Welcome Deejayjay!

Totems are very addicting I must warn you...make one and you'll most likely be hooked! Yes, totems are used outside in the garden...gives the garden a little sparkle and bling! I live in VA, so I take mine inside the gazebo in the winter time because of our winter weather...some folks choose to leave them out and they do fine. The larger totems are usually not secured to the ground, but we do use either a plate or something else that is wide and heavier to give it weight at the bottom. My advice would be not to make them too tall either as that adds to the "wind" factor. You should find plenty of info on the forum as to assembly, glue, etc. Most of us use GE Silicone II for windows as our adhesive. I have cats, dogs, chickens, deer and the occasional goat and cow from my neighbor who manage to get into my gardens, but so far the only one that has gotten broken, got clipped by the weed eater as my DH cut my plants down for winter. Hope you'll give it a try and please post pictures so we can "oooohhh and aaahhh" appropriately! Oh, and no question is a stupid one....only the ones not asked! ~Marlene

That's good advice from Marlene. We have a dog, German Shorthair, who gets into the flower beds, but hasn't broken anything yet. Also, you can make small totems, glue something like an upside down bud vase to the bottom, slip it over a pipe (conduit, PVC, copper), pound a piece of rebar into the ground and slip the pipe/totem over it. If you do a search you can probably find samples.

Deejayjay,
I'm also going to be making my 1st totem soon. If you look at the post title "New Junk" a dozen or so posts below, she has some pics of totems out in a very pretty garden. See if this link to it works: New Junk post with totems Also, doing google images search for something like "glass garden totems" will show you lots of pics and even more ideas.

Lori

thanks for all the information. I'll have to get some goodies and give it a try.