Songbird Upcycled Wind Chime
One of the things I love about spring is the sound of songbirds. Even though their dawn chorus wakes me up at the crack of dawn! Many of the songbirds are really colourful and pretty too. I recently curated a collection of vintage songbird paintings that are free to download on the blog (get them here). I thought it would be fun to use some of these gorgeous bird illustration to decorate an charming upcycled wind chime for the garden.
To make this wind chime I used 3 tin cans of different sizes. The main thing is to make sure that the tin cans fit inside one another. I also used some old cutlery in the form of a metal spoon.
First remove the labels from the tin cans and drill a hole in the bottom of each one.
Then spray paint the cans. I used a different colour for each one.
Next, I printed out some of the songbirds. (You can get this from the blog link at the end).
I then cut out each songbird from the sheet.
Then using decoupage glue I stuck 2 birds to each tin can. Make sure the birds are at the bottom of the tins as they will overlap slightly.
To seal the birds and protect them from the elements spray paint them and the tin cans with an acrylic varnish.
Next, starting with the largest tin can thread some twine through the tin can. Tie a knot in the twine to stop it passing through the can. Then add the middle sized can, again knotting the twine. You want the cans to overlap sightly. Finish off with the smallest tin can.
Finish off by adding a metal spoon or fork to the end of the twine. If you want a more twinkly sounding windchime you can add more than one spoon or fork
I have some beautiful free butterfly images on the blog (see here) which would also look fabulous on a wind chime.
Resources for this project:
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Comments
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I just love the look of this chime - vintage, rustic, colorful! You should sell on Etsy!
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Thank you so much, it costs almost nothing too as all recycled materials.
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Did not see any birds to print out only butterflies!!!
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If you follow the link in the first paragraph or the one in the bio both will take you to posts with American songbird images.
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
What type of paint do we purchase and can you use old magazines for birds. Or butter flys
I'm going to try this and see what happens. I have almost all of the items, except the spray paint. Can I use any kind of spray paint?
How does it make any sound when the spoon doesn't hit against anything?