Decorating with Beautiful Ornaments in Glass Bowls

A great idea for a unique look in your decor is to use decorative sand! One can purchase this sand in small containers, (at least that's all I've seen so far) it comes in different colors! I have personally bought some silver sand for my own use in decorating!
Take a clear glass or crytal vase and fill it with the sand, filling the container about half full.
(color of your choice) Then choose a votive candle in a co-ordinating color or just a color that you like and insert it in the center of the sand! For an extra sparkle scatter a few glass beads or jewels on top of the sand! Nice touch! Place vase or candleholder on the center of a table or on a mantle. This makes a pretty addition to your decor! Note: If you have small children place out of reach as the sand could be bad if played with or ingested!) Have fun trying this in glass containers of different shapes and sizes!

Cranberries are very popular around the Christmas season. Fill a tall glass or crystal vase about 3/4 full with fresh cranberries for an elegant look! You can also layer the cranberries with different types of nuts (in there shells) like walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, ect. this is another very pretty look! It also is a nice affect if you insert a few flowers in the top, you can get some nice sprays of artificial pointsettias in red or cream color this makes for a very nice arrangement! Place a couple of varying sizes on the mantle or on a sofa table! Add some elegant glass balls around the base with a sprig or two of greenery and you have a lovely display!

A beautiful basket with a big bow attached, filled with pinecones set in the entrance way or by your front door is a nice look! Choose large pinecones as they look great and you won't need as many! If you want another look, take a can of gold or white spray paint and (preferably outside) spray paint some of the pinecones. Then mix them with the natural colored pinecones for a festive look! You can also mix in a few ball ornaments to add even more sparkle!

Another great idea to use as table decor is to take a large clear glass vase or bowl. Find a nice shaped one, that is fairly tall as well as wide! Fill the vase about 1/4 or so full with tiny pinecones. You can collect these from around your area if you have pinetrees nearby. If not, you can purchase small bags from a craft store, like Michaels! Then take some fake snow and spray or sprinkle a layer of this on top of the pinecones. Then take a few twiggy branches and insert these into the pinecones in the vase. Hopefully you can find some branches that have broken off around your yard, if not these can be purchased from a local nursery or greenhouse! Another idea is to spray the branches white with a can of spray paint, this adds an elegant affect. Just arrange the branches in a nice fashion in the vase. One can add some little glass balls if the branches allow. If not, it will look lovely as it is! A great way to bring the outdoors in, for a natural look!

There are some great uses for those clear glass vases and containers that once held christmas ornaments. Now you can fill them with your choice of other elements. In this picture I used a tall glass rectangle container and filled it with acorns. This is a very natural look and is fine for a year round decoration. The acorns were some I purchased at a local department store.

A great way to update a candle centerpiece or display is to pull out that fancy cake plate that is in the back of your cupboard or china cabinet and make some great use of it! A 3 tiered cake plate works for display as well but that's another idea I'll share soon!
Take your cake plate and position 3 candles of varying heights in the center of it. Add some cut pine or cedar around the base of these. Place some pretty glass balls amongst the greenery (your eye will tell you what looks good) You can also insert a few artifical holly berries or a ribbon bow or just keep it simple. Sometimes adding too much takes a way from the elegance of an arrangement! Choose colors that go with your theme or in keeping with the reds, greens, golds or silvers of the season! If you don't have a cake plate you could use a charger plate, you can purchase these in gold and silver for under five dollars a plate and they work really well for this idea! I also refresh the pine or cedar every week or so if it dries out! Hope you have fun with it!

Christmas is a wonderful time to get out those beautiful crystal bowls that you have in the back of your china cabinet. I love to place them around the house on end tables or on the coffee table. You can use a theme of one colour and fill the crystal bowls with these or you can mix the colours for a beautiful look as well! Crystal vases or just tall glass vases look amazing when you fill them with these beautiful glass balls too! Play with the different colours and soon you will have the look that you love. Enjoy trying different containers and bowls! I like the ornaments that have a lot of shimmer or a little gold or silver design on them too!

