How To Make Glass Garden Totems

Add some glass garden totems to your yard and create a stylish personal touch to your outdoor home environment. This article has a few ideas.

somewhatquirkydesign1

We're pleased to present DIY projects that will add an incredible, unique sparkle to your garden design.

Typically, we think of totems as made of carved wood, but these projects feature recycled glass as the medium for these tall towers. The projects we're featuring are remarkable in their creativity and vision, repurposing old glass lamps, plates, vases, and even candlesticks.

Each of these featured projects is unique in some small way. Some prefer different methods, allowing the towers to be made larger, while others choose different shapes.

Some towers are strictly that–a tower of textured or colored glass. Others serve dual purposes, with bird baths or feeders attached. Still others make use of open space inside the tower to include small sculptures that further express the unique style and personality of the crafter.

Regardless of which design style you prefer, you're sure to find a truly spectacular idea or even a jumping off point to fuel your own creative variation of the glass totem project.

We hope you'll be delighted by these incredibly unique, glittering towers of glass. Get inspired!

1. Glass Birdbath Garden Totem

fleamarketgardening

Image by: Flea Market Gardening

This beautiful glass birdbath looks so perfect that you'd probably assume that it was bought as one piece. You'd be wrong! This beautiful recycled green glass bird bath was constructed from two vases, a microwave glass turntable, and a large, sturdy ashtray. The pieces were secured with outdoor silicone-based glue. Each piece was collected from a flea market. For additional color, add small glass accents, like the blue bird or butterfly attached to the side. For the full project instructions, visit Flea Market Gardening!

2. Eclectic Glass Totems

myrepurposedlife

Image by: My Repurposed Life

This is a more traditional take on a totem, a glass tower constructed from upcycled glass pieces including vases, candlesticks, plates, and other glassware. This project centers on combining translucent glassware with frosted or colored glass pieces, including tucking small glass sculptures inside the vases. Each totem is utterly unique. Search flea markets or antique stores for glass pieces that catch your eye. To find out more on how to attach the pieces together solidly, and for even more unique variations on this project, check out My Repurposed Life!

3. Stacked Glass Totems

gardens and crafts

Image by: Gardens and Crafts

This variation on a glass totem relies on a stake to keep the more fragile top-heavy structure neatly in the ground. This totem is constructed of cut glass pieces, upping the glitter when the sunlight pours through it in the garden. Combining pieces like vases, plates, and even ring holders create a unique shape. Find the best pieces with solid surfaces for gluing so your totem will be rock solid and sturdy, even in rain. To see more of this project and get vital tips for creating your own, visit Gardens and Crafts.

4. Glass Tower Totem

somewhatquirkydesign1

Image by: Somewhat Quirky Design

This take on a glass totem uses a flexible rod as the center post, secured in the ground and covered up by a decorative urn or planter. Instead of finding plates and vases, this project features recycled glass lamps from the 60s and 70s, with the hardware between each globe. No glue required! This is a more expensive option, since these old lamps can cost anywhere up to $80 depending on where you shop. With patience, you can find enough of these globes to build a tall tower! To get more great ideas on this project or for the full instructions, head over to SomewhatQuirkyDesign.com!

5. Glass Totem

pandorasbox

Image by: Pandora's Box

This variation uses a sturdy vase or lamp bottom to hold the weight of the plates, vases, and candlesticks stacked on top of it. Again, the key to stacking this type of totem is to find pieces with flat bottoms, since epoxy is used to hold the structure together. This particular totem alternates between the colored glass and transparent glass, which gives it a sense of pattern and purpose. To learn more about this simple variation, head over to Pandora's Box!