Hello! PhyllisMN sent me an e-mail telling me of your request and I'd be happy to give you the directions as best as I can remember what I did! First you will need to find an old bucket or plastic pot that you can break ( I think even a stiff cardboard one would work -like a movie theater popcorn bucket?). You will use this to support your post and to pour cement in. Follow the directions on the back of the cement bag and place your post in the center of the cement making sure to go down far enough. I would recommend about 8 inches. That should support the sculpture once you add the additional weight of the bottles. My first bottle tree, I used an old broom handle painted with copper spray paint for the center post. That eventually weakened and broke, so I ended up dismantling the whole thing and rebuilt it. I went to our local feed store and found a resin type of square utitily broom handle though this time so that it would hold up in the harsh weather conditions. I drilled several holes spaced several inches apart and from different sides all the way through the post. The holes are just large enough to accommodate the larger diameter copper wire that holds the bottles (the branch wires). Honestly I don't remember the gauges of wire that I used, but I'm guessing by the looks of it the larger wire is about 1/4" in diameter. The smaller one about 1/8". You want to have the holes ONLY big enough to get the wire through with some diffuculty, otherwise the wire will flop around. I had a heck of a time removing them from the old one! You want to be able to have the wire remain stiff so you can manipulate it and support the bottles. One of my holes was too large and I wrapped the wire around the post which helped, but it still sagged more than I wanted. Basically then I inserted the wire and after I decided on a length that I thought looked good, I cut the wire (you'll need a heavy duty cutter! or have them cut lengths for you at the hardware store) I bent the larger wires only slightly to create some gentle curves. I then sort of twisted or curled the ends a bit inward, so someone wouldn't rub against it and scratch themselves. Additionally, I decorated the ends with little glass jewels. Once the main structure was built I decorated the post this time with bits and pieces of old broken dishes and oddball jewelry pieces using mosaic techniques. I used the clear silicon (isn't that right up there with duct tape? ) and then grouted it after it dried. Funny, I wasn't able to finish it last fall, but it worked just fine completing it this summer. If you are not going to mosiac it, make sure to paint the pole before you place the wire in the holes. Then, take the smaller gauged wire and starting with the neck, twist the wire around the bottle spiraling towards the bottom end of the bottle. I would always leave an inch or so to twist in a spiral at the neck end several inches at the bottom end to attach to the larger "branch" wires. Before you attached the now wired bottles you can use the clear silicon to add any embellishments you have laying around. I used glass beads, old jewelry, and a few other sparkly trinkets. I also added glass jewels to the branch wires and to the post. To attach the bottles, just twist the wire on as securely as you can manage to the branch wires. Then you can bend either the branch wire or the bottle wire to make sure the bottle is facing downward. You don't want rain to get into the bottles and freeze. That would create a whole new look! :-) I then made leaves from the thin copper foil that you can purchase through an art supply company. Dick Blick is one source that carries some smaller pieces otherwise it comes in a roll. Check out "art metal foils". http://www.dickblick.com/zz605/13/ If you have a good art supply store, they may carry it too and there may be something at the local hardware or Lowes for all I know. For those I traced around a broad leaf from a Johnny Jump Up flower using a Sharpie marker, but you can use any leaf you like or make one up too! I used that because it was a simple heart shaped type of leaf. I didn't want anything too complicated. You can cut the foil with either tin snips or an old pair of scissors. I then created some texture by using a ball peen hammer. That was fun! I had diffculty attaching the leaves so they would stay so if I were to do it again, I think I would drill some holes in them away from the edge and then attach them that way. You could attach them in such a way that some would flutter in the wind and then some more securely that would not move. I originally made thin bands of copper from the foil to fold over the stem part of the leaf. Oh this IS getting long isn't it? Finally, I beaded glass beads of my colors that coordinated with my jewels onto some very thin wire and hung those intermittently on the tree as an additional embellishment. This step would certainly be optional, but I like them. Once completed, dig a hole deep enough to bury the cement base and enjoy! I hope I covered it thoroughly enough for you. If not, feel free to ask questions. I don't get here much at all anymore, but I bet Phyllis would let me know. She could send you my e-mail too.

