Glass Yard Totems......My New Obsession!

I first saw glass totems at a craft show and when I left that show I knew that I was hooked! The craft show was at Christmas time so I knew I had time to collect. It took me the entire winter to get everything collected. I have been burning through the E6000 glue and the yard now sparkles with glass totems!!! Below is just a small sample of what I have.

Each totem has a theme. Sometimes it is the color I chose or the materials.

I love blue glass and especially mason jars so these two are special favorites of mine.

Quirky is also good! I decided to put plastic Easter eggs in one and use odd shapes on another. The Easter egg totem sits in the middle of my rose garden. I think the birds like it!

The white coffee cup set is for my mother. She loves coffee and has a small garden that she wants to bring butterflies and bees into. The ruby red set is for my husband. He loves all things red and ruby red is his favorite. This one sits in my other rose garden so he can enjoy it when we sit on the porch.

A couple of things to remember when you are making the totems:
PATIENCE!
I have a hard time with this one. I tried gluing too much too fast and wound up shattering an entire totem on my kitchen floor. I was sad because it was an especially lovely one.

Use the right glue
If you don't use the right glue your totem will not stand up to the elements.  I like to use E6000 but be sure you have both the regular sized tube and the finer tube. It does make a difference when you are gluing finer glasses. I have read where others use silicone on theirs but I haven't tried it personally.

Lay it out ahead of time
Don't grab a bunch of stuff and start gluing. You will wind up with a mess, trust me on this!

Use a level
If you are gluing something high you will want to glue the pieces together then glue the glued pieces. For example, when I put together the coffee cup totem I glued each cup to its saucer then stacked everything and glued it. A level helped keep it from leaning.

Watch for water and skeeters!
When you put together your totem try not to have too may plates right side up. They will catch water and breed mosquitoes and other growing things.

Have fun!