I love using laboratory glassware around the home, and have taken to decanting my wine into a erlenmeyer flask (full disclosure: I stole the idea from 360 in Red Hook). It's fun to feel like a mad scientist from time to time!

Get everything at American Science and Surplus. (www.sciplus.com) It's all dirt cheap and they have other fun random stuff there too.

My friend bought the small beakers and flasks and uses them for cocktail glasses at halloween parties ;-)

My friends and I use the TESTTUBES as shot glasses, we fill about 20 of them with different stuff like vodka, flavored vodka, tequila, etc. create a beautiful arrangement and a server walks around with the rack of testtubes and offers guests a shot :)

it is so sexy fun and creates a good conversation starter...

In a similar vein, anyone know where you can buy those wonderful brushes they use for dusting for fingerprints on CSI?

this may be too mom-ish, but as a lab scientist, i just want to make sure people understand that putting food items in secondhand glassware is potentially very unsafe. some nasty stuff (like carcinogens) gets put in those glass pieces in labs, and though they're washed, you can never be sure that it comes completely clean. even in lab, we label special pieces for really bad chemicals so that only those few pieces get the yucky stuff over and over and the rest stays relatively clean.

alright, now back to the fun.

Violetsrose, it's called a Zephyr Fingerprint Brush and can be found several places. They're made of glass filaments and they're incredibly tactile and fun to touch. I just can't think of a real reason I might ever ever need one.

This is one whose url (Cops Plus!) amuses me:

http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum5284.php

I second erin on the second hand labware issue -- but definitely get some new stuff from American Science Surplus. They always have a variety of interesting stuff - but I especially like the item descriptions!

This is a great post. I just saw a 1000 ml erlenmeyer flask at Past Perfect in San Francisco for $88.00. It's good to know that you can buy new/clean ones for $10.00.

Once again AT rocks!!!

Use the 2nd hand glass for lamps, floral, candle holders, but anyone can get a cole palmer catalog or website and order new for food service. I have various new and 2nd hand that I started collecting as a co-op in college when the lab I was working at was cleaning out the old equipment during one of those reorganization.
I also have the test tube shot glass thing. Get a big beaker, crushed ice and fill the tubes. Look great and nothing like a really good vodka shot.

oh YIKES! I totally agree with Erin.... please don't ever 'adopt' used glassware from a lab... make sure what you buy is brand new. There are so many super DUPER carcinogenic compounds in a lab.... ethidium bromide, reactive heavy metal compounds, fixatives, azide...... stuff that could still be on the glass and should never be in the same room as a child, pet or anyone who may touch it and then touch their faces....

on the desgin front, though... I love it! now my home and lab could truly blend into one.... Reminds me of grad school days, where some molecular biology students decorated their christmas tree with electrophoresis gels in ziplock bags..... too cool!

Wow. I never thought of the original uses of beakers etc. Thank you Erin for the headsup. I co. we wrote about in Ca. has a lot of cool things from science labs etc. that didnt necessarily house toxic materials.http://www.blinkdecor.com/decoratorsdish/index.php?s=empiric

We want to see pictures of your friend's apartment in Prague!

I too would like to see pictures of how they are displayed. I like the idea, but am having a hard time determining how I would display them. I think it would look out of place just sitting on a dresser or table. Anybody have any display ideas? Thanks.