Hi Barbara--nice to see you joining in here. I would suggest that you start with the tipsy pots--so easy to make and look really good when the plants start hanging over. And it is fun when people see them and say "how did you do that?" LOL Glad you ladies had fun. Linda is a great tour guide isn't she? Hopefully, we can talk her into taking us on another excursion soon. Welcome to the forum, know you will enjoy checking out allot of the old posts, or just type in any topic in the search box--like bowling balls, benches, etc. and it will pull up the posts related to that. There are lots of other forums on Gardenweb too so you may want to click on home forums and just go explore some of the ones listed there. Have fun. Luvs aka Kay

One year at Christmas a patient in our clinic gave us a huge bouquet of white Oriental lilies with garlands of pearls throughout--it was beautiful. We all fought to have a turn with it on our desks. After a couple of hours, we all fought to have it put on someone ELSE'S desks! We finally had to take it to the break room, and then move it out at lunch time so that we could all sit in the break room for meals. We made the doctor take it home with her. Another year, someone gave me a gift of forced paperwhites. One morning I got up and went out into the living room where I had placed them, and almost passed out from the smell. I thought that I had had a mouse get in the house and die in a corner or something. I soon found out what it was and the paperwhites spent the rest of their natural lives on my front porch step greeting visitors. Beautiful flowers both of them, but awful smelling.

What a beautiful and unique piece. I wouldn't mess with it, though, and would let a restorer clean it up. On Antique Road Show they often describe how things are devalued with cleaning, and lose their treasured patina. Here is a link that might be useful: This link works

Wow, sarosen, it looks like you didn't get timely help for your question, although sheri posted some good ideas. What did you end up doing after all? I've encountered this problem myself a few different times... Tack 2000 is a great spray glue by Design Master-- you can get it in some craft stores. By spraying a light coat around the vase, you can cover the vase with Spanish Moss & tie with twine, or cover it with fabric pretty easily. I have even used spray paint to coat the INSIDE of clear glass vases. Metallic gold & silver work nicely, and look good through the glass. You might want to try it sometime with a cheap vase you don't like. I prefer Design master brand because it dries really fast.