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I've just recently hauled out all of my summer decor at home, turning my Cottage into a beachhouse for the summer season. One of my vignettes features a collection of old apothecary bottles gathered together on a pedestal - and inside those bottles, you'll find various sand, shells, rocks, sea glass, and other tiny little bits that I collect on my travels. I label them with a dated tag and tie it on with a twist of raffia. I've done this for several years. I was surfin' the web recently and found this photo from HGTV's new show, 'Red Hot & Green': contributing eco-designer Danny Seo (love his
blog,
'Simple Green') pulled together some elements that the homeowners have collected, and placed them in jars...
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Check out that jar second from the left. What's in it?
Two old apothecary bottles filled with sand, and tied with raffia!
Who knew I was so ahead of trendy eco-design?!
(PS: I don't take anything but sea glass from marine sanctuaries or protected beaches, BTW).
I caught the new HGTV show, which features Danny Seo and cohort Carter Oosterhouse (formerly carpenter on Trading Spaces & While You Were Out - I think), and was really impressed with the great ideas & techniques for incorporating green thinking into design. Check out the website for much of the info in features, photos, & video clips:
Red Hot & GreenI have to say that I enjoyed the show EXCEPT for the fact that the kitchen they demo-ed looked exactly like my vintage kitchen here at my Cottage! Same old white cabinets, same black & white checkered floor, same green walls (ok, mine are a bit more olive and less lime). I was astounded that they'd rip all that charm out! Also that they put grasscloth wallpaper up in a kitchen - it may be eco-friendly, but it's kinda' hard to
clean, guys. Ah well
.And on a related note, I found these lovely bottles on the
Rosanna Inc. web site. These are ceramic, made from molds patterned after vintage bottles that designer Rosanna found in Oregon. I just LOVE these colors!
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I was thinking that for a really eco-friendly twist on this idea, you could take a bunch of any old glass bottles - apothecary, canning, even Coke bottles - and put a spoonful of acrylic or latex paint inside, then swirl & shake it around so it covers the whole interior of the bottle. Flip it upside down and let the excess drip out onto a bit of newspaper, then sit on it's side to let it dry. Once dry (I'd say wait 48 hours at least) arrange your bottles on a shelf or mantel or tabletop, and add a few accents - twigs, reeds, grasses, single flowers, whatever. They would be stunning on a table as placemarkers, with a simple tag hung around the neck with each guest's name on it.
You know me, I'm all for 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy' (TM) decorating ideas....and if you can add 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, & Reinvent' to that, I'm even happier!
Photo Credits:
Top: Debi Ward Kennedy
Middle: HGTV' Red Hot & Green'
Bottom: Rosanna, Inc.