How to make an indoor "plant", instantly, for nothing

I had this problem spot in the powder room next to the kitchen. There's a lovely, weathered steel, wall-hung shelf with three weathered steel cups/planters. The cups had remained empty for quite a while, and this just looked unfinished. 

One of my thoughts was to cover 3 styrofoam balls with moss and rest in the cups. I have moss, just no styrofoam balls, and I was wanting to do this with no additional cost.

I knew I wanted something just green, so as not to compete with any of the other floral-themed items in the room. And it had to be low-"growing", but not alive, as there is no natural light in this powder room.

I have seen some lovely mini, faux-boxwood topiaries in home decor shops. And that's where my inspiration was born.

Boxwood cuttings (and those from other evergreen shrubs) can last in water for a very long time, several weeks to months, with just a change of water once per week. A floral preservative can help keep the water clear, as well.

So, I went out to the front garden and took several clippings off the hedge. I set out 3 jelly jars. I trimmed the stem ends of the boxwood until they looked about right. Then filled the jars with water, plucked the bottom leaves off the stems, and placed them in the water-filled jars. The jars can not be seen when placed in the weathered steel planters.

Voila! A long-term, temporary solution for my wall-hung planter, using what I had here at home.

Translate this idea for other cheap and cheerful decorating

• weddings, graduation parties, Mother's Day teas, baby showers -- this idea translates well to table decor, several jelly jars placed in terra cotta pots, filled with evergreen cuttings, make free table decorations
• needing a quick "plant" as green space-filler, for the mantle above the fireplace, the coffee table, a book shelf -- use several filled jelly jars, clustered together inside a copper, brass or ceramic planter
• have a dark corner where you'd really like to place a plant, but a living plant won't survive the lack of sunlight? The entry hall in your home is the gateway to your family life. A "plant" of boxwood (or other evergreen) cuttings would be welcoming to all who cross your threshold. Our entry hall is on the north side of the house and plants definitely do not thrive there. I'll be adding some evergreen cuttings in a pot to the table in the entry.

Keep this in mind, if you're needing a quick plant, say, for party/holiday table decor, instant decorating update, or background filler for a family photo.


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Seasonal lighting changes

firelight and candlelight are always my favorite kinds of light

My favorite type of lighting, for all seasons, is candles. But candles are not always the practical choice, are they?

A simple thing, such as changing your light bulbs for the spring and summer season, can save you $50 in those 6 months, on your household electricity.

In the most used rooms (the kitchen and family room) I change the light bulbs twice per year, once in early autumn, and the other in early spring. We have different lighting needs with the different seasons. In the cold, dark days of winter, I need very bright, full spectrum lighting. I use the GE Reveal bulbs for many of our light fixtures in winter. They do seem to chase away the winter blues.

In the brighter, sunnier days of spring and summer, my light needs ease up. The sun is higher. The days seem brighter, and my work space of the kitchen and family room don't need to be quite so bright. Those full-spectrum lights are expensive to purchase and to use. I could just leave them in, but I would spend more on the electric bill, when that's not necessary.

5-light hanging fixture with 25 watt bulbs each

For several years, I have changed the 60 watt bulbs, over the kitchen table, to 25 watt bulbs, each spring. And then back again to the brighter lights in fall. Based on using those lights about 6 hours per day, I have always estimated our savings to be about $3.65 per month.

This year I decided to take the plunge and buy some CFL indoor floodlights for the kitchen ceiling can lights, as well.

I wasn't sure just how well I'd like the CFL as indoor flood lights, so I just bought 1. There were two to choose from, one the standard, which I bought, and another which is supposed to give a more pleasing indoor light, for $2 more. I thought I'd try out the one that was cheaper first. I placed it in one of the cans and thought it was quite good.

the area above the sink
the 2 exterior lights are CFL indoor flood lights
the center light is a standard flood light

The next time I was at the store, I picked up 5 more. We have 6 can lights in the ceiling of the kitchen, another 2 in the adjacent hall, and 4 more in the family room ceiling. I replaced all the 65 watt can lights in the kitchen with the CFLs (17 watt, I believe). I used them for several days, then ultimately decided that having all 6 as CFLs gave too much of a green cast to my 2 main work areas. Fortunately, using CFL bulbs is not an all or nothing proposition. Some fixtures can have the standard incandescent bulbs, while the rest can have the CFL bulbs.

Our kitchen can lights are divided into 2 strips, one along the stove/counter area and the other along the sink/fridge/counter area.

the area above the stove
the 2 outside lights are CFL indoor flood lights
and the center light is a standard flood light

I took the center CFL out of each strip of can lights, and replaced with the standard indoor flood bulb. The quality of the lighting is now quite good, with 4 of the 6 can lights containing CFL indoor flood lights. I use these lights about 8 hours per day (our kitchen is long and narrow and doesn't get that much natural light). Based on this use, I should save about $4.60 per month.

The remaining 2 CFL indoor flood lights I placed in the next most used area, the family room. We have 4 can lights in that room, so I replaced 2 of the standard flood lights with the leftover CFL ones. I would guess we use the lights in that room about 3 hours per day, and expect to see a savings of about $1 per month on those 2 bulbs.

In total then, changing these bulbs seasonally, I expect we'll save just over $9 per month. I spent just over $40 for all the bulbs. The CFL indoor floods are rated to last 9  1/2 years. They will pay for themselves before I change the lights on those fixtures for fall/winter.

You wouldn't think that changing the light bulbs for 6 months of the year, would amount to much. Over the course of the life of the bulbs, I should save close to $500. And this only takes about 2 minutes per bulb to do.

We use the cheaper, bulb and spiral-shaped CFLs in other fixtures throughout the house. In the entry hall we have 2 pendant lights and 1 bowl light with 3 bulbs. As these lights are suspended from a vaulted ceiling, they are difficult for me to access to change the bulbs. I chose CFLs for these fixtures mostly because I didn't want to have to change the bulbs very often. But it's nice that we're saving money on those as well.

In covered light fixtures in the kitchen and laundry room ceilings, I've mixed CFLs with incandescent, using one of each in each of these covered fixtures.

However, in the bedrooms, bathrooms and dining room, I still prefer the incandescent bulbs, and for the time being will continue to use those.

So, you see, using CFLs doesn't have to be an either/or situation. I have found areas of the house where they work well, sometimes on their own, and sometimes mixed with standard incandescents.

How about you? Do you use CFLs in your house? Have you tried the LEDs yet?