Sunday, July 31, 2011

When Bottles Sing

Well... Sort of, anyway.
A used water bottle and some old chime tubes can spice up your window, or your porch, or your garden, or anywhere! Some cutting, painting, and a lot of cussing attaching the tubes is well worth the effort, although I wouldn't want to do this on a daily basis.
I selected a design I had recently finished, and lo and behold, it fit around the bottle perfectly! Phew. Start an opening on the bottom of the bottle and cut out your design, like so-
Next comes the base coat. There are two coats of high-hiding white on this project, including the cap.
Some bottles are nicely embossed and indented. If yours is, you can follow through with your paints, using them as a starting point, and then a guide to complete the bottle art.
If the chime tubes are plain, giving them a dash of paint, whether one flat color or patterns, seems to add just a little umph. Leaving them alone or painting them has not affected their sound.

Get all your pieces and parts together. It's time for the cussing (on my part, anyway).
Now, you need to 'borrow' some fishing line. Clear, neon, whatever looks right with the set. I used a small button that snugs up under the cap to hold the center line in place. Each tube was threaded and knotted through a single hole in the bottle. A drop a clear drying glue on the knot helps keep things together if you are putting them outside in the elements.
After some cussing and aching fingers from knotting, the wind chime is complete.
Hang it up. Admire it. Let it sing for you!
Happy recycling.





Toodles.

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