Wind Chimes (Two Ways)

Wind chimes! Yes, we made a pair of wind chimes that I'm preeeetty excited about. Wind chimes are so becoming my thing (what am I, like 80?). Just on Sunday we were driving to buy some groceries & we had our windows down because it was so freaking hot. While we were at a stop sign, I heard someone's chimes a blowin' in the wind. Although I couldn't see them, I could hear them. All the deep, rich, blowy tones (what are "blowy tones" you ask? I think you know... don't you?). I just love the sound of something so calming when the wind blows. It's a nice change from the usual raucous of our neighborhood. Oh our neighborhood...

The bottom line is, I love wind chimes, so here we go.

The wind chimes pictured above were super easy to make. When John, Ruby & I went to Florida in March, we collected a ton of shells. You know, it's what you doooo when you go to Florida. I didn't know what I wanted to do with them, but they were too special to leave just sitting there alongside of the ocean, helplessly waiting for the next tourist to scoop them up. So I happily picked out about a sandwich-size baggie full of them & plopped them on my craft table in the basement when we got home & kinda forgot about them (like I do with way too many treasures I find). A few weekends ago, I had a bit of inspiration to finally do something with them.

These shell chimes are so delicate & tranquil. Yep. Tranquil. I have since hung them right above my kitchen sink so that when even a slight breeze comes in, they bump into each other & make such a sweet, peaceful sound (or when we have a more violent wind/rain storm like we've been having the last couple nights, they sound quite concerning, which takes away the tranquilness, so I'm forced to shut the window a bit).

And the best part is, they were a cinch to make. All of the shells already had existing holes in them (I specifically picked most shells with holes) so all I did was use a bit of fishing line & tied them all together & then onto a piece of drift wood. It was kind of a cheater creation because it was so easy peasy.

The other chimes I want to share with you, were a  b e a s t  to make. First of all, you have to spend like a year drinking beer & pop from bottles. Talk about torture. Then you have to take the tiniest drill bit ever & attempt to drill two holes on opposite ends of the bottle caps & shreek every time you do because you think you're going to drill straight through your thumb. Then you sheepishly hand over the drill & thousands of bottle caps over to your husband so he can do it for you.

I don't mean to be sexist or anything. Maybe you are a woman & are super handy with power tools. That's fantastic & I am super jealous of you. I am boarder line terrified of them. I've never been in an accident with one or seen anyone's hand cut off or anything, but my mind always goes there. My imagination+tools=almost always a mistake.

So yes, John mostly did these chimes. He dutifully drilled holes in each cap & then I strung them onto fishing line. For the first cap on the string, I strung the line through both holes & then tied a knot by wrapping the line around the bottom hole twice, if that makes sense. If that doesn't make sense, comment below & I can post a clear picture of what I mean.

I made strings of all different sizes & then strung them onto some driftwood too. They have a very unique sound to them... it kinds makes me thirsty, but I think they look pretty cool. Maybe a little college dorm-ish, but still pretty cool. 

Don't judge us. Sometimes we drink cheap beer (& sometimes our friends bring over cheap beer & we're forced to suffer through it). What projects have you been creating lately?