I collect japanese glass floats and I have them in a large apothocary jar in a window. During the holidays I put in colored christmas ornaments, some greenery and battery operated lights.

Depending on your decor, you could 'theme' them, or do as I was going to do for my DD's wedding...turn them into terrariums. I used small ones for her wedding and put in moss and silk butterflies and used them on the soft drinks table.

Below is a website with lots of images.

This is mine at Christmas, now it's boring with lemons and limes in it, faux of course. lol

Here is a link that might be useful: Decorated Apothecary Jars

I have some scattered around the house....these are in bathroom....for bath salts & things.......I have more in the FR filled with sweet smelling potpourri and in the kitchen a big glassed filled one with lemons on the island. HOpe this helps! Bonnie

Cricket I'm so glad you asked this. I love apothecary jars but don't have any yet because I always wondered what I would put in them.

Bonnee - your BR is gorgeous and love your kitchen decor!

Pesky I had to do a google search to find out what Japanese glass floats are! What an interesting item to collect. Where do you buy/find them? I'd love to see pictures.

Artlover, I have floats I've purchased at local antique stores. You can also find them on Ebay, etsy and newer ones from various websites. There are two sources found in the link below. One sales vintage and new, the other only new. Look under "new curio floats" on the first website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Float history and source links

Thank you sweetly, Artlover13060! Bonnie

cricket
how did you use the jars at the wedding?

thank you everyone for your ideas! I think the jars are so pretty and I am really wanting to use them in my house. Crazyone - I used them with candy in them for the reception. DD had a Christmas wedding so we used Christmas candy in them on a candy table.

I have two on my island. One with colored pasta and the other with beans layered. At Christmas time I had beaded "snow" and red and silver ornaments. Right now there's stones and pinecones in there. Wish I had some moss to add.
I also have one with potpourri in the LR that gets changed throughout the year.

I love apothecary jars and could easily get carried away. :) I really like big jars with lemons or limes.

Old picture but it's the closest one I have right now.
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LR.
I don't have a shot of the Christmas potpourri but you get the idea.
most of the year
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fall
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I don't have a photo but I have an apothecary jar that I have filled with miscellaneous vintage tiny stuff.From vintage lace to vintage yo-yos, whatever I have that fits and tickles my fancy. I copied the idea from the blog that the American woman living in France writes. Can't remember her name. Great blog

i've seen them used for everyday things like paperclips, q-tips, or clothespins. looks lovely.

In the guest bath I have a collection of soaps from hotels I have stayed in. I could kick myself that I didn't start saving them IN THE WRAPPERS showing the name of the hotel until years later. I now have only a few jars of wrapped soap from may favorites like Waldorf Astoria, Atlantis, Ceasars Palace, Coeur d'Alene Resort, St Francis, etc. What was I thinking, well I wasn't thinking about a collection, I was thinking about my packages of toiletries for the shelter, but I could have at least saved the wrapped soap!

I prefer them wrapperless in your jars!

I saw one in a magazine just this weekend. It was on a kitchen counter and was filled with wine bottle corks.

Oh no... I forgot my favorite apothecary jar! I have a small one on my kitchen counter with wine corks. I'll post a photo later.

Mustangs - That's a neat idea!

Apothecary jars have been used for centuries, typically to store medicinal mixtures and herbs. Nowadays, these jars are functional and decorative, and come in a wide variety of materials, colors, and textures. The most widely-used type of apothecary jar is the clear glass type, and it remains the most versatile.

mustang - Thank you, thank you! Now I finally have a use for all the soaps we collect....shampoos and conditioners, too! I have donated the items to the women's shelter before, but have a new supply and have also been looking for a way to spruce up my Master bath.

I think the soaps without the wrappers are beautiful with the different shades of creams and whites.

cricket - Ironically, I also have some left over jars and cylinders from my daughters Fall themed wedding in late September. Like you, we have a multitude of them left over.

Why not keep candy in some of your jars! I'd love to see some wedding photos with your candy jars. Here are some of ours.

Candy bar.
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Some of the containers we have kept with the original fillings of pine cones, twigs, fall leaves, faux green apples, or river rock and candles.

Reception

Pinecones - This photo was taken before the florist added greenery and the fall colored flower petals
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Apples
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Rehearsal
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The following is not from our wedding, but we did something similar based on this inspirational photo.

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You can also place faux vegetables like acorn and yellow squash, avocado and artichokes. Not sure what these are called, but this is another inspirational pic.

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Interesting info and article on floats...thanks, Allison. You're always so good about sharing.:>)

Along the same lines, would it be tacky to do the same thing with hurricane globes? I have about 30 from my DD's wedding. I know they would need to be placed on something for a bottom to hold the objects. For example, I used two of them in a Christmas vignette. Put a candle inside with red and gold beads surrounding the candles about half-way full. Set the globe on a clear, cut glass dish to "hold" the beads in the globes.

Might not get the same effect using some of the items you folks are using, since a hurricane globe is actually meant for a candle or some type of light. What do you think??

scroll down my blog and there are a few pictures of my apothecary/candy jars.

I hope to add more apothecary jars to my collection.

http://flowersandflour.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

I have some with a variety of seashells in them (bathroom).

