Bottle trees are said to protect one’s home and garden. Folklore tells us the colorful glass lures harmful spirits into the bottles where they’re trapped until morning’s bright light de-demonizes them. Bottle trees are also alleged to make the harvest more bountiful and bring overall good luck.
I was thrilled when Sam offered to make a custom crafted bottle tree. I might have nagged him into it… .
He modeled the branches on an oak tree, angled upwards to ensure all those demon-catching bottles don’t fall off.
Meanwhile, I’ve been helping out by drinking wine. Well, I haven’t been able to drink all 30 bottles the tree can hold so I’ve collected bottles from others. (Thank you to my fellow drinkers.)
We’re still about eight bottles short of the goal, so I guess we’ll be popping a few more corks for art’s sake.
Being me, I don’t want to stop at simply inverting bottles on the branches. I’d also like to collect tiny clear or colored bottles with tight-fitting lids. (Save me some if you can!) I want to write poems or sayings on pieces of paper, then curl those papers into the little bottles, and hang them from the tree on strings. Perhaps that’ll lure benevolent spirits.
Without further ado, here it is.
Custom bottle tree by Sam Weldon.
Bit of Earth Farm 
very cool
Elegant! The evil spirits don’t stand a chance. The blue glass is especially attractive, but I guess the contents weren’t quite as interesting as the green and clear ones…?
Color of glass entirely dependent on what people gave me. Actually, some folks gave us whiskey bottles too but ya never know — tiny air demons might be drawn to them!
Shame I’m so far away. I have a pretty amethyst coloured bottle and another one that’s a beautiful aqua – Bombay Sapphire gin, and it’s engraved with botanical illustrations, so might help with the garden protection. But the best one is clear, and has a frosted transfer print of an under-sea scene from the Great Barrier Reef. Wish I could get them to you without breaking the bank, but it’s just not practical.
You may need to save them for your own bottle tree (or bottle shrub or bottle stake)….
Good plan. I think I might make a mobile of mine, fill them with sugar water and fruit fly baits, and combine beauty with utility!
I would like to have a bottle tree on those terms: a skilled artist creates the tree, I empty the wine bottles. 🙂
Pretty much my terms Bill.
Love it…might steal it! (The idea, that is…we are a bit far away for actually pilfering!)
Steal away. I have quite a collection of bottle tree ideas on Pinterest pinterest.com/laura_euphoria/bottle-tree although I’m happy to say Sam designed his own.
As for actual stealing, not happening. The tree here is pounded over 4 feet into our clay soil. It’s staying. (And it’s guarded by an attack poodle.)
What fun! And I don’t just mean the wine-drinking part, although I’m always glad to help with that!
And I love the little-bottle-with-message-inside idea. Thanks for sharing, and huzzah Sam!