This is a really fun thread. I like to see what everyone has in their garden and how thoughtful about art and creative you all are. I often think I'm going to "make" some garden art but then never get around to it. I don't decorate the garden with a whole lot of art. I have a few decorative stakes and then a few glazed birdbaths and some copper sprinklers that I use more for decoration than watering. My mom has a very cute piece of garden art. The story behind it is that we were at Hever Castle in England and they were selling all kinds of cement statues. We fell in love with so many of them. My mom couldn't part with this guy. Hever Castle was down a hill so we had to hike back up the hill, carry him on the rest of our tour and then carry him home on the plane. He weighed between 30-35 pounds so it was like carrying a little person around. He was well worth it though!

I am new here and joined due to this particular discussion. I am an electrical contractor and recently bought a miller thunderbolt ac dc stick welder that I plan on wiring a receptacle for. The cable feeding the unit is only #10 AWG 3 conductor with what looks to be a 30 amp cord end attached (could have been added later--I bought it used. The welder input power is listed at 240 volt 46 amps if I remember right. My plan was to run #6 AWG wire and terminate to a 50 amp 3 wire twist lock receptacle. I would also replace the male cord end and wire on the welder to #6 wire and a different 50 amp cord end. The fella named rcmjr had a good question. He asked what size wire should I run for a 50 amp circuit? Well typically without considering Art 630 of the NEC we would run #6 THHN wire to the receptacle unless special circumstances are present such as a long run (over 100 foot), or it is feeding a motor or other instance. If you wanted to go what I would consider "over and above" and leave the receptacle in the home after moving out wired correctly thats how I would run it. That way when so and so moves in and plugs their 45 amp device into the unit they would be safe. A circuit breaker is kind of like a thermostat. It senses heat and opens the circuit. The problem with art 630 is that if you run #10 wire from a 50 or 60 amp breaker and terminate onto a 50 or 60 amp rated receptacle someone could theoretically come by and plug something other than a welder with a low duty cycle and the WIRE WOULD MELT BEFORE THE BREAKER TRIPPED!!! the size and rating of the insulation of copper wire is listed in 310.16 or thereabouts in the NEC. We usually size wire using the 75 degree column since most panel lugs are only rated for 75 degrees Celsius. That puts you right at about 30 amps. Now art 630 says I can run #10 wire to my receptacle to feed my 46 amp welder. What it does not say (but I believe it is implied) is that same wire will be terminated into a receptacle and breaker greater than the 30 amp rating of that wire. There are a couple problems with this. But perhaps most frightening is the fire risk. You can either terminate into a 30 amp receptacle for instance or say a 50 amp one. Well, in my opinion it is safer on a higher ampere rating receptacle because the receptacle is rated for a higher ampacity and would not be the weak link in the circuit. Since people who write code do their research I feel safe doing so as long as I prevent unauthorized access to the receptacle and if I was to move I would simply remove it or install a 240 volt 30 amp twist lock receptacle thus providing a safe circuit in most instances. The ideal situation would be to run wire rated for the amp draw of the machine regardless of what art 630 in the code says about duty cycle and downsizing conductor size. That would mean running #6 to a 50 amp plug and terminating into a 50 amp 2 pole breaker. Or #4 onto a 60 amp breaker and receptacle. I will probably run #10 wire though to my welder and remove the receptacle and pull the wire off the breaker if I move. I am new to welding but I am comfortable with electricity so I hope that helps someone out.

Thanks for the link. I think I may have to re-think my position on this as these copper doors don't seem to be doing it for me. Oruboris, I too thought the fabric backed wire too country, but I recently saw a picture in BHG that I liked a lot. I will look into different patterns in the pierced pattern also.