I love water and the sound of water is pleasing to my soul. I also love rocks. I collect them and have as long as I can remember. I guess, you could say I am definitely a Pisces!

I made this fountain in 2014. A few weeks ago I decided to take the entire thing apart and clean it really good. What in the world was I thinking? It was such a horrible idea but has given me some inspiration. I posted a picture on my hobby plant page and someone wanted the instructions on how I made it. I posted a snapchat and same thing! So here we go!

I wanted to use wine bottles because I love the color of these wine bottles. The directions can be edited for any thrift store finds or items you like and fit your garden theme!

Materials needed:

• plastic wine barrel flower pot
• metal lattis
• thrift store box springs
• bailing wire
• wine bottles
• tubing for water from pump to bottles
• lubricant for plumbing
• T – splitter hose adapter
• metal stainless clamps
• pump cover (keeps pump clean of debris, I used a nursery pot and cut it to fit)
• rocks and possibly concrete stones
• diamond bit for drilling
• an additional person
• towels
• gloves
• safety glasses
• silicone (outdoor, waterproof)
• patience

I would like to start off by saying, you may want to have several wine bottles lined up to practice on. Also, the cheaper bottles are more difficult to drill without breaking. I think it took ten bottles before the process was working how we wanted it too.

To start the drilling process, we first used a towel on the table outside to position the bottle right. It takes two people because you need to keep the surface wet. The drill bit is going to drill about a half inch hole. It takes a minute to figure out the best way to make this happen without cracking the glass. The final solution was to drill with the bottle standing for a few seconds, then lay it on the towel with another person streaming a small amount of water over the area. The glass gives a little right before it goes through the bottle. Be careful, this is the tricky part! Once you kinda have the hang of it, just drill all of them at one time. I promise you will be glad that you did.

Next, I found a metal lattis that I like the shape of and we cut off the bottom 3-4′ and bent the metal forward, fit everything inside the wine barrel to check scale. The concrete blocks will help keep the lattis in place. Then, the springs were added to the lattis to hold the bottles at an angle. I used baling wire. The lattis and springs were then spray painted with black rustoleum. Place the dried lattis inside the barrel and put the concrete blocks on the remaining bent metal to keep it in place.

Then, assemble the pump and the three different splits so you have four lines to the bottles. You can customize this anyway you want. Make sure you use the lubricant on the t- joints, and anywhere there is a seam. Lubrication helps water seal the piping/tubing in water and keep it from leaking.

Here is a picture of this….also, the disgusting hard water that I was attempting to clean up. It is 2020, so honestly, I feel pretty good about it working so well still. Why did I take it apart? You can also see that I clamped the hoses in place as well to keep everything secure.

Yay, the rocks are clean.

Originally, I used 1/2″ tubing for the entire project. But the original holes for the blue bottles were cut at an angle and the hose fit perfectly. The new holes are cut perpendicular and these bottle were actually for a different project. They were already cut, so I decided to just go with it and save time on the redo. Because, when I took the hose out of the original bottles to clean them, I shattered them. All four of them. Blue glass shards everywhere. I think this is the part where I grabbed a Shiner, Ruby Redbird to help ease the pain or soften the blow. You can probably get by with one size of tubing also. So, plan accordingly. Drill holes, then go to the store. (pond supplies and plumbing supplies) All the pond supplies were picked through pretty well so I could not change to the smaller hose for the entire project, until they get the adapter for the pump in. I had to make it complicated. I used half inch tubing until right before the bottle. I then used a splicer to go from 1/2″ to 3/8″ and then the tube fit right into the bottles without being scared of breaking.

Last but not least, turn everything on and check for leaking. We used a ton of silicone the first time. I would probably hold off a week or two on this to make sure you get everything just right. Silicone makes it quite a bit more permanent and that is why my bottles broke.

Finally, layer your decorative rocks in a way that creates a waterfall or sound that you like, and enjoy.

I love my fountain. I keep it going most of the year until we hit December through March. It is best to move it to the garage but you can also use a heavy duty grill cover once you remove all the water and it will be just fine.

Let me know if you have questions or need help!

Comment below if you enjoyed this post!!!

❤
kat