One of summer's quintessential symbols is the wind chime. Its tinkling sounds are relaxing, and it adds an alluring accent to any outdoor space. This project allows you to use a wine bottle, colored glass, and painted beads to create an extra-special wind chime that you can hang from a tree branch, front porch railing, or even inside in front of an inside window.
The wind chime originated in China, is believed to bring good luck into the home, and is a mainstay in feng shui, the Chinese art of placement. Many people enjoy them today for simpler reasons, however. They just appreciate their peaceful music and pretty look. Whip up one of these and enjoy your next glass of vino (from the bottle that’s full) al fresco, while you revel in the chime's summery sounds.
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Materials
- Wine bottle, emptied and washed, with label removed
- Bottle cutter
- Electric teakettle
- Heavy-duty work gloves
- Two large aluminum bowls
- Sheet of 800 grit sandpaper
- Sanding sponge
- Coil of silver wire, about 2 feet long
- Small wire cutting tool
- Small needle nose pliers
- 2 pieces of wind chime glass that either have a large central opening with a small hole pierced above each one, or a small hole on the top and bottom of each
- Roll of monofilament line
- Small glass or plastic bowl
- 4 large painted wooden beads with holes through them for beading
- 9 small painted wooden beads with holes through them
- Scissors
- Wine bottle, emptied and washed, with label removed
- Bottle cutter
- Electric teakettle
- Heavy-duty work gloves
- Two large aluminum bowls
- Sheet of 800 grit sandpaper
- Sanding sponge
- Coil of silver wire, about 2 feet long
- Small wire cutting tool
- Small needle nose pliers
- 2 pieces of wind chime glass that either have a large central opening with a small hole pierced above each one, or a small hole on the top and bottom of each
- Roll of monofilament line
- Small glass or plastic bowl
- 4 large painted wooden beads with holes through them for beading
- 9 small painted wooden beads with holes through them
- Scissors
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Instructions
1. Place the bottle in the bottle cutter and cut a line around the bottom third of the body of the bottle.
1. Place the bottle in the bottle cutter and cut a line around the bottom third of the body of the bottle.
2. Fill about half of the tea kettle, turn it on, and bring the water to a boil.
3. Keep one bowl empty and fill the other with tap water and ice cubes.
4. Put on your pair of work gloves.
5. Put the bottom of the bottle in the empty bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Make sure the cut portion gets bathed in the hot water.
6. Next, plunge it into the ice water.
7. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as needed for the bottle bottom to break off from the rest of the bottle.
8. Wrap the sheet of sandpaper around the sanding sponge and smooth out the top portion of the bottle’s separated edge.
9. Take the silver wire and wrap it in concentric circles around the neck of the wine bottle.
10. Cut the wrapped wire from the rest of the coil with the wire cutter.
11. Shape each end of the wrapped wire into a decorative loop with the needle nose pliers. Make sure that the loops sit flat against the glass.
12. Take the roll of monofilament line and weave its end through the hole in a piece of the wind chime glass.
13. Tie the end around the piece of glass and knot it. Cut away any excess line.
14. Cut about a foot of the line that’s attached to the piece of glass from the spool.
15. Place about a dozen of the small beads and 4 large beads into the small bowl.
16. Thread the beads on the line, in a pattern of one large bead followed by three small beads. The final pattern will include four large beads and three groupings of three small beads.
17. The final bottom piece will be the other large piece of wind chime glass.
18. Knot the end of the filament line so all the glass and beads stay in place.
19. Cut any excess line after you create this bottom knot.
20. Take another piece of line and thread it through the top opening in the top piece of glass and tie a knot.
21. Bring this piece of line up through the inside of the bottle and out through the top opening, where the cork would go. The top piece of glass should now be situated within the bottle and seen through it.
22. Loop the line through the top row of silver wire on one side of the bottle neck, bring it over the bottle top opening and loop it through the other side’s top row of wire. Tie a final knot and cut off any excess line. This will allow you to hang the wind chime.
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23. The wind chime is now ready to be displayed.