And with Dinner, We'll Have Desert

Okay, you were promised some bedroom shots.

And I'll get to it, I swear.

But we have a fun little trip to a warmer climate for you to shake those Winter blues,

and you can visit it every time you sit down for a bite.

  My collection of cylinder vases is very versatile. I've gathered them in a variety of heights

and hefts, and they've really helped me create a lot of tablescapes, including this slice

of Winter forest we did for Christmas.

It's time for a cheap change.

 Let;s clean out those vases and get ready for a quick trick.

 You'll need a few succulents.

 Pea pebbles and pool sand are SO much less expensive than those little packages of decorative vase filler from the craft store. You'll also need some potting soil.

Rinse off the pebbles to remove silt and dirt.

Then layer them in the hurricanes. this will provide drainage for the plants and a steady base for some candles.

 Set your plants on the pebbles to "try the vases on for size."

 Remove some of the base if you need to.

 Take the succulent out of the plastic pot and break the root ball up a bit, burrowing it lightly into the gravel.

 Add potting soil.

 Use a sterling silver spoon to sprinkle sand over the soil in a thin layer.

You don't really need silver. It just makes for better photos than plastic.

 Aren't the layers cool? We added some shells for fun and texture.

 This is a centerpiece for the dinner table, so we have some pillar candles 

nestled in Dollar Tree vases to corral the wax. 

I just set them in the pebbles.

 How easy was this?

The spare look is a little trip to Palm Springs.

I estimate the total cost of the new materials to be about $12,

 and I have lots of sand and pebbles left over to get in trouble with...