An expensive, ornate vase can be as much of a centerpiece as the flowers that are in it. These floating vases designed by the Japanese group oodesign take things in the opposite direction by making them look like water ripples.
The vases themselves are just discs of clear plastic, but the design idea behind them is elegantly simple. Intended to look like ripples of water, the discs will float in any body of water (or whathaveyou) you put them in, and let a single flower balance delicately inside of it, with the stem poking out the bottom. The result is what seems—at a glance, at least—to be straight-up magic.
Not all of us have vats of water or decorative ponds just laying around, but just one floating ripple vase and a glass makes for a vase that's far more interesting than anything you could pick up at an antique store. The vases are available through oodesign's store for the equivalent of about 10 dollars. Hopefully they'll bob up to the surface somewhere a little more accessible soon. [Designboom]
These Awesome Floating Vases Are Practically Invisible