Seas shells is another good idea.

tuesday_2008 - Yes, as you can see in one of my photos, we had the pine cones in hurricanes with a mirror underneath to hold it in. When the flower petals and greenery were put around it, you couldn't see much of the mirror.

here is a blog with great ideas
April 10, 2009
Ten Fantastic Fillers for Apothecary Jars
I really love apothecary jars. There is something so innocent - so refreshing - about an empty vessel just begging for a beautiful display. When I find apothecary jars at thrift stores for $3 or $4 each, I snap them up like crazy. You've probably seen me grab one in Goodwill and give a Tiger Woods fist pump because I'm so excited with my new score.

Because I know you love them as much as I do, I want to give you a little encouragement and a little push towards filling them with unique displays. People, it's time to start thinking beyond pasta and pears, cotton balls and cotton swabs when it comes to filling your apothecary jars. Using your jars to showcase unique finds will give your vignettes much more personality than filling them with the lemons you bought for 5/$1 at the grocery store.

I've put together a list of 10 fantastic apothecary jar fillers that will hopefully guide you in the right direction to update those displays.

1. Vintage Spectacles - Just imagine the scenes that have been viewed through these lenses. Antique glasses are available at thrift stores, antique malls, estate sales, and even yard sales. Add two or three pairs to a simple jar, and you'll have a display that everyone will want to "see."

Country Living

2. Soap - For an apothecary display in a bathroom, nothing beats a collection of beautiful soaps. Choose natural-colored soaps in the same hue, instead of in a color that matches your room. Find wonderful guest soaps at discount home stores, or use drugstore bargains, such as Aveeno or Ivory. Better yet, purchase monogrammed soaps to add a personal element to the display.

Pottery Barn

3. Vintage Photos - One of my favorite apothecary jar fillers is vintage photos. I have always loved the boxes of photographs I see in antique stores, and I decided that I wanted to replicate those displays myself. For my jar, pictured below, I found a selection of vintage photos online, printed them on cardstock paper, cut them out, and then tore the edges and creased the image until it looked appropriately worn.

Don't you think they actually look like real photos? Because I knew that you'd love this idea, too, I assembled the photos into a .pdf file for you to use in your own displays. Find that document HERE. Am I the nicest person ever or what?

4. Vintage Hairbrushes and Combs - Along the same lines as the antique photographs, I would love a display featuring vintage hairbrushes and combs. You can find some really beautiful dressing sets in antique stores or online. Keep in mind that a child's size set would probably fit into your jar easier than an adult's size (unless you had a very tall jar).

5. Sea Shells and Starfish - A universal favorite apothecary jar filler is sea shells and starfish. Keep your shells in the same color scheme and only fill the jar halfway so that you don't end up with too much of a good thing. Break the mindset that shells and starfish only belong in the bathroom. What's with that anyway? Do we think shells can only be displayed where there's water? Does the ocean remind us of the toilet? Weird, huh?

House Beautiful

6. Knobs - Some of the most interesting (and cheap!) items to add to an apothecary jar are vintage knobs and drawer pulls. Find them for $0.25 a piece at places like the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store or yard sales. Your collection will be eclectic but will have a fantastic quality because the pieces are all variations of the same theme.

7. Rocks - Using natural elements in the home is very important, and nothing could be more natural than my son's rock collection. Adding his treasures to an apothecary jar meant that I had a natural (and FREE) filler, and it is extra special to him because he got to use them to "decorate with Mama."

8. Silver Cups - A few sterling silver baby cups displayed in a large apothecary jar would make such a sweet display. Stack them randomly on top of each other to create a tower. I've seen several of these little cups at Goodwill lately, so start hitting your thrift store in search for a few. They don't even need to be in great shape - the more dings and scratches, the more personality they have.

9. Blown Eggs and Found Nests - What's not to love about real birds' eggs and nests displayed in a beautiful apothecary jar? In one of my jars, I used Spanish Moss in the bottom as a "nest" and then added 5 or 6 blown quail eggs on the top.

Check out these gorgeous egg displays - quail eggs on reindeer moss and Robin's eggs on a found nest. I love them!

Romantic Home

10. Indoor plants- Apothecary jars take on a whole new life when used as terrariums for indoor plants. Add plants purchased at home improvement stores or a local nursery.

Dallas Morning News

You could even grow your own grass. Did you see Kimba's wonderful wheat grass project?

A Soft Place to Land

Are you ready to find something unique and interesting to put in your apothecary jars? Little makes a jar more interesting than filling it with something completely unexpected. Tell me what you are going to add to yours!

Enjoy your beautiful life! Head over to The Inspired Room to see how others are making their lives beautiful, one simple way at a time.

Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to april 10th

the above link has lots of photos as does this one 2, lots of neat ideas

Here is a link that might be useful: more pictures

I have apothecary jars in all sizes...almost all are "vintage" with ground glass stoppers. In the tiny ones i have nutmegs, cloves and cinnamon sticks...salt and demera sugar in the next largest, then in a larger size there are tea bags and small bags of assorted herbs....then we go to larger sizes and biscotti in one, pasta in another and dog kibble in another. The bathroom has cotton balls in one with a glass "echanacea" label, and cotton balls in a nother and mouth wash in an old stoppered bottle....and another filled with seashells.
I did have one filled with matchbox cars, but I put them in a lamp base for my grand son.
Love jars!
Linda C