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Make-it-Yourself Flower Pot Wind Chimes

by Patricia A. Ziegler

These natural-looking flower pot wind chimes will add a touch of charm to any porch or breezeway. They are simple to make, and can be left out in all weathers. Best of all, they cost you nearly nothing!

Here's all you need:

1. Five clay flowerpots in varying sizes, none larger than 4 inches diameter (you may already have a few of these lying around the yard!)
2. Wooden beads (from the crafts store). For a complete set of chimes, you will need five beads of 3/4 inches diameter, and ten beads of 5/8 inch diameter.
3. Two or three plastic salad container covers (from the salad bar).
4. Five one-inch plastic curtain rings (Bates makes these of Luxite, and a package of 15 sells for about $1.35.)
5. Stained glass paints in varying colors (optional), also from the crafts store.
6. Approximately 15 yards of nylon or polypropylene garden twine.

Ready:

If your pots have been around the block a few times, you might need to give them a bath. Scrub them with hot soapy water and a stiff brush. After they have dried, check their physical condition by tapping gently with a fingernail. A clean, dry, undamaged pot will reward you with a resonant ring.

Now is a good time (while you are waiting for your pots to dry) to cut your plastic rectangles. From the salad container covers, cut one each of these sizes:

• 2" x 6"
• 2" x 5 1-2"
• 2" x 5"
• 2" x 4 1-2"
• 2" x 4"

Drill a small hole in one short end of each rectangle. Stain these, if desired, with the glass stain paint, following manufacturer's directions.

Set:

For each chime, set aside:

• one flower pot
• one 3/4 inch wooden bead (this will serve as the clapper)
• two 5/8 inch wooden beads
• one curtain ring
• one plastic rectangle (matched by size to the pot)
• one piece of garden twine, about 3 yards long

Go:

1. If necessary, separate your piece of twine into one ply, and tie one end to the plastic curtain ring. Leave about 10 inches free to allow for later adjustment.
2. Working from outside to inside, feed the free end through the 'weep hole' in the bottom of the pot.
3. Now feed the free end through one of the 5/8 inch wooden beads. This bead will rest against the inside bottom of the pot to support the chime when it hangs. Adjust until the measurement is as you wish, and mark the string.
4. Positioning the 5/8 inch bead at your mark, loop the free end of the twine around the bead and insert it a second time through the same hole from the top to the bottom. ( Figure 1). Tighten.
5. Suspend the pot by the curtain ring and determine the point at which the string meets the rim of the pot. Mark the string at this point.
6. Slide the 3/4 inch bead up the string to the mark you have just made. This bead will serve as the clapper, and should hit at the rim of the pot.
7. Now slide the second 5/8 inch bead up the string immediately beneath the 3/4 inch bead. This bead will hold the 3/4 inch bead in place on the mark.
8. Loop the twine up around the 5/8 inch bead and back down through it (as you did in Step 4 with the other 5/8 inch bead). Adjust the beads if necessary to ensure that the larger bead still hits the pot at the rim. ( Figure 2 ).
9. Now feed the free end of the twine through the hole you previously created in the plastic rectangle. Adjust length as desired, and tie.

Repeat the above for each of the other four pots.

You're done! From the eaves of your breezeway or porch, hang each pot upside down by the curtain ring. Now mix up a batch of lemonade, and invite the neighbors up on the porch to enjoy the gentle sound of your beautiful new flower pot wind chimes! For the illustrated version of this article, please visit http://www.pazpizzazz.com/chimes.html.

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