Wayward Girls' Crafts: $7 St. Patrick's Day decor (doubly lucky!)

I've posted before about using glass vases to extend the life of your holiday decorations, and so you can use them year-round, just changing what's inside. I finally found some suitable vases at pretty much the only place I was willing to buy them from: the dollar store. I picked up five. Add some plastic Easter eggs from Wal-Mart for $2 and I have decorations for two holidays in a row!

To go with the green theme, I searched around my house for green things to fill the vases. Here are some ideas for "free home decorating."

Food! I had these limes on hand for a recipe. (They've since been used.) Plastic fruit also works well.
Pens, markers, crayons and colored pencils. If we want to color something green, this is where we need to go.
Craft supplies. I had two balls of green yarn and a spool of thread very handy. Fabric and paper could also work well.
Small toys. A set of blocks had three colors of green, and we added things like a spinning top, k'nex and a tiny Buzz Lightyear.
Seasonal holiday supplies, like the Easter eggs I'll be filling these with next, or Christmas ornaments.
Candy. I'd love to see these full of pastel M&Ms! Wonder how many bags that would take . . .
Plants (and fake plants). If I couldn't find anything else, I knew I had some fake greenery somewhere to stick in here. Everything from flowers to fall leaves would work great.
Nature. In the fall, things like acorns and maple helicopters could make very cool seasonal decor. Plus, a fun family activity: nature walk! Sand and seashells also make great seasonal or year-round additions.

I was so proud of myself for finally putting together some really cool, really me holiday decor I could live with . . . and then I put the green vases on a green shelf in front of a green wall.