Beauty is giving life to a few old Styrofoam balls as the center of a new project.

Beauty is knowing that a project is always more fulfilling when it involves your 3-year old son.

Beauty is displaying seashells picked up on a recent beach trip along with Dollar Store moss.

Beauty is realizing there can never be enough Dollar Store moss. Or seashells. Ever.

Beauty is combining your son’s sterling silver cup with his father’s sterling silver baby spoon unexpectedly into a vase of natural elements.

Beauty is a hurricane vase filled with a few of the things that remind you of those you love.

And sometimes, beauty is seeing your child’s own creation and realizing that maybe there is more of you in him than you ever imagined.

Watch out Eddie Ross. You’ve got a Zachary Thomas waiting in the wings.

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You can easily recreate your own “beauty”:

1. Find a jar or vase you’d like to use and add a few pieces of foam for filler. I stacked mine on top of each other with a craft stick, but hot glue would work, too.
2. Fill the vase about 1/3 full of moss.
3. Add a layer of shells and push a few of them down in front of the moss. If you can’t visit a beach or a costal town tourist shop this summer, check your thrift stores and craft stores for shells.
4. Add another layer of moss.
5. Add more shells and top with unexpected items such as old sterling silver pieces, ceramic bird statues, small mirrors, broken dishes or vintage costume jewelry. Just keep all of the items in the same color scheme.
6. Add a little more moss, just for good measure.
7. Step back and admire the beauty.

Looking for a little simple elegance? Look no further than your kitchen sink.

Recently, I decided to finally take the liquid hand soap and dish soap out of their plastic bottles and put them in glass bottles – olive oil bottles, to be exact. The plastic had been cluttering my the counters around my kitchen sink, and I wanted something more.

Combined with a classic white dish and a bud vase of fresh roses, my kitchen necessities have become less about function and more about fun.

You can easily bring this look to your kitchen, too.

1. Find two empty olive oil bottles at a home discount store, a thrift store, or maybe even your local grocery store.
2. Add liquid hand soap to the first bottle. You will likely need to dilute it with water so that it’s thin enough to be poured from the dispenser.
3. Add dish soap to the second bottle. It should be regular strength dish soap, not concentrated (unless, you choose to dilute it as well, because the concentrated variations have a thicker consistency).
4. Add fresh flowers to a petite bud vase. I cut my fresh blooms from the plentiful rose bushes in the common areas around my neighborhood (Hey, I pay HOA dues, so I “own” them, right?), but you are a probably a much better gardener than myself and have some in your very own yard.
5. Set all three on a plain white dish, and you will have a delightful way to display your kitchen necessities.

Take the time to add some simple elegance to your home. Why not find an easy way to enjoy the little things in life?