...and so the Bottle Tree has been planted!

The shower is calling, but I just couldn't help but to post one
last message to share my excitement.

For years I have longed to have a Bottle Tree. Every time our
local grocery store carries colored glass, I begin consuming
the beverage and bam! They take it off the shelf. As a result,
we don't consume enough of anything to make a tree, and the
idea has been sitting on the back burner for a long time.

A rediscovered desire to work with mosaics and bottles prompted
my passion about a month ago. Nonstop trips to the recycling center
have provided ample supplies, so when I found a fantastic pole in
hubby's junk pile, it was only right to do the recycling thing all the
way around!

As I sit here, I can see the bottle tree out the window, or at least
the pole. Using post hole diggers, I dug about a foot deep, stuck
in the pole, tossed in concrete and made sure it was level. Now
comes the waiting, waiting, waiting.

I'll be hammering in long nails around the pole to form branches, and
since the bottles are just sitting on the tree upside down, it won't take
anything heavy duty.

As soon as I have it finished I will take pictures. The fun thing about
this tree is I can change the bottles around, change colors with the
seasons according to the colors of the bottles, etc.

I'm having entirely too much fun with all of this 'trash'.

"The fun thing about
this tree is I can change the bottles around, change colors with the
seasons according to the colors of the bottles"

That does sound like fun! imagine bright green bottles in the spring turning to darker green in the summer and then gold/orange/reds in the fall and white and blue in the winter... The seasons represented in "trash"

I read someone's thread where they were going to put clear Christmas lights on there bottle tree. Are you planning to light it some way for night viewing?

Oh, absolutely! When I awoke this morning, I was trying to remember how
many boxes of clearance lights we had from the last sale. :-)

When I told my 15 year old son about the tree, he asked how many I was
going to make, then added how 'cool' it would be if we had them in all colors
with holiday lights on them. LOL. Wow, a project my kids approve of?

This could start a whole new trend for the valley. I'm sure the neighbors would
just choke...what on earth is she doing now? But wouldn't that look neat? We
have a very long stretch with the house, so I could put dozens and dozens of them
all in a row. Or, in a patch - an orchard! LOL

First things first. Must finish one at a time.

Wuvie your imagination just makes my day! Cant wait to see this " Tree"!! If I had know you were collecting bottles I would have mailed you mine. I just cleaned out all of my old blue bottle collection because I was tired of dusting! All kinds of old Milk Of Magnesia bottles! I took the to a flea market and sold the boogers for 50cents a piece! I would have sent them to you for nothing! Pooh!!!!!

"One person's trash is another's treasures"

I have learned something thus far.

Even though I hammered in long nails at a 45° angle, it
appears longer rods will be necessary for the bottles to sit properly.
The nails are evenly spaced around the pole. The next row is centered
between the previous nails, then back to the first row, then the second,
etc.

First I tried large Corbet Canyon bottles, which will look fabulous in
the sun, but they don't seem very secure. Hubby suggested using
extra long nails which are often called roofing nails, apparently they
are super duper long. I may end up using wooden dowels or something.
Right now the tree has five rows of green bottles, but I believe I'll experiment
before going much further.

More to come.

Wuvie, If the roofing or gutter nails don't work, and you are worried that wooden dowels won't last, here is another idea. I think most stores like Lowes or HD sell short lengths of iron bar stock (mild steel, it'll be black in color.) You could buy a few pieces of 1/4" round steel and then cut them to the length you wanted. If Hubby doesn't have an abrasive saw to cut the round steel bars, it could also be cut with bolt cutters.

Then you'd just drill holes into your center piece at a 45 degree angle like you would drill if you were going to use wooden dowels. Slide or tap the steel bars into the holes.

I can't wait to see this thing!!! (I just love throwing out ideas and letting somebody else do the work.)

Hi Mud,

Thank you so much for the idea on the iron bars. I think I'll check out the
long nails first, then go for one with wooden dowels, then move to steel rods.
That way I'll have a variety of methods to evaluate.

As my other project will require many bottles, trees seem only appropriate for
storage, LOL. The only problem is, I'm finding more reasons to have more trees.

I found a fantastic wine bottle rack on the internet, but I'm cheap and didn't
want to pay $25-35.00 for one. I've even tossed around the idea of using
an artificial holiday tree, but quickly gave up that idea.

This couple used a real tree after the holidays:

http://www.deepfriedkudzu.com/2006/01/making-our-bottle-tree.html

Long nails are 15 cents each. Mmm, not very budget friendly,
considering just a small section of the tree easily holds 35 bottles.
I plan to make several trees, but at that rate, I may as well buy the
90 bottle wine racks.

I looked at rods. Much work, would need a little hubby assistance,
not worth the hassle. I think I'll just use branches, drill a hole, glob some
glue in the hole and ram it in. Maybe I'll coat the tree to make it weather
resistant?

Still washing labels from bottles.

wuvie,

your bottle tree is inspiring me,do you have a hint of when you may be done the suspence is killing me!!! cant wait to see your finished project.

Hi Liz,

Well, today I pulled all of the nails out, not liking what I had previously
created.

Another trip to the recycling center today, this time focusing on large
bottomed bottles for my other project. I'm just amazed at the colors!
Lime green, golden yellow, bright yellow, olive, orange, oh, oh, oh!
Kahlua bottles give off a glorious orange hue when sunlight hits the ends.

I had to laugh when sorting colors, because as I held them up to the sunlight,
words just popped out of my mouth, such as "Green Kool-Aid" and
"Limey green". The one I cracked up over was "Urine Yellow". Perhaps I
should refrain from using that term. LOL

Why, oh why can't folks drink more blue bottled stuff? ;-)
Can't find Ty Nant or Arizona Tea around here. Bummer!
We may visit Tulsa Sunday, so I'll have a chance to check out a
few stores up there with my fingers crossed.

The more I think about it, the more I may just make a spiral tree using extra
long nails. That way I will complete a tree using fewer materials with a unique
impression and ideas for yet another tree.

Now if I could only think of something fab to do with all the Ramune
bottles my son rescues for me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramune

Photo for illustration only, not my photo.

i have been going to do one for 2 yrs or more but not spot now i think.. i like the idea though really well.. where do you find the Ramune bottles at is it drink sold here??

Hello Hope,

Yes, the Ramune is a drink which is primarily consumed by
teenagers who watch Japanese cartoons called Anime. My
son works in a store where they are sold, so the kids save the
bottles for him and he brings them home to Mom.

:-)

You can find them wherever Anime is sold.

A sad update from Arizona Tea company:

Thank you for your email. Our Ginseng Tea product and package has been updated. The tea is now called Black Tea with Ginseng and Honey. Honey has been added and the bottle is no longer made with blue glass.

Can you all see me crying?

*joins Wuvie in pouting* 8'(

~*~ Suenell

hi wuvie,

sorry to hear about the arizona bottles, wuvie do you have a cost plus world market out there? i found tynant bottles red and blue only in the 25 fl oz they were $2.99 i bought three to start my collection.

i also found at trader joes blu' italy water they too are 25.4 oz but there more on the long slender side not rounded as the tynant they were $1.09 plus .08 crv.

hope this gave you some good news have a good day i think im going to go look at some thrift stores today and see what i can find...... liz

Oh, Liz, how I wish!

Even the closest is a few states away, and they don't have it.

Just a note about the red Ty Nant, the glass is not red, rather it is a coating,
so you may not want to purchase too many more if you have the intention of
an outdoor tree. The red film will come off the bottles. :-(

I had to order a few blue Ty Nant on Amazon, though I must say I am thus
far not impressed with one of the vendors carrying it. I ordered four, just
four bottles June 30 and as of yesterday, I contacted them only to be told
they were backordered. If they are not available, why list the darn things?

Wish we had a source. Even if the local liquor stores would carry Skyy Blue, I'm
not a big drinker of beer and such, so I'm back to internet ordering again.

Can't find the infamous Blu Italy here, either. Pout.

Sigh.

wuvie - just thought I'd give you more food for thought. While you are out and about looking for bottles, don't forget to watch for small bottles as well. I just *love my rare "Drawf Bottle Tree. Low maintainence, drought resistant, and blooms year round!
ginni

This message was edited Aug 2, 2006 3:22 PM

I have never thought of a mini or dwarf bottle tree. It is so cute and would look really cute in the garden, too. Guess I need to go to the liquor store and purchase some of the cute mini bottles of booze. Also, the dollar stores have some cute bottles, too. Now I have a project going. Thanks for the idea. Sheverne

Have fun!

hello tgif,

very cleaver, i loved the tree thank you for the idea now i have something to do while i collect for the large tree liz

WHATTTT I get all the way to the bottom of this thread with baited breath, waiting, hoping, drooling in anticipation of a picture and NADA!!!

WUVIE WHERE ARE YOUUUUU??? hows the bottle tree comming?

Come out, come out, where ever you are!!!!!! Oh, WUUUUUUUUUVIEEEEEEEE! My fingers are sore from tap, tap, tapping on the table, I'm turning blue from holding my breath, and if I fall over in a dead feint it will be your fault! lol

Just found this thread, want to share two pics of a bottle tree forest I found along old rte 66 just north of Victorville.

that is astounding, LOve the idea of a forest.

I will have to stop by there again, my new camera has so many more pixels the pictures would be clearer.

Blooms, that forest is so cool! I really like the square "tree" with the all green bottles in the caged treetop.

Okay, want to share this close-er up one too. The things on the tops of the tree were interesting too.

This forester must have been collecting bottles from along route 66 for years. Now that is real trash to treasure!

I want a bottle tree in my garden, now I just sink the wine bottles into colorful borders!

Hi, to all who enjoy creating treasures from trash. I too am in the process of making a bottle tree. I now have collected over 80 different sizes of colored bottles. I found some at thrift stores, a flea market, and my local recycling center.
I am in need of more small bottles with which to fill in at the top making it look more like a tree. When my son in law "plant's" the post and makes the holes for long nails or dowels, I am ready to go when he is, and will send a picture when completed.

LOL.. I have a weping willow tree that I cut some branchs short and have blue arizona bottles inserted on! People have probably thought I am committable when they ask the meaning to my odd glass bottle "leaves." I find the bottles, wash, and remove the lables and off to the tree we go! I find it quite amusing to the looks my beautiful tree gets!

One of my customers is a bar tender and last night he finally brought me some bottles I've been begging him to save for me. He's a regular customer of mine and always stopping by with more customers for me so every time I see him I remind him. Amongst the bag was two Skyy blues to add to the three additional I have collected and a Bombay Saphire which is a pretty light aqua color. He works at the golf country club so if I stay on his little skinny behind about saving them for me I might have an endless supply.
I had the same problem with the single red bottle I found at Goodwill I was thrilled to find, Karen Marie. It's fading away in the sun. :(
I lit mine using low voltage colored malibu lights wired consecutively wire nutted together and it looks awesome at night. Boy, they're awfully proud of those colored bulbs at Home Depot. It's hard to get a good pic at night. I know there must be a setting on my camera but I haven't figured it out yet.

Connie, if you use the "candle" setting on your camera, be sure to use a tripod. ANY movement will cause the lights to look drunk!

I tried to see if I had a better photo of your bottle tree than the one you posted. Only one I found was this... and I don't know that it's any better.

Janet

I was trying to find one of it lit at night that you could actually see it lit. I remember how much trouble I had even getting those. I had my finger over the flash on some hoping to get the true look but that didn't work either. I'll try the candle setting, Janet and maybe put it on something and set it to take itself since I don't have a tripod.

Ooh, I'll bet that looks really nice in the dark when you
are in the pool! How cool is that!?

My bottle tree was put on hold for a number of excuses.
Maybe this spring I can get it together, now that I have
plenty of Saratoga bottles in cobalt blue.

KM

ok the bottle tree has been planted!!!!!!

so wuvie what do you think of this one???
liz

Oh, Liz, is that your tree? I love it!

I really like how the smaller bottles are at the top,
giving it a nice 'trimmed' or 'pruned' look.

Will you string lights around it for the evening look?

I'm so proud of you!

Liz
That is a fine bottle tree,good job. I am collecting blue bottles for my next tree. Not only do I like the tree but also the fire hydrant. I had one at one time but a friend lusted over it and I gave it to him,bad move!
I have a bird like the one next to the hydrant. My bird is black with a red head,yellow beak and legs. He qualifies as a piece of fine art.