Blue Bottles

14 years ago

Finally got some blue bottles arranged on my slope. Why DOES everything take so long, lol. I find blue bottles in all the usual places, but the local recycle place also saves them for me. Most of the bottles in these photos came from there.

I got this piece of metal fence on the curb, and wired it to a metal stake. The bottles in the lower right corner are on a hanging bottle holder, just not hung yet.

I don't know what the little cage is on the left, but it works. On the right is a wine bottle holder that could hang on a wall or from a hook. I found the bottle hangers at TS, but didn't know what they were till I started playing around with the bottles.

These are the wired canisters lids. I drilled a hole in the piece of glass (part of a candle holder?) and hung it underneath.

This is another hanging bottle holder, like the one in the first photo. This is the only tree on my slope (a yellow bottle brush tree), other than a large pencil tree, which probably won't work very well for bottles. Below it is a link to Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Ranch. It's near Victorville, California, and it's a great place to visit. It feels like a forest of bottle trees. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Ranch

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Comments (20)

gardencraze
14 years ago
WOW!!!! Linda that is awesome I just love all the different things you have done. Love the idea of the wine holders hanging.
OH No!!!! I feel another addiction coming on!!!

Hugs, Carmen
Calamity_J
14 years ago
EXCELLENT!!! What Eye Candy!!! Good Job!!!
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This is a sawed off utility pole I turned into a bottle tree. I used long (10 or 12 inch if memory serves) phillips head screws to mount these blue jars from a vitamin/supplement store. The lighter colored blue jars are vintage canning jars that I bought on ebay. I bought a six pack of the light "platinum" beer. It is swill! Hubby attempted to drink some and poured out the bottle after a few swallows; I don't go near light beer so I'm taking his word for it that this stuff is vile! However the bottles are great. I'd planned to use them as replacements on this bottle tree if they were needed, but I think they may be a bit too tall for this purpose. I think instead I will use them on stakes bordering my perennial beds. Let us see what you do with your blue bottles, Plumism! Jeanne your fence is just lovely!
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Sorry to hear about your major clean-up problem......I agree...giving up precios items tucked away for so long is like tossing out a family member. I have a ton of blue bottles too and I have a small yard and active grandkids, which I fear might accidently break them. I made a border of a few bottles. I put down 3 bricks and then fanned out 5 bottles, as in pushed in the outer bottles further in ground and at an angle and then another bottle pushed not as far in and at an angle and then the middle bottle stands straight up and is highest. then 3 more bricks and another set of bottles and on to complete the edging of that bed. The bricks are light colored and looks nice with the bright blue bottles. Good luck on finding an area to save as much as possible.
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Well it's finally finished. Dh is an ale drinker, but he discovered Bud's new platinum brew in blue bottles isn't bad, so he contributed quite a few. Sandi, I bought a couple Ty Nant bottles of water. The labels on the Saratoga Springs were engraved on the bottle. I wanted removable labels. Thanks again to everyone for the help!
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Image by: chaos_quilt Blue Bottle Wire Art by chaos_quilt Blue Bottle Wire Art Suncatcher Dangly Thing Another talented Garden Junk forum member shares a project with us Directions for the "Twisty wire, blue bottle, dangley-thingie" by Member chaos_quilt What was used: * Dutch Boy lead-free silver solder wire * Oatey lead-free solder wire * Cobalt Blue Bottles * Piece of bamboo fishing pole cut to desired length * Various skeleton keys * Thin gauge wire * Green and Blue crystals * Blue beads (from thrift store necklaces) * Chain and various other doo-dads How it was done: I only used a pair of needle-nose pliers to twist the tight curls on the tips of each wire...I did wrap the tips of the pliers with tape to keep from scratching the soft solder. I used two different kinds of solder wire...Dutch Boy lead-free silver was the easiest to form curls with, but the Oatey lead-free was cheaper and sturdier, so I used it, too. The solder is very easily bendable with just fingers, and is surprisingly easy to make patterns with. Also, if you mess up your bend, you have a little leeway with the solder to unbend and start again...you just have to straighten it out carefully. Each bottle has it's own hanger -either a loop in the solder, or a silver chain link...I took two long pieces of the Oatey solder, made a loop on one end of each, and inserted the other end into the hollow bamboo rod. Then I took a long piece of solder, attached it to the loop on one end, and spiral twisted it around the bamboo from one end to the other, attaching a bottle or key swirly at the bottom of each twist. Then I hooked it to the loop at the other end and tied on a shoelace to hang it from two tacks on the top of the window frame. They all hang from a length of bamboo fishing pole that I cut short. I think you could just twist the solder around whatever kind of pole you're attaching the bottles to, though, and make a hanging loop at each end, but I wanted the solder to go into the bamboo to give it enough strength to hold all the weight. The skeleton keys are hanging on a thin gauge wire so I could fit lots of green and blue crystals on, plus some blue beads, all from old thrift store necklaces. Hints and Tips: The Dutch Boy solder was found in the plumbing department at $5 a roll. The Oatey, sturdier, was $6 for a longer roll. The bottom picture shows how everything is attached to the bamboo...this works really well to hold everything on, and was so simple to do. When I am unwinding the solder from the roll, I really try to straighten it out...then just twisting and turning it by hand, it seems to curl just right. There is a lot of leeway in redoing the curls if yours don't turn out the first time, as long as you don't kink the solder. The window is just glass with a cling on it. They let lots of light in but give a lot of privacy, and are under $20 each, with lots of beautiful florals and patterns. And ....... "This is the most enjoyable craft I have ever made" (and may I add to that, so far we hope!)
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soxxxx
14 years ago
That is strange terrain. Does your yard go uphill or downhill from you house? I love blue bottles, (well any bottles) even if I am sometimes labeled "redneck." I can come here for genuine appreciation
lindasewandsew
Original Author
14 years ago
Here are some more blue bottles I scored at the recycle yard today after I posted.

