I love your table, doesn't need anything more. The colors of the fruit in your basket go with the placemats and napkins perfectly. I love the design on your china too, such a pretty, happy little scroll. ;o) Those are gorgeous placemats too. The tree and ornaments look just perfect on the side table too. You did a great job with all of it. Luvs

You can also make bowls out of them - won't hold liquid stuff, but popcorn, jewelry, anything like that. You turn the oven on to a 200-250. Place metal bowl or pot in center of baking pan. Place record in center of inverted pot or bowl and place in oven. It will start to get floppy-looking about 7-8 minutes. Take the baking pan with everything on it out of oven. You can either use oven mitts to shape it a little more or use another bowl to put it in to shape it if you want another shape. Let it cool 10-15 minutes. Makes really cute gifts - especially if someone likes a certain group!

When I worked for the school district we used to buy rags from Goodwill for the repair shop. T-shirts and towels were preferred but sometimes if not specified they'd give us all sorts of clothes. All the secretaries would come running and go through the rag bags and grab clothes. You'd be surprised what they'd put in there. Perfectly good clothes - often like new and possibly new. But I also have one more idea. Check with your local school's auto shop. Well, any of the shop classes. Wood shop would use them too, most likely. Often use rags for staining wood and as tack cloths for prep work. They may well want them for rags. Help out the schools too. Even electronic repair shops, computer repair shops and the like would likely need them. When I had my shop we always washed down the computers before returning them. Would have really appreciated a bunch of t-shirts rather than using paper towels all the time. Otherwise, I like the mechanic idea too. But I'm sure Goodwill would take them. Possibly Salvation Army. Frankly, don't count out the local Community Action programs. Maybe you don't think they're very good, but if a poor hard-working parent can't afford any clothes for their kids, what you might think is bad could be a joy for them. Don't be embarrassed to ask. I'm sure you'll advise them up-front as to condition and if they say no thank you, that's fine, but you wanted to offer, just in case. Another thought - any small engine repair shops? Hardware store or something? Is there a neighbor who does shadetree mechanic repairs or the like? Your local city or county probably has a maintenance shop for repairing trucks and vehicles who would probably want them too. Save a few taxpayer dollars that way too. No matter what or where they go, it's a nice time of year to think of a donation of any type to any worthwhile place.

It would look good with silk flowers or even fruit as a center piece on the table. Better still if you can find something to use as a base for it to sit on. I filled it with coloured water(a few drops of food colouring) and floated some beautiful flowers and candles in it as a centerpiece on the table. Potpourri, fruit, flowers, pretty napkins, a silk scarf or shredded packing with tiny lights. Filled with different colored glass ornaments Birdbath-I just filled halfway with colored fish tank gravel and set it on a stand thing from an old bar stool it looks very sparkley Small fountain-I used the same thing with a tiny fountin pump and some tea cups for a buffet table decoration once it was cute. some nice violets in it with a little spanish moss on top to hide the dirt Fishbowl-on a table in the family room,filled with water and two of the biggest goldfish Filled up with purple sand and it is now a habitat for hermit crabs Put the bowl on a desk to hold mail, cards, bills, etc. Wrap styrofoam balls in strips of fabric for a country look. Remember the old terrariums? You could make one out of your punch bowl. You could use a small ceramic bridge to build a 'landscape' then plant your various small plants around it. You could add a small china dog or cat (great flea market finds), some colorful marbles for water or pathways to complete your look. Use your imagination! If you decide to use potpourri run a string of clear Christmas lights though it. When you plug the lights in, the heat will make your potpourri smell even nicer. I have used them for candles, potpourri, smelly jelly, and kept one setting on my dresser for the longest time to hold my rings.