This Towering Holiday Tree is Made of 86 Shopping Carts

We've seen a lot of wacky Christmas trees made from everything from <a href="http://inhabitat.com/christmas-tree-made-from-1000-beer-bottles/">beer bottles</a> to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/recycled-christmas-tree-made-of-bike-wheels/">bicycles</a> in our day but never one made of shopping carts! Believe it or not,<a href="http://shoppingcarttree.com/"> 86 metal shopping carts</a> were balanced atop one another to form this 33-foot-tall holiday tree which graced the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/gehrys-santa-monica-place-goes-green-with-leed-renovation/">Frank Gehry</a>-designed Edgemar mall in Santa Monica, California a few years ago. Designed by artist Anthony Schmitt, this beacon of holiday spirit attracted a lot of attention with its glittering good looks and rather unconventional material.

“The shopping cart tree symbolizes both generosity and abundance, as well as acknowledging those less fortunate where their whole world may be housed in a cart," says Schmitt.

"We see shopping carts every day and take them for granted. Individually the beauty of an everyday object may become invisible, but in quantity you can’t miss it.”

This wasn't the first time that the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/annie-the-recycled-shopping-cart-chair-from-reestore/">shopping cart</a> tree was erected.

Schmitt conceived the idea more than a decade ago at the request of Abby Sher, the former owner and developer of Edgemar, and the Colwell and Belden families have continued the annual tradition of commissioning the tree since buying Edgemar in 2007.

The 2010 tree was made out of mostly full size carts.

But there are some smaller versions at the top to create a forced perspective of height.

A closer look at the shimmering carts.

The artist poses next to his masterpiece.

A view from beneath the tree.

The tree is officially lit for shoppers and passersby to enjoy.