Bringing those air plants home to roost!

As a follow up to my post about Mudpuppy's lovely ceramic air plant pods - here is a glass alternative, made by Roost and sold by Pigeon Toe Ceramics in Portland (see blog post "Bowled Over" for more about their beautiful products). Blown from almost entirely recycled glass, this

"hanging terrarium" is designed for the interior and can be used for air or soil-based plants. If, like me, you're a frustrated non-garden owner then it might be the way to bring a litlte more green into your life!

Looking through the glass with Elizabeth Lyons

I have some lovey hand-blown glass bottles from Syria that until now I thought were pretty hard to beat but yes, these gorgeous pieces by Elizabeth Lyons come pretty close. I think it's a combinbation of the gentle curves and savvy modulating colours that make them so appealing. I also love the bulbous stoppers - they make the bottles look almost like little people - coming in all shapes and sizes!

The glass lights are pretty fab too  - simple and elegant . I'd love to see the shadows on the wall when they're lit!

Glassmic Vase

This item, selected by Spoon and Tamago caught my eye a few weeks back, a "Glassmic Vase" by Norihiko Terayama of Studionote.

It's incredible to look at - the combination of glass and ceramic making for a very dramatic effect. I also love these "Twotoo" cups - created by using a traditional method devised to repair broken ceramic dishes. You can even see the silver and gold lines where the original pieces have been stuck together. I love the frailty of the idea. For more detailed information follow the the Spoon and Tamago link.

Going glassy-eyed: recycling jars and bottles

Ever wondered how best to use the empty jars and glass bottles that either get sent to recycling or stay stored in the back of a cupboard for a rainy day? Tomas Kral has come up with an elegant way of re-styling them to make attractive and more versatile household objects. He adds splashes of gold paint and etches patterns on the surfaces turning bottles in carafes and jars into vases. We might not all be able to do this at home but the results are great!