PROJECT : Go Nuts

Forget your marbles. When you put together dried flower arrangements for the holiday season, fill your favorite glass vases with mixed nuts before you add the flowers. It’s a beautiful look, more rustic than sleek--and less expensive than marbles. A small bag of glass marbles can cost $6 or more; nuts go for about $1.99 a pound, enough to fill the whole vase. Dried flowers don’t have to cost a lot either; I get mine at Biaggi’s Evergreen Co. at 770 Wall St. in downtown Los Angeles. Most bunches there are $2 to $6, which means you can put together a large arrangement for as little as $12--a lot less than a single fresh arrangement would cost. What’s more, they’ll last the whole season.