Home decor does not have to cost a small fortune to add splashes of color and artistic appeal to a room. Simple clear glass vessels can be filled with various items to create highly colorful and unique tabletop art. The glass containers can be purchased in craft stores, and the items can range from marbles to colorful nuts and bolts.
I have designed countless works of tabletop art using decorative glass containers, and the contents I used depended upon the style and theme of the space. I love unique eye catching items, and decorative glass containers are fun to work with since they can be filled to coordinate with just about any space.
Fill Decorative Glass Vessels with Sand and Small Shells
I have filled clear glass vessels with natural works of art that coordinated with an ocean theme. I began by filling three tubular containers with varying levels of natural white sand. I topped the sand with small shells and beach glass that I had collected along the shores of Mexico beach. The decorative glass containers were beautiful, and my simple works of tabletop art were unlike anything available in stores. Each one was unique.
Display Submersible Battery-Operated Candles and Jelly Balls
Jelly balls are tiny dehydrated orbs that transform into translucent marble-size spheres when soaked in water. I discovered jelly balls last summer at a school craft fair, and I thought of an eye catching method of display for my home. I filled three decorative glass containers with submersible battery-operated candles and hydrated jelly balls in varying shades of blue, but before I added the candles I attached clear fishing lines for easy removal. I used a wooden skewer to carefully push the candles back down. When the candles are on, the jelly balls create an amazing illuminated display.
Paint a Variety of Nuts and Bolts to Display in a Contemporary Space
Would you like to create a contemporary work of tabletop art using clear glass containers? Spray paint nuts and bolts in a variety of coordinating hues. I used this technique when designing contemporary tabletop art for a client. I used red, black and white spray paint to coat handfuls of ordinary nuts and bolts. I spread them out across sheets of newsprint on my lawn, and I methodically coated the hardware over a period of several hours. I had to turn each piece over one by one to completely coat all sides. After they dried, I combined the colored nuts and bolts and filled two glass containers of varying heights. The filled glass containers added splashes of color to the room, and they became an interesting conversation piece.
Small objects of almost any type can be used to fill decorative glass containers. Consider using flat glass marbles, game pieces, cookie cutters, dried pasta or something else altogether. Consider the style and the theme of the room when choosing objects to fill the containers. They will become unique works of tabletop art that can be emptied and refilled according to room decor, seasons, holidays and more.
Source: Personal and Professional Home Design and Decorating Experience