"Chime In" Wind Chimes

6 Materials
$1
1 Hour
Easy
My daughter-in-law happened to be shopping and saw some chimes. She took a photo and sent it to me saying "You can make this!". This wasn't the first or last time she's had faith in me to do a knock-off.

I proceed to figure it out. It usually doesn't come out exactly as what she saw because I always add my own twist by using what I have in my Treasure Pile.
I decided to tint my jars so I gathered my supplies:
Mod Podge
Food Coloring
Hot water
Jars - you can use any kind of jars, I just happened to have mason jars available


The full recipe and instructions are on my blog along with more photos.
Pour your mixture into your jars. Swirl it around to cover the entire inside. Keep swirling and pouring to your hearts content or until you run out of jars or mixture, which ever comes first.


Turn jars upside down and let drain on newspaper for 5 - 10 minutes


Set them on the counter, upright and wait about 5 more minutes, allowing the extra paint that did not drip out to settle on the bottom. Jars and bottles with a flat edge along the bottom will work the best for this technique. The bottom of my jars have a little excess Mod Podge. If you try to tilt the jar again and pour it out, you’ll end up with streaks along the sides of the bottle.
Next place them upside down on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.
Set the oven to it’s lowest temperature and place inside.
I checked on them about 20 minutes later or more until dry—transparent.


Be sure the excess on the bottom has fully dried, too, before tilting the bottle.
Caution! These will be hot, be sure to use a pot holder.


Remove from the oven and cool. Remove the gummy texture from the top of the jars.
If you prefer a darker color, do it again in the same jar…just be sure to cool the bottle first. 
This is exactly what I did because they came out to light the first time. Much better second time around.
I knew I need lids for the tops and bottoms, so I E600'd used lids to some rings that needed to be replaced



I painted them black after using an ice pick to poke holes in the lids. I used the heaviest fishing line I had to add the copper tubes (which were also in my Treasure Pile) they were left over from when I made  Solar Lanterns for the garden.  I used clear GE Silicone II  to adhere lids to jars. Silicone can handle the fluctuating temperatures outside better than anything else. Let cure for a couple days to be sure it's nice and stuck.


I made mine as the prototype first. That's why you see rusty tubes ;)  
I found a handle from a petite fore dish and used that for the clapper. I have it pulled to the side so you can see what I'm talking about. (left photo)


A Dragonfly catches the breeze to make it chime. (right photo)
This mason jar chime is what my daughter-in-law sent the photo of - the inspiration.
Then I made more!


A cheese shaker top painted black acts as a clapper on this one (left photo)


I found a metal filigree piece digging through my stash that had a hole in it. I dug through my beads only to find a crystal that fit pretty good inside that hole. SO when the Sun shines I'm hoping to get some prism effects going. (right photo)
Love the color they all turned out!
Full photo of the last one...which turned into a gift for a special someone icon
Suggested materials:
  • Jars   (garage sale)
  • Mod podge   (leftover from other projects)
  • Tubes, fishing line, paint   (leftover from other projects)
See all materials
Debbie/Dragonfly Treasure
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
  • Darlene Williman Darlene Williman on May 10, 2018

    Is there some where to get the chimes?

  • Jim Cox Jim Cox on May 10, 2018

    Do you have a specific tuning for the chimes? Your fave chord etc


    BTW your glass looks FANTASTIC

Comments
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 4 comments
  • Kara Wurtzel Kara Wurtzel on May 08, 2018

    This is awesome! You replicated it perfectly! Yours is even prettier :)

  • Kathy Duchesneau Kathy Duchesneau on May 10, 2018

    Really nice! You must be an expert crafter!! You were lucky to have all those products on hand. I think it would cost me more to buy the products than buy the wind chimes. I bought a similar one and got it 50% off - $9.99 and it's really nice and solar! Wish I was craftier!


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