Wind Chimes

I bought a bottle cutter on Ebay last year. And I've been having fun using it. I make glasses out of beer bottles, windchimes, candle holders.
It brings back memories of my teenage years back in the 70's. I had the exact same cutter and made lots of things back in the day of hippie/recycling/macrame/candles. But this time when I bought it on Ebay, it cost $50.00! yikes. I wish I would have kept my old one (along with my original Barbie doll in her zebra bathing suit).

My first entrepreneurial venture was making candles and macarame hangers & wooden candle sticks. My dad let me use his lathe, and from a 4x4" block of wood I turned it (literally) into a candle holder. He was always instructing me on the 'safe' use of his tools, and he never thought I was not capable of using them. I used a band saw at 16 years old. And still have one today.

I would schlepp my goods to the 'head' shops around town and sell my stuff. Now that was 40 years ago and I'm still making stuff and hauling it around selling it. Now it's in my local shops or craft fairs.  We creative folk are like sharks, we gotta make stuff or we die!
I am so happy that I grew up in a home that hand made things were treasured.

So if you have a bottle cutter, this project is for you. If not, try a technique I heard of using a wire wrapped tightly around the bottle and heat it and cool it. You would turn the bottle over a candle flame, then rub it over an ice cube. Repeat process until it cracks. Then use a rough sand paper grade under running water until the edges are smooth.

Today's project is:

Bottle Windchimes

left one is a wine bottle, right one are two beer bottles.  You need a chain, keyrings, and beads.  There is key ring inside the bottle to stop the chain from sliding all the way up. And then a keyring on the bottom of the chain (which you can get a hardware store) to hang the 'clinking' stuff.  I used a shower curtain/metal ring on the beer bottle one. And for the wine bottle one, I used glass beads and a piece of fused glass the clanging parts.

I was kind of experimenting and the windchimes I see have all kinds of stuff hanging from them. Use cord and shells, or beads and metal pieces like washers. The hardware store has loads of fun stuff to use.
I made chimes using a wooden dowel with stuff hanging off of it. Be creative, even if you don't use a bottle, you can just hang a bunch of stuff that will clink together.
The main thing is, that you are creating! Remember, you can't mess up, have fun!

tip of the day:
summer time has bugs, but this tip came from a landscape artist friend. (I'm not sure if I've used this before, so excuse me if I did)  She suggested that using 'bounce' fabric softener sheets tucked into the cushions of your outdoor furniture helps keep the skeeters away.  It's worth a try. If nothing else, it will make your stuff smell fresh! Hey, stick one down your cleevage, and hopefully the bugs won't follow! :)

That's all for now...
Dee