Pretty, I like them, especially the plants ones.

OOOoooooh, love. My first thought is "I wonder if there's any kind of pet I could keep in there?" (because I thought the sticks or whatever in the third picture was a snake.) Is it okay to think of fish as decorative elements? I promised my husband we'd never have fish, but maybe I could convince him to make an exception for design purposes.

My second thought is how diy-able it would be, with a pretty glass vessel that might be more suited to fish keeping, if that was even what I decided to do with it. I like the lemon idea an awful lot, too.

I have the cylinder one from Pottery Barn. At Christmas I put tinsel on the bottom, then fill it up with vintage ornaments. I'm pretty much stumped on what to put in it the rest of the year...

Initially, I saw the lemons and thought "after a couple of days... eww"....but I do love this idea; what a great way to express creativity, not to mention amazingly clever
cat-proofing! Especially like the little evergreen scene.
I think I need a new lamp....

Mine is full of my grandmother's vintage button collection.

no fishies pleaaaaaasssseee.
fish should be free...they're not pets...poor fishies.

Goldfish.

my last comment about this issue, since this is not that type of site...but just imagine yourself going round and round in your room...FOREVER

I'm surprised sea shells were not shown. Or even a terrarium...that would look so good.

I love your ideas, especially the postcards! I have so many postcards as I tend to buy lots for myself as souveniers, and have been trying to figure out a way to display them :) There's no risk of fire by putting paper inside the base is there (doesn't seem like there's any wiring inside the base?).

Being the wine lover that I am, I might fill it with corks or, along the lines of your lemons, with plastic grapes in both purple & green.

I also really like the flowers in the 2nd lamp in the last pic. Ahhh, I think I need this lamp!!!

Gee, I'm surprise that you have this post up with no snarky comments from people fearful of filling it, since the last post with the glass lamp and a match collection just set some people in a tizzy! They thought it was a fire hazard, and didn't seem to realize that if a lamp is in good working order, it should not overheat and set the matches on fire.

These silk scarves -- in as many or as few colors as you like!

http://www.magiccabin.com/product.asp?section_id=2003&department=1103&search_type=category&search_value=2301&cm_val=&cm_pos=&cur_index=&cm_type=&pcode=26

I love the idea of this but that price tag is toooo out there for me! Anyone know of other sources or perhaps a DIY option?

Some of these are very pretty - but whoever did the lemon one has to be crazy. Less than a week later, you're going to have to take out the now moldy lemons.

Yeah, I like the lamp, but I was also wondering if anything could be done about the too-obvious wire.

Yes, the cord is a detraction, but I think has to be that way because of the nature of the lamp (?)

Lemons sell here at the rate of three for $2. I figure there must be about 2 dozen in there, and that they wouldn't last, unrefrigerated, for more than a week tops ... I'm thinking this could become an expensive lamp!

I'd go for ironic and fill it with lightbulbs.

Heehee, I like @home body's suggestion of lightbulbs.

I can see this in my home office, with all those little things that I stopped displaying after college, but can't bring myself to throw away and still finding myself holding on to when I come across (ticket stubs, a few Mardi Gras beads -- I live in south Louisiana --, matchbooks from fun places, etc.).

I too hate the wire coming out of the top of the lamp. I have a lamp like that, it was a gift. My temporary solution was to tape the cord down to the back of the lamp, ghetto, I know. If it was in a corner that might work.

Yarn balls, maybe. Though I love the light bulb idea. No need to dig around in a closet if the one you're using burns out either.

I like the look of crumpled maps in there. This is great design. I would love one of these. Or two..

A few Barbie dolls trapped in there would look great. No doubt, they'd inspire a few comments!

I think a benefit of this type of lamp is that it permits frequent rotation of the objects displayed.

@home body, your lightbulb idea is a winner. I envision a massive tangle of large red-tipped wooden matches.

The corks would be beautiful, and a collection of bottle caps would be fun, as would souvenir stir sticks, or drink monkeys.

I'd explore toys: a couple dozen matchbox cars, a mass of crayons in a specific color range, the vinyl minis of Yo Gabba Gabba characters, or some other vintage whatnots that one wants to protect from mishandling and dust.

For the crafty, Fabric covered balls. Felted flowers. Sand mounded up in the style of an hourglass.

Very briefly, for a summer party, lightning bugs!

ooh i've always wanted one of these, where can one find an inexpensive version?

I think it would be cute filled with pine cones in the winter, or even pieces of sheet music, jewelry that you no longer wear, dried flowers...the list goes on and on!

Love the idea of corks, have those lying all over the place!

home body -- That would be incredibly ironic and something that would be funny (and hey, at least you know where the extra light bulbs are).

Just FYI...........The Christmas Tree Store has glass base lamps in the $15 price range.....I am doing them for Christmas gifts filled somewhat like a shadow box of personal items.......haven't done it yet so cannot say the project will be successful ........we will see.