It's not really the point that they can't be removed, it's just to me you shouldn't take old goodies like that to make something to put outside because things outside don't usually last forever. Many of the vintage and antique items of today are just being thrown away and damaged. People do not appreciate anything old and want all new! So one day, everything old will be gone and we all know that much of the crap they make today won't last like the goodies from a hundred years ago! I won't even use the chipped and rusted granite pieces because much of mine looks like that. I don't care because that shows they were used and have a history. That is what makes them more interesting to me!

I would not have been able to toss the glass votive in the trash. I have found that almost anything I want to get rid of can find a home via Freecycle or the free section of Craigslist. This year I parted with a bunch of Christmas decor that I realized wasn't making it out of the boxes, thus becoming sort of "second string." I got so many responses, I ended up making two bags for two different families. I agree that filling up landfills is not the particular issue, and glass is as inert a substance as there is. I just hate trashing things that are still usable. But I won't claim to be rational on this topic. I used to get odd decor items from family members and feel like even if I didn't display them (they came from people who live 1000 miles away), I had to let them "compost" in my closet for a few years before I could give them to Goodwill. Yeah, not rational.

I don't consider my plants on display while they're inside for winter, they're just trying to survive. This pot (term used loosely, it's a 5-gal bucket with holes added to the bottom) is in my unheated laundry room near a S window. Plants go wherever they can to get near a window, and any (almost) flat surface is fair game, even a chair! Some stay outside permanently in a mini garden. (many more pics here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1485681/mini-garden?n=44 ) Cramming plants together helps squeeze as many as possible as close to windows as possible: Air plant (this one is Tillandsia ionantha) is displayed in the crook of a Dracaena tree. A "mini jungle." Some crammed windows: (Mentha, if you see this, I've clearly and totally been caught being hypocritical. Look at the sticker. You deserve to know it's been there for about 4 yrs. Given myself a time out! LOL!)

Here's what works for crowds at my store: There are the early birds who are practically standing in line at 8 when they open. They are mostly finished and in the checkout lines by 8:20 or 8:30, so I try to get there at that time, as it picks up again after 9 a.m. It also is less crowded close to closing. I raced in one time about 10 min before closing and as I checked out and commented that I almost didn't make it before closing, the worker told me that if you're in the store at closing, they don't shoo you out. They are there stocking until later anyway, so they leave you in peace to finish up. At closing, they may be out of stuff on the shelves, tho, but often it's in the back waiting to be put on the shelves. They are GREAT about checking for you and bringing what you need out of the back, if it's there.