I have no clue how to hide the glue
cant wait to see what u do with them

Did you paint them? They are beautiful! I don't make totems so hope others will reply on that. Jan

no, I can't paint that well! :)
I got them for fifty cents each- they are painted well, and the paint seems to be a kind that won't come off-
I really, really wanted to make them into flowers! At least I realized about the glue 'before' I started- I probably would have cried when I saw how it had dried!!! Experience speaking here! :)

How about using a plate hanger and mounting it on the rod to stick in the ground. Or just hang them on a fence/side of something with the plate hanger and make a faux stem.

Here is a link that might be useful: MY BLOG

I have heard some use MAC glue, I'm not familiar with it but I thought I would mention it.
I just did a glass on glass window with silicone and what I found was I had to apply enough silicone, then press the air out of it. I do have a couple of spots that didn't cooperate, but over all it worked.
Good luck, the plates are lovely.

Those are beautiful plates!! Love the designs on them. How about using them on the wall or fence with plate hangers or try one of dcarch's "fork" plate holders and put them in your garden just as they are. You could also use them by mounting them on a board with plate hangers making them into a swag of sorts....there is a website about that...I'm trying to remember where...I'm at work (shhh, don't tell), so I'll look when I get home for that site and post it.

Even with a clear glue anything that you put on the back as a holder will show through the plate, just something to consider.

Here is a thread testing several adhesives.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gog glue test from SG&M forum

It's Robolady's (marge) website that shows her swags made out of china cups.

Hope that helps. Hiding the glue is always and issue with clear glass items :)

A couple of times I put FE silicone all over the back of the item and smoothed it somewhat so it had a crackled look. It worked for what I was making, but don't know how you would hide a holder.

They are beautiful plates! Three ways to hide the holder and therefore the adhesive occur to me. One is to paint the back of the plate a complimentary color, perhaps just a circle in the middle, which brings up the problem of what kind of paint. Two is to find a little flat plate of a complimentary color and glue it to the back, trying the MAC glue which is clear. Or three maybe there is a way to attach your pretty dishes to a solid color plate with a plate holder, and this plate has the holder ge ii'd to it.
I think I like the third best if its possible to mechanically attache one plate to another.

All this has made me realize that with winter coming on I really should test the MAC glue on a glass flower in the garden. Just hope I can find it lol.
kathy

Those are beautiful plates.

It is conceptually inconsistent to use them in the typical "plate flower" fashion. You don't paint flowers on flowers

You may want to consider drilling small holes to connect them to make the most wonderful sun-catcher in the garden. There are many swivel connectors you can find from jewelry making supplier to make the connectors.

But if you insist on making them into plate flowers, consider this:

You can get transparent Plexiglas (Lucite) half spheres that you can glue to the back of the plates using transparent silicone glue. The half spheres come in many sizes.

To make the stems, you can also get transparent plastic rods, bend them with boiling water to 90 degrees, drill a hole in the plastic sphere to fit the bent rod, and use plastic cement (Methylene chloride) which is also transparent, to glue the rod to the sphere.

You will end up with a very attractive, all transparent item.

Also consider back-paint the plates with glow-in-the-dark paint. Imagine how stunning these would be in the night garden.

dcarch

Great idea dcarch!

dcarch- I never want to be consistant! I like to shake things up, think outside the box, be different with my creations!
BUT what an idea!!! Wowza!
It's been so fun seeing your ideas come into my email! I still don't know for sure what to do with them, but I need to get through a few other projects first.
I promise I will post photos, when I finally decide- keep those ideas coming!!
mj