thousands of other couples who are living on a day-to-day basis until they can buy or build, or even rent, their first home. For months the Steges lived in a series of motels around Los Angeles.

What kind of Success do we want for our children?

IF YOU are a normally proud parent, you dream grandly for your children as a matter of course. When my first was born, I spent a year anticipating the time when she would-- surely-- be a great musician, a great authoress, a great humanitarian, preferably all three. She couldn't miss. She was too beautiful, and obviously destined. Even my smart young wife agreed.

We give you the first look

YOU see here and on the following two pages some of the outstanding things in the garden field available for the first time in 1949.

What color can do for your dining room

COLORS make the best food more attractive. And those same crisp greens, ripe reds, and sunny yellows can make your dining room brighter and more inviting, too.

New colors for your kitchen

WARM new colors-- colors used daringly-- have come to the kitchen. Now available in new colors are steel cabinets, floor coverings, work-counter tops, curtains, and flower boxes.

What a steam iron ran do for you

YOU can't beat a steam iron for pressing. But that's only one of the jobs it can do for you. A steam iron will cut your weekly ironing time; freshen felts, velvets, and suedes; simplify sewing-- all with surprising ease. For today's steam irons are built for easy filling and emptying, streamlined for easy handling, and are surprisingly lightweight.

New trims for one-crust pies

FOR a single-crust pastry recipe, see page 78. Here's how to put the pastry in the pan: Fold rolled pastry in half, transfer it to pan, unfold, and fit it into pan.

How to get more living from one room

at your service

THIS column is devoted each month to answering your questions about the homemaking problems which at some time face every family. The responses below are taken direct from the pages of Better Homes & Gardens books.

How long

We furnish the most popular Five Star home

How to fasten two boards together

What you should know... about glass curtains

SHEER glass curtains, flouncy sash curtains, or tailored casement curtains play an important role in giving your home a well-furnished look. Glass curtains alone will soften sunlight in a too-bright room. Curtains plus draperies give a dressy look to your rooms.

What yon should know about draperies

DRAPERIES give you a chance to bring color-- and brightness-- into your rooms. If your walls and floor covering are plain, be bold with pattern in your draperies. If you already have plenty of pattern in upholstery and wallpaper, choose a plain, textured drapery that will highlight the background color of the paper.

New plan, new equipment

THE Raymond Terhaars, of Mount Angel, Oregon, entered a nationwide contest-- one of those in which you write the last line to a verse. The grand prize awarded by Swift and Company was a $5,000 kitchen to be installed by General Electric Company. The kitchen's plan was to be drawn by experts and executed with no fuss, muss, or bother on the part of the winner.

JANUARY GARDEN GUIDE

Plant bulbs in the Lower South: Easter lilies, Guernsey lilies, hemerocallis, rain lily, and zephyranthes. In south Florida plant gladioli.

Use cups and mugs for your house plants

The most from a tiny yard

Garden on the cover

Where to get it

Most items shown in this issue should be available in your local stores. If, however, they are not, for your store's convenience in ordering, we list the names of the companies making the items.

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

Jan. 1 For one day in this new year, I aim to be happy. I've just been figurin' up my gross income for last year. Why bless my soul. I had taken in a bit more than the year before last. So today I go about with a smile.

The handy man

Win a prize with your best recipe

RECIPE contest this month asks for tomato recipes or ice creams and sherbets. If yours is the best recipe, you will earn $10 and Cook-of-the-Month honors. And there are 20 additional prizes of $3 each.

Leftovers can save food and money

FOOD saving means dollar saving these days. So if your food budget is looking forlorn, make second-day meat, vegetables, or cereals work for you. Check the table below. When you have these leftovers, here is what to do with them:

Article

Your dog and mine

English Setter mothers have between 6 and 10 puppies in an average litter. With only eight places at the table, big litters may call for bottle feeding of a formula (as you'd care for a baby). Unless you help her out, too many pups penalize the entire litter and put a handicap on the good condition of the mother.

Tell Better Homes & Gardens readers about your project

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

My friends like to brag mournfully how much it costs to send their sons and daughters off to college. They forget to mention that it cuts the grocery bill in half, and makes possible an extra hour of sleep, four nights out of five.