Cute pics!! 
http://starrymom.covenspace.com/blog/2007/03/12/burning_bright
From http://francaidesorciere.covenspace.com/blog/2007/03/13/altars_and_shrines
"I have both an altar, and a shrine, and to me they are two totally different things.
My altar has few things that always stay on it, namely my knife, my offering bowl, and my bonsai tree.
The offering bowl is a very important part of my altar. In it I burn offerings, for my gods. Almost every ritual I do, or meditation, or prayer session or anything begins with an offering to the gods before I do anything. I burn a bit of incense, and an offering for the particular god/desses that I am requesting in my ritual space. I also do not burn the incense in my offeringbwl, I have a particular censer for that hanging over the whole thing.
My bonsai tree is something very sacred and special, and has a place of honour on a little raised platform at the head of my altar. Trees represent the connection with the physical, and the divine. So this makes perfect sense why I have one one my altar, which is a space on the physical that connects to the divine.
A knife was a very important commodity to the ancient people. It could be used in so many ways, to help gathering food, hunting, and preparing the food. Honestly I don’t really use it for the magical and ceremonial reasons but just to cut things, and use it just in a general way during ritual.
I also have what I would call "seasonal" things on my altar.
Spring:
I have generally a pot of potting soil (for the obvious reasons), and an egg (a symbol of fertility). I also keep one seed from the other ones I planted to show a portion of my planting is being sacrificed for the wellbeing and blessings of the gods. As time goes on I may pick a sprig off of a green healthy looking plant (after asking permission of course) and put it on my altar for spring. Green, yellow, and red candles adorn it.