Another fun idea is to use natural fruits like lemons, limes and oranges... in this centerpiece that I used for a dinner party I used lemons and limes. Inexpensive and looks great!

Another great decorating idea is to dress up your fireplace mantle for Christmas! Adding some greenery, like fresh cedar(if you have access to it) or pine branches are very nice! You get that fresh aroma too! Just make sure there is no sap on the branches before you bring them in! Add glass ball ornaments in different sizes and arrange them amongst the greenery! You can use ornaments in several different colours or go with a theme or just use one or two colours! Red and silver or red with gold are very festive combinations! One can also add some bows in between the ornaments and greenery for another great look!

Some pretty t-shirts with colorful ornament designs! Would make a nice christmas gift or get one for yourself as a holiday fun shirt! Looks great with a nice pair of jeans!

Some great ornaments in
chocolate brown with
silver netting to accent
them! Nice addition to a
bowl or just to hang on
the tree or on a garland!
One can find these or
ones like them at most
holiday stores.

Here are some ideas to use on your mantle. Many looks can be achieved depending on your style and taste. Just play around with different elements until you like the end result!

A two or three tiered cake plate can be transformed in just a matter of minutes to be a centerpiece or a wonderful display piece! Take your cake plate preferably one with 2 or 3 tiers. If you just have a one level one with a fancy base this can be made to look very attractive as well!Now choose a color theme if you like, maybe red and gold or red and silver, there are so many choices now of the colored glass balls and ornaments! First on the bottom layer of the cake plate, place some pine or cedar, in the picture I used some pine, you can choose real or artifical it doesn't matter for this! Then add some berry sprigs amongst the pine, I used gold berries in this display. Then just nestle some ornaments amongst the pine. I like to place three together, it seems to look best, not to cluttered. Then just play with the arrangement a bit. On the second layer I keep it a little simpler by just using the ornaments for a lighter look. If using a three tiered cake plate the top layer looks elegant with just a couple of glass balls to accent it! One can also add a ribbon bow and nestle that amongst the pine and ornaments as well! You can acheive some very pretty arrangements, just play around with different looks until you find one that suits your decorating taste!

You can really add some sparkle to a centerpiece or tabletop arrangement by using a bevelled mirror, at least 10x13 inches in size or larger! Place the mirror where you want it on the table. Add some candle holders in varying sizes and then place the candles in them, you can mix it up a little by using varying sizes of holders and candles. Chunky candles can be nice or using a couple of tapered candles look great too! White candles or festive colors are fine! Then place some sprigs of holly around the base of them. Take some of those jewel stones, you can use colored ones like red or green, (I prefer the clear ones) and place this around the mirror. You can pick theses up at most dollar stores! They add a beautiful sparkle! Add a bow if you like and you have a display that will surely attract attention!

A great idea for a table centerpiece that really sets the mood is using floating candles! Find a round shallow dish, maybe a nice crystal one or if you have a fancy dessert dish that is clear and has a nice pedestal base, this would work too! Fill the dish about 2/3 full of water. Add a few decorative jewels or beads in the bottom, I like the clear ones that have a shimmery watercolour look to them. Then place your floating candles on top. For an added touch, I sometimes add a drop of food coloring to the water to add some drama! A little red or a little green is nice! Just one drop gives a nice effect! Have fun and play with the idea! I have also added a few baby flowerheads like white carnations or baby roses floating in the water as well! There are lots of ideas to try so just experiment and you will come up with something beautiful I'm sure!

Using another of the glass containers that I used at Christmas time with beautiful ornaments in it, I now filled this with espresso colored baby pinecones. I love the look of dark woods and these go beautifully with my decor. They came in a box of mixed potpourri and they have a fantastic scent too!

Here is the glass vase with the baby pinceones on a little table with a lamp and a candle. Makes a nice fresh look!