Touches of Green for St. Pat's

Create a focal point on your table with a miniature pasture arrangement. Set an antique cake or candy mold in the center of a shallow tray and surround it with a thin layer of potting soil and baby's tears plants. Keep the soil lightly moist and the plants will last a week or more in this temporary display. Herbs, such as creeping thyme or parsley, also would work.

Tie a stem of oxalis onto a napkin with thin twine or ribbon to make your family or guests feel especially lucky.

Oxalis plants, commonly called "shamrocks" at this time of year, make vibrant spring displays when planted temporarily in glass pails. Hang your little pots o' luck on door handles or line them up along a mantel shelf. For a longer-living houseplant, oxalis can be transplanted into traditional pots with drainage holes. 

Dress up a collection of pretty green glass bottles by wrapping them with copper wire. Use your imagination to create designs that suit your fancy. Twist copper craft or jeweler's wire (available at crafts stores) into net patterns. Or wrap wire around the middle of a bottle, secure in the back, and form a button-like knot in front by twisting a short length of wire around the bands.