{{gwi:130129}}

Here's the succulent behind the bottles. This guy has grown very large while being completely ignored.

{{gwi:130130}}

This is a good portion of my back yard. The tree at the top, right of center is a pencil cactus tree. They can get really large here. Glad I planted it about 5 inches from the fence. Duh!! The landscape will be even more strange by the time I'm finished with it, lol. There's been a little progress since this photo.

{{gwi:130131}}

This is what the yard looked like a few years ago.

{{gwi:2512}}

Bye Bye pool!!!! This nice man took it to cement pond heaven, lol. Linda

{{gwi:130132}}
luna_llena_feliz
14 years ago
Love the blue bottles and I can't wait to see what you end up doing with that steep incline! Great idea using the odd wine bottle holders in the garden too.
concretenprimroses
14 years ago
Great and creative bottle displays!
kathy
sunnyca_gw
14 years ago
Blue bottles are looking good!! Love that fat 1 in bottles you just got!! Nice to see some healthy plants!, my roses are all blooming again!! Spring bulbs are up & daffodils are about 8 in. tall, hope they don't freeze when it gets colder. Looks like you will be busy getting the back yard in as it gets spring. No more pool care or worrying about falling in empty one. Pools are a big expense & most aren't used very much. You have lots of ground to "play" with now, keep us posted!! Jan
Marlene Kindred
14 years ago
You really are in blue bottle heaven, aren't you?? They look awesome! And the succulent behind your latest bottle scores is just BEAUTIFUL!!!
jeannespines
14 years ago
WOW, sewandsew! Love all your blue bottle creations! With all that CA sunshine WARM weather, the glass looks spectacular! Great idea recycling the fence & bottle holders!

Yeah, I did notice the boards on your chain link...and I thought, OHHHH, I think she's working on the dog-earred fence! Just had to give you a little bit of a hard time! You are making great progress with your yard!

TFS pics! Jeanne S. ..awesome succulent!
mrsdutchy
14 years ago
WOW, I love them all!! They're such a stunning shade of blue.
I'm afraid to put anything glass in my garden as it gets so hot a dry here that I'm worried it might start a fire. I've put my glass bird feeder that I made out there but it's in a really shady spot.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful creations!
(((hugs)))
Tracey
Calamity_J
14 years ago
Hey! Now I remember who I'm talking to! I worked on adding 100 more tires to my sloping path down to the back 1/2 of my yard, still not done, gotta put a few more down, then a top coat of gravel, maybe a small retaining wall of landscaping ties, did get about 300 new plants planted back there, and a bottle tree!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:130124}}
sorie6 zone 6b
14 years ago
Thanks for the inspiration! I was given some blue bottles but didn't know what I was going to do with them!! Now I do. TFS.Good job.
emtnest
14 years ago
I seem to remember a bottle house somewhere along the main route through Victorville years ago... wonder if it's still there. Your bottles are beautifully displayed... I love my trees.
jeannespines
14 years ago
Am bumping this up for "blue bottle" ideas! Love sewandsew's creations here! I've collected a few & am working out (mentally) a project! Jeanne S.
sunnyca_gw
14 years ago
Speaking of "blue bottles" I forgot to mention on my "post" about the "JOY" sign, on the Salvage blog there is a blue bottle rain chain & a blue bottle & cement planter in a circle. So if you have some left over that is something to use them up. The rain chain looks like it would be really cool!! Jan
akup_a
14 years ago
Love the hardware that you use to hang all those beautiful blue bottles.
Vickie
suesarge
14 years ago
Hi. Am new here. Have been lurking for awhile. Just love everyone's garden art. What is the Salvage blog? I saw the rain chain but am trying to see the planter.
sunnyca_gw
14 years ago
Suesarge, go to the post I wrote that is" JOY sign" towards the end of the messages garden2garden put the link & just click on that to get to it.It it's their Salvage site then go to right & click on the blog as that is where all the good stuff is. Blue bottle rain chain, blue bottle & cement planter, easy chair(recliner)planted & with a pillow, truck covered with a garden, etc, also pics of shop they had full of antiques. Have fun! Jan
chevy57red
14 years ago
Going to be quite the endeavor!!
And i love the bottles in the cork screws..
cait1
14 years ago
Great stuff there, Linda. And that succulent is gorgeous!

Blue Bottles

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gardencraze

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