The most creative one I've made was for my husband, who needed his own when he agreed to help me with our sewing business. It's a dragon's eye. After he had tried my different pincushions, he preferred the crushed walnut shells in his.
And I just made about 20 pincushions from little picture frames that I got from the thrift store. They have the hardware removed from the back, so it will sit flat on the table. They are stuffed with polyester batting, and have 2 layers of chip board, so the pins won't stick into the surface below.