Pages

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sustainable Centerpiece

I've noticed, in the last few years, a proliferation of Christmas-themed items in every store in America. Christmas towels, Christmas dishes, Christmas sheets that you can slip between while you wear Christmas pyjamas. And I love that stuff. I have a small stash of Christmas items that I have collected, and I buy or receive one or two things a year.

However, rather than buying tons of decorations that can only be used at Christmas, it seems more sustainable to turn regular, non-Christmas stuff into magical holiday decor.

Therefore, I give you ... the sustainable centerpiece, made completely of items that can play double duty throughout the rest of the year.

These are the items that make up the centerpiece:

The white tray actually is a "Christmas item," but I use it year-round to hold hors d'oeuvres at parties or to carry goodies to potlucks. I also have here a red juice glass, which used to be part of a set until I broke one; two red votives, and a martini glass. Here's where they live most of the year:

The martini glasses actually get used for martinis. At least, they did, because I broke one of those too.

So, to make your own, find a pretty plate or tray that you already own -- plain white works great too! Gather up some of your glassware -- funky martini glasses, old mason jars, etc.

Arrange them on the plate, and fill the spaces between them with potpourri or pinecones from outside. Add a candle to each glass (I use LED tealights, which last forever, compared to regular tealights which burn out in a few hours). Voila! You've created a beautiful, sustainable centerpiece.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the swirly cone-shaped things and the stick ball!

Catfish said...

That was just some potpourri that came from Ikea, I think. Pier I and World Market and those types of stores have similar potpourri with lots of goodies that are good for decorating with.