DIY Beaded Wind Chime

Posted on Jul 02, 2018 By AKM

Sometimes jewelry can look just as pretty displayed as it does adorning you. And our Jewelry Jam Craft Kit is FULL of so many gorgeous baubles that you'll have extra to make this beaded wind chime to do just that. With a little help from nature, you can string up a sparkly chime in no time.

Materials:

- Jewelry Jam Craft Kit

- Stick

- Metal washers or shells (optional)

- Washi tape (we used the glitter tape from our Metal Mashup Kit) or craft paint (optional)

Steps:

1. Trim stick to size -- this will depend a little on how large you want to make your chime, but a stick about 18" long is a good place to start. Lay your stick next to the materials so you can get a good sense of scale and then trim accordingly.

2. Mark spaces for hanging beads -- using craft paint or washi tape, decorate the stick at even intervals for each spot you want to hang a strand of beads. Advanced crafters may wish to skip this step and decorate the stick more randomly, but this helps younger kids evenly space strands along the chime.

3. String beads -- thread the needle from the kit on one color of embroidery thread and begin stringing beads. Try to vary the colors and types of beads you use. The metal jump rings will also make a little noise when the wind blows the strands against each other, so try working those in as well. When you get to the end, you can tie a metal washer or a shell to complete the strand—they'll also make a nice noise when they brush and clang against each other. Repeat for additional strands, varying the lengths so that some are longer than the length of the stick and some are shorter. Leave a few inches of embroidery thread at the top of each strand to tie it on to the stick.

4. Tie strands to stick -- when you've beaded all your strands, wind the extra embroidery thread around a marked space on the stick, tie it tightly, and trim any tail necessary. Repeat for additional strands, varying the lengths of strands as you go.

5. Tie hanger to stick -- pick a color of embroidery thread from the kit or another craft cord (we used the gold cord from our Metal Mashup Kit) and tie to each end of the stick to create a hanger.

Hang it where the sun and wind will catch the gems!

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Shop our Jewelry Jam Craft Kit here!