Easy Party Centerpieces

Fruit and Flower Accents

Vary the color and size of your
fruit to create a lush collection
of objects.

Give tea lights an elegant look by coating them with tiny glass beads. Remove the candle and push a long nail through the bottom of the metal cup. Wrap the outside of the cup with double-stick adhesive tape and roll it in the glass beads (available from a crafts store). Use the nail to attach the cup to a piece of fruit, making sure the cup rests securely and is level. Replace the candle in the cup.

Use these small goblet floral
arrangements for place settings,
party favors, or centerpieces.

Collect mismatched flea market cups or goblets and fill them with petite bouquets to decorate each place setting at a dinner party. To send the cups home as party gifts, use dried flowers glued to plastic foam inside the cup; that way, guests won't have to worry about spilling water.

Decorative oversized planters make
any table look elegantly festive.

Create a dramatic centerpiece with lightweight papier-mache or plaster planters from a crafts store or florist's supply shop. To keep the greenery fresh, line the planters with plastic trash bags, then stack blocks of water-soaked florist's foam in the bags. Insert evergreen branches and decorate them with cranberry garland and kumquats. To make kumquat ornaments, string wooden beads, kumquats, and holly leaves on embroidery thread.