Glass vases can be used for more than orchids.  As you can see, I do prefer the square and rectangle ones because items display more neatly than in a round shape.  Pottery Barn shows them planted with little cacti–too cute! 

Last fall I used harvest M&M’s that I layered in stripes.   This proved to be too tempting.  My daughter’s best friend said she couldn’t take it any longer and finally ate them.

Then in the winter I used them in a centerpiece in a home I staged.   I filled them with cinnamon sticks and coffee beans and some candy from the Asian market.  The smell was wonderful.

I saw a picture of a glass vase filled with sand with a few small shells and a starfish on top, but I can’t find it now.  This would be a great summer display.  I am going to Florida in a few weeks so I will plan to recreate it when I get home. 

But the most beautiful use came to me from a florist.  I have a new friend who is very well versed in all things good and wonderful.  She could not make an event that I hosted, and was so thoughtful to have not one, but two arrangements sent to my house!  She specified to this florist exactly what she wanted, white floating roses with thin long bowed strains of twisted grass.  Trust me, the effect was stunning.  It knocked me over when the door bell rang and my husband walked up the stairs carrying these!