Dish magic: 18 garden totems add sparkle and charm

garden totems: picture of a 2ft tall stack of dishes using green and pink glass and a fat white tea pot

Glass is magic in the garden! Look no further than the spectacular artworks of Dale Chihuly. His glass sculptures dazzle whether in an indoor or outdoor setting.

Our humble garden totems made with dishes from the thrift store are not at all in the same league; but they do provide an artistic quality and elegance in the garden, albeit on a much smaller scale. The point is, that glass is glass and it’s beautiful in the garden.

We hope this gallery of garden totems will inspire you and be a resource of ideas for making your own. Because there are so many different styles and colors of glass and ceramic dishware, it’s not too difficult to collect pieces that reflect your favorite garden theme or decor.

Gallery of Garden Totems

Glass Towers

Garden totems. picture of a rose theme stack of dishes and flower vases that have images of a rose on them

Totem tower made from various pieces of blue glass and clear glass vases.

a plant stand made from a tall blue colored glass vase turned upside-down with a clear plate on top — A simple PLANT STAND with colored glass vase. Note: Though rare, this is the actual color of the glass, not sprayed. Using clear glass pieces for top and bottom make the shape and color of this contemporary style stand out.

garden totems : here's one in the garden made with a blue flower vase, a flat round dish and clear glass ball paper weight — Glass ball is a heavy paperweight. It really throws off some prisms of light when the sun hits it.

Woodland Whimsy Garden Totems

As an artist, I love doing themes, especially those that revolve around the garden…birds, frogs and fairies. To make a totem like this, just look for pieces that naturally go together and are similar in character.

garden totems: vase and dishes stacked one on top of the other with a ceramic bird house on top.

Plastic fairy figurine glued to the top of a colorful vase and set in front of flowers on the front porch

plastic fairy figurine inside a glass globe mounted on top of a glass vase.

When I use resin figurines in making garden totems, I always treat them with a few coats of a product that is made to delay or even prevent the color from fading in the sun. If you have some beloved lawn ornaments that you put out every summer, you may be interested in learning more. You can link to that article HERE: “How to keep resin lawn ornaments from fading” by Make it a Garden.

a short totem sculpture that's made to resemble a lily pad with a little ceramic frog piece in the center — I love frogs! They’re a natural in garden decor

Watch as I make the Water Lily & Frog

Garden totems: stacked vases and bowl and plate and tea pot on the top. — “Tea with a handsome frog”

Garden totems: 2.5 ft tall sculpture that uses plates the color of water. There's a candle holder on the very top that resembles a water lily flower. — Caption: Lotus sculpture. Azure colors made the artist think of a calm, serene pond with lily pad and a leaf floating on the surface of the water

Dish People

I found some mugs that had faces and just couldn’t resist the urge to make a couple of dish people. They’re not very big, but are perfect for indoors!

a vase, tea pot and coffee cup with happy face on it stacked one on top of the other to resemble a garden lady. — Have a Nice Day!

another garden lady made from a bowl, curvy tea pot and coffee cup with a lady's face on it. Pieces are stacked one on top of the other — Caption: “Dolly Teapot”

Another garden lady made from a tea cup turned up-side-down and a small dish and a cup with a face painted on the front. And a hat piece on her head. — Caption: Miss Tea Cup

An all white totem sculpture made from a tea pot placed on top of a vase and a ceramic crown on top of the tea pot. Resembles a fairy-tale Tea Pot King

Holiday Totems

Garden Totems: a tea pot made to resemble a Fall Pumpkin. An owl figure inside a glass bowl

A snowman Christmas decoration made by gluing two clear glass bowls one on top of the other and a tall black hat on top

Thanks for stopping by

I hope you’re more interested than ever in making some garden totems of your own. Here’s a link to a wonderful and very detailed tutorial to help you do just that!

Take Your Garden Totems to the Next Level

It’s pretty much impossible to copy anyone’s totems exactly as you won’t find all the same dishware, so yours will be truly original! However, you can get a general sense of how to combine color, pattern and style for the things that appeal most to you. So release your imagination and have fun!

Finally, you’re probably wondering what GLUE to use. Excellent question! For my glass and ceramic garden totems, I use two highly recommended products that you can learn more about HERE: “The two BEST glues to use for garden art” This is a good, in-depth article about the glues. It covers how they work and why they are the two most common ones used for making garden art.

I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below. You might also wish to “like” our FaceBook Page or consider joining our little group of garden and art lovers below. Have a great summer learning and creating!

2 thoughts on “Dish magic: 18 garden totems add sparkle and charm”

Lorna Bee says:

January 22, 2020 at 9:07 pm

I like the totem with the cute little froggy on it the best!! ” )

1. admin says:
  
  January 23, 2020 at 11:05 am
  
  awe…thanks so much! I wanted to show how little accents like the frog, add such charm and whimsy to a piece. I pick ’em up as I make my rounds through the thrift stores.