I had a small end cut from a piece of Holly that made a lovely little bud vase.  Normally I insert a glass test tube into a piece like this so you can keep live blossoms in it, but in this case the piece was not tall enough for that.  So it is best used for dried flowers like Statice or various seed pods.  
 
The finish is a hand rubbed french polish made of walnut oil and shellac.  I kept the finish thin enough not to create a shine but it is still protected from fingerprints and dust.  It has a microcrystalline wax on the outside to protect it from finger prints.