A few years ago, I was involved in planning a get together at a place call “The Banq” in Kingsport, Tennessee.   We had a very tight budget but wanted to do something nice, and the very talented folks at Rainbow Florist helped me make centerpieces for the tables.    I’m going to share some of what I learned.

It starts with a glass bowl, glass cylinder or even a Mason jar.   I have a small one that I purchased a few years ago.  This one was about $8 but I used a coupon and got it a little cheaper.

Next up are a few shiny balls. I bought a dozen of these at the Dollar Tree for $1.

Fill your container with water and fill each of your shiny balls with water so they’ll sink to the bottom.

Now, it’s time to add a bit of color. I poured in about a cup of cranberries.

Add a few floating candles. I would have preferred to use one larger floating candle but I only had the small ones, so I used three. For some reason, it’s more pleasing to the eye  to see an odd number. Maybe we’re all off balanced a little and we like that reflected in what we do. I dunno..that’s just my guess.

It still looks a little plain, doesn’t it? It’s time to nestle it in with some greenery. I had a small crate that had been used to ship fruit which I spray painted black. I added some boxwood stems and three other candles that I already had.

Here’s another picture…all very natural. I had a few of the shiny balls left so I tucked them in with a couple of gourds that left over from fall. The gourds been spray painted gold and are still workin’ hard here in Mendota, Virginia! You can see a little bit of them in the picture. I started to draw an arrow, but you get it!

I hope you liked my centerpiece which was obviously a low-budget, low-talent piece. Easy as Pie. Cheap as Dirt. .

Here’s the foyer which opens up to the dining room. I am not even looking at decorations in Blogland this year. They are way too fabulous and fancy, and I don’t know where anyone keeps all that stuff after Christmas is over. I’m too lazy.

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage.