I kind of have a thing for gluing glass bits together to make garden totems. I find most of my colored glass at yard sales and thrift stores, but I do admit to occasionally picking up larger base pieces at Hobby Lobby when I find glass at 80% off. I think the most I have ever paid for a totem component is $6.00. It’s a cheap hobby.

The fun comes in developing the stack. There’s a trick to stacking vases and jars and plates in an upward progression that makes the eye happy. I don’t always succeed…I’ve made quite a few that I think of as “dorky,” but I tend to just put those in the middle of a color clump and call it a day.

Spring 2013…they made it through the first winter!

The “Roy G. Biv” glass garden is arranged in a rainbow color swath.

Violet intersects with indigo

while blue and green

mingle together.

Then we’re on to the yellows

and we end up in the corner with rosy reds and more orange.

This front garden gets almost no direct sun, so my totems add vivid color where nothing bright would normally grow,

…creating a joyful transitional space between my home and the rest of the world.

Most people don’t use glass that has been painted, but I’ve found that the only way to get these vivid color stacks is to go for it. I figure if the elements are properly sealed closed, there is no way weather can directly impact the paint.  (I would not, however, use glass painted on the outside).

My totems have been installed in the weather extremes we have in Kansas for more than 2 years, and so far I haven’t had much fading of the painted glass bits.

To give credit where credit is due, I learned the basics of building my totems from tutorials by the Empress of Dirt, Melissa J. Will. Check out her how-to video on youtube below.  To read more about my on-going adventures in glass, click on the “Glass Garden” tag on the left.