Totems In The Courtyard . . .

[decompost]

hard to tell in this pic, but these are lighted inside - so at night they look a little "alien" (my first pix post - hope this works)

[decompost]

this one is the courtyard where they"live"

[bjmots]

Very nice. They're glass right?

[decompost]

thanks bj ~ glass, right.
made them out of those old lamp bases from the 60's and 70's - sometimes i can find them for next to nothing,
but, apparently they are becoming "kitchy", so i'll be priced out of the market, i guess.
oh well, don't need too many of 'em in one place, do ya?? :lol: :lol: they'd start to look like trash again real quick :mellow:
won't be able to call 'em "trash" to treasure, if i have to pay $50 to $60 for the pieces-parts!! dang it!!

[boo]

decompost, I love them!!! I thought I was the only one that loved those gaudy things. :wub: :wub: You can still pick them up for a couple bucks at local auctions.

Very coool decor :wub: :wub:

[decompost]

thanx boo ~ i have kind of a "thing" for glass in the garden -
it gets worse ~ any one else have a "bottle-tree"???

[boo]

No, but I want one now.

:( :( :( Oh, but I can imagine my little white coon climbing to the top. :ph34r: He already broke one of my pots last night so I guess I will have to admire your tree.

That must have been one heck of a night when you emptied all those bottles. :P

[decompost]

oh my ~ i guess my secret is out ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

a thousand yrs ago (when dinos roamed and i was young) i was saving up wine bottles for a different project -

:wacko:(hmm, i never noticed this theme in my life before, something to take up with the therapist, perhaps?):wacko:

- anyhoo, i dunno why, but the trunk of my car, it seemed to me, was a sensible place to amass the collection????
the complete version is a long story, but the "punchline" was when the "nice officer" stopped to help me change a flat tire at the side of the road.
strangely enough, he didn't give me a sobriety test? - i guess he figured the story was too rediculous not to be true. :lol: :lol:

[bjmots]

I love the bottle tree. Would you mind sharing how you constructed it? Pretty please.

[decompost]

thanx again bj - very happy to oblige,

the bottle tree "core" is 1" copper pipe - dh drilled alternating holes in the core
and then soldered 1/4" copper tubing into the holes, to create the "arms" -
bend the tubing upward to an angle that you like and place empty bottles
:D (the fun part of the project is emptying the bottles) over the arms,
and taa-daa, your very own "creation",
guaranteed to make your neighbors gossip about you.

ours is hanging - from a very sturdy branch - and it moves gently in the breeze, adds a little sparkle.

as i understand it, the traditional african bottle trees were made by placing empty bottles on the branches of actual trees
- i've seen versions where people drive very big nails at a downward angle into a post or small dead tree trunk
- also very cool, and no soldering required :unsure:

[erdine]

love that tree, think I may steal your idea for my back yard. there's so much talent on this site, I love seeing it all.

[bjmots]

Thanks decompost. DH is gonna love it - another project. Guess I need to start emptying some bottles :lol:

[decompost]

<span style='font-family:Geneva'><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>woo-hoo - party at bjmots'</span></span></span>
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[HarleyGal]

How creative! :D I love both ideas! ;)

I would have loved to see the officers' face when he saw your trunk!! :lol: :lol:

[terese]

very cool!! i love those totems, the bottle tree is too nifty. :wub:

[buster]

From the looks of the bottles, I think we missed the party. I especially light your lights. Way too cool! Buster

[grindle]

Love that bottle tree, what a great idea :rolleyes: and the lamps are good too :P

[mla2ofus]

Love the totems and the bottle tree. I think it would take quite a while to collect enough bottles to build one--for me anyway. I have thought about seeing how many medicaine bottles still come in glass (colored glasss) and maybe build a mini.bottle tree???
I was going to post this tonight as I just finished it last night. First one I've ever made but I like it well enough to make another one. Like you said too many and it would become junk. Here's the totem I made using ceramic pot, vases, and bowls.

[HarleyGal]

That's so neat looking! :D I'll bet if you made those and took them to a craft show you could charge big bucks for them!! ;)

[decompost]

:wub: mla2 - soo cool!! i really like the effect the bowls add.
and harley's right - i'm sure there'd be a good market!!

can i ask, what sort of adhesive do you use??
that part has been sort of trial and error for me, so i'd like to know what works for you.

and, yeah, medicine bottles would be a great idea for the tree, any thing you like the shape and color of -
the smallest bottles on mine are tabasco sauce bottles - we go through a lot of that in this house, yum :P

[nonacook]

I really love your totems, Decompost. The metal frames you have them in are great. Did you make those? And your bottle tree is spectacular. I like the copper core.
So far I have made 5 totems (not good at posting photos) and I use GE silicone II for windows and doors. On the other forums I frequent that is the 'glue' of choice. Four of mine are glass and one is plastic. 3 of the glass ones stood up to hurricane Ivan--tied to a post to prevent being knocked over. I also have the beginnings of a bottle tree. The 4x4 post is drilled and ready for the rebar to be put in, but I haven't decided where to put it yet. Besides since DH and I got that part done, 2 tropical storms and hurricane Dennis came along. Just as well it wasn't up yet. As you may have guessed I live in Pensacola, Florida. I had just joined this site when it went 'down' and I haven't redone a member page or looked to see if it had survived the crash.

my website

http://members.cox.net/nonacook ('http://members.cox.net/nonacook')

[Ichigo]

Very cool garden decor!! I'd like to have glass in my garden, but that will have to wait until my 2yo is a wee bit older I'm afraid! :P There's a house not too far from mine that a bottle tree in their front yard. Their bottles are on an actual tree though. :P That's pretty cool too. I'd like to have one of those too! :P

Great pics,thanks for sharing! :P

[decompost]

thank you nonacook ~
that's a different silicone from what i've tried.
it makes sense that it'd be more weather resistant, if it's designed for windows and doors ;)

the metal-work around the totems is copper - dh did that part -
it seemed necessary to add something for stability since they're so tall -
so we decided to make it into a design element.

my heart was there with all of you folks in pensacola, that's where i was born.
i sure hope you get a very long break from any more foul weather!!

[Prudence]

Decompost, I love your totems and the patio area. Just beautiful!

[Ginny42]

Somehow I missed this post along the way, but your creations are great!!! Never would think of using glass bottles for anything in the garden. Great ideas! :D :D

[decompost]

:) thank you for your kind comments :)

and <span style='font-family:Geneva'><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:purple'>welcome to blossomswap</span></span></span> prudence,
what kind of gardening do you enjoy? i look forward to hearing more from you, jump right in, this is a very friendly site,
i'm sure you'll love it, lots of great info and fun people :)

[Prudence]

Decompost, I have traditional northern united states garden with a few oddities thrown in. I have a hardy banana tree in the backyard, an amorphophallus riverii that goes dormant in the Fall and I pot up each Summer for a great display and a plumeria from a friend that collects them. I make decorative planters from hypertufa and mini landscapes in some of the shallow planters. I'm not into bonsai but I use the starters for my mini landscapes.