Using Marbles to Decorate

Marbles have a unique use as tools to decorate your home.

Most of us who are old enough may remember marbles as the hot fad on the playground at school for a couple of years. Everyone had a marble bag, and at recess we would play each other for "keeps." One player would toss a marble on the ground; the other player would toss and try to hit the marble with his or her own. Whomever hit the other player's marble first won the game, and kept both marbles.

That particular game was unique. I have never seen it described in any of the books on marbles, but on our playground, at Hillcrest School in Downers Grove, Illinois, it was the only game that we played.

If you were good, you could build up a nice collection. My favorites were bumble bees, or Crystal Boulders, or steelies. My dad had a nice workshop in the basement and I absconded with a gigantic steelie that was the talk of the playground. Basically, it was a silver ball bearing that was probably used in a tractor. My dad worked at International Harvester.

Now, as a nostalgic adult, I am on the search for marbles again, and have found a few places that sell them. Small toy stores are stocking them again, and touristy toy aisles might have them. Strangely, Toys are Us does not stock marbles at this point, but Walmart has had them the last few months. A few kinds are sold by the craft store, Michael's, but the selection has been the same for about a year.

But what can an adult do with them? Not many of us can go to the playground for a game.

Well, I collect them for their beauty. They are like little gems that have intricate patterns inside, and that glitter in the sun, bursting with color.

I also display them. My favorite way to do this is to use tall, thin jars and fill them with marbles. I put them on the windowsill, and the light comes through the jars from outside, making them look especially vivid. Where do I get the jars? I buy peppers, and when the jar is empty, I just take off the label and clean it. It makes a nice display unit.

Another place that they look nice is up on a shelf. A line of these jars looks pretty sharp. They make passable bookends.

I have also heard of people using marbles as centerpieces on the dinner table. One could place the jars in the middle to do this, but I have heard of people just spilling a long, wandering line of marbles in the center of the table. It's unique.

Craft stores sell oblong or flat "marbles," really, little pieces of glass, and people put them in vases or in bowls.

Much the same can be done with marbles, and, in my humble opinion, the marbles with create some conversation, far more than the glass will.

Give it a shot.