Saturday, September 18, 2010

Making a Bottle for a "Bottle Tree"....or my version of one.

  
I like to hang decorated wine bottles from an old and tired Bradford Pear Tree in my back yard. Why? 1. It has a neat myth that it traps evil spirits, and when the bottle makes that sound from wind blowing over it, it's the spirit moaning (read here "What is a Bottle Tree" to find out more). 2. Hubby hates it. He doesn't get the appeal, and says it just makes me look like an alcoholic. (noooooo...nothing wrong with a good wine). I never pass up an opportunity to get on his nerves 3. I get to pick out cool bottles of wine....and then DRINK THEM! ya! 4. It makes my asshole nosey neighbor wonder just what the hell that's all about. 5. When people visit us (usually "people" means family just coming over to use the pool, and get me to cook them a free meal), they ask about it, then roll their eyes at me. 6. It is quick to decorate, and makes me happy. 7. The beads on the bottles make an interesting noise as the bottle moves with the winds, think wind chime-ish..kind. Ya...it's fuuuuuuuunnnnn.
  Usually, the entire tree is made up of inverted bottles on "limbs"..forming something in the shape of a Christmas tree. I have to be different though, and just hang them from my Bradford Pear tree.
  Sooooo....here is how I do it. With pictures even, if you want to be odd and hang cool wine bottles from your tree too!

Step One: Find a really cool bottle of wine, and enjoy it! Then rinse out said bottle.

You need your bottle, some beads, and jewelry needle nose type pliers, wire cutters, a good sturdy wire thin enough to be fed through bead holes, and some beads. I prefer to use pieces of shells, glass..etc. More "natural" things, well as natural as glass gets. Plastics tend to fade or flake in the weather. The Monster energy drink, is just a preference, and here to explain why my pictures tend to get a tad bit shaky.

My choice of "beads". I liked the light blue with the cobalt blue of the bottle. I just grabbed some out of my stash, little colored shell chips (which will probably fade) and some glass beads. The wire, was a tad bit too soft, as I will later show.

Cut around 3 pieces of wire about 9 inches long. You can do more or less, but since I am absolutely obsessed and OCD about odd numbers...go for odd numbers, and don't ever tell me if you do even! Tie a knot in the end of each wire, then gently tighten it up by grabbing one end with your hand, and the other with pliers and pulling it tight.

It should look like this. You may need to trim it a tad with your wire cutters.

Then simply string a few inches of beads on the wire. You can add as many, or as few as you like.

Repeat with the other wires. You don't have to be precise. Don't stress over what order they go in, they will be on a bottle in a tree for crying out loud. People don't really notice them that much!

Next, cut another piece of the wire about 2 foot long. Longer if you want it to hang lower in your tree. Then, wrap one end around the neck of the bottle, and tie a knot in it, tightening with your pliers.

After it's good and tight, trim the end of it off with your wire cutters.

Next, wrap the wire from the knot around the bottle several times, and feed the end through to lock it in place.

Take the end of the wire with the beads attached, and feed it through one of the wraps of wire on the neck of the bottle.

It may pull the wire loose a bit, but don't worry, you can tighten it up when you are done. When the beads hang on the bottle about where you want them, make a "u" out of the wire, then wrap the end around itself several times so it is attached to the neck wire (neck wire? sounds totally dangerous!!) You don't have to use all the end of the wire, just trim it off after you have wrapped it around 5 or 6 times.

Then repeat with the other bead/wire combo. You can just initially wrap it loosely going down the wire, then use your fingers or pliers to gently slide the coiled wire up closer to the neck wire to make it look tidier. I hang mine in varying lengths going down the bottle. When all are attached, tighten back up the wire around the neck of the bottle, and get ready to hang it. 

 
Choose a branch on your tree, and first knot the wire around it, then wrap the remaining end around the wire going down to the bottle to neaten it up.

Once again, wrap it around many times, then you can use your thumb to push the coil up closer to the knot.

and see, it looks pretty, with the little beads dangling down, and making a tiny "tinking" sound when the wind moves the bottle and the beads hit it. You can leave the label on, or clean it off. If the label is pretty, I leave it on and let nature take care of it at will.

Here is the label on the other bottle. I bought this wine just because I liked its name, and the cute little hippo on the label. Yep, you are reading it right, it's called "Fat bastard". Dontcha just LOVE it?? The weather has nearly taken the label off. I don't remember if the wine was good or not, it has been a while back. Perhaps it's because I finished most of it in an evening?? Nah, couldn't be.

And since I now had 2 bottles in the tree, and that previously mentioned obsession with odd numbers, I had to make one more. The nice frosty bottle made me want to add red beads. I love me some red. Then I found black ones too, I like them, and it made me think of my high school sports colors, so I went with it.
Same steps as above, but since the bottle was bigger, I decided on 5 strands of beads (keeping it odd ya know). Oh color red, how I love you! You make me happy.
I took the label off this bottle, because it was plasticy, and I didn't like it, but I love the beads against the frosty glass.
I hung this one higher in the tree. The poor pathetic tree. It's survived through one damaging wind storm, and a lightening strike. I should let Hubby cut it down like he wants, but then...where would I hang my bottles..and I love it...and it was a Mother's Day present 17 years ago...and I love it!
When you are done, make sure to pick up all those little wire ends you trimmed off. They are pointy, and easy to get shoved into little feet when they land on the floor (as they always do). AND, big ugly feet like mine, then I whine, and cuss...and the kids point and laugh. They are such brats.
And put away your materials. THIS...this is where I keep my beads, jewelry making supplies. I'm so terribly neat and organized ya know! (eye roll..yes, I'm a slug, a big disorganized slug)


Then, I go out to take clothes off the line, and I find this!
CRAP!!!!!
I told you that you needed to use a good firm wire. I didn't! I used what I found first. It was too soft, and it's windy out today. I think as the bottle moved back and forth gently in the breeze, it kept moving the wire back and forth, and broke it. SO...use a not so soft wire, and don't fasten it so close to the limb. Let it have some swinging room. I will repair it and re-hang it. *sigh*  As soon as I find the better wire I put up so well in the house, that now, I can't find it. Have I mentioned I'm disorganized?

Well, I hope this mess of a "How-to" helps. That is only if you give a shit, or want to aggravate your hubby/spouse/partner/kids/family/neighbors by hanging your wine bottles from a tree. Come on...it's fun on so many different levels, from drinking the wine, to the craft project, to annoying people and catching those pesky evil spirits in your yard. OH...and you can do it while emptying one of those bottles (by emptying..I totally mean drinking it), just be careful with those wire cutters.

P.S. Yes, I know I need a new manicure!! DESPERATELY!

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