There seems to be a ready market for these mobiles and windchimes. I think that windchimes have a wonderful fascination for people and they seem to be used more and more in gardens now and all children love mobiles from a tender age.
Of course you can make them in a variety of ways and they leave plenty of scope for a bit of improvisation on your part! You will need to save a lid for this from something you use at home. Preferably a plastic one, to have a base to work from, as you will need a circle to hang your items from.
If you have found a suitable lid for this, you now will have to remove the middle of it. So get cutting with a craft knife or scissors. The width of the rim left will need to be at least 1 centimetre and now you will need to make some holes at regular intervals all the way round this.
You may not like the colour of your ring and therefore decide to paint it another colour. If you are going to do this, use an acrylic paint, like gold or silver. You will also need to decide which holes you are going to use for hanging this by.
You need to sort out your hanging strings now (4 in all). So gather what you will, in the form of string or cord. The cord needs to be cut long enough to enable you to go through one of your four designated holes, with enough string left at the bottom to hang your items, but also have enough length at the top to hang it by, when joined with the other three. Enough to knot them all together and make a hanging loop.
As you will have quite a few more holes still on the ring, you are going to need some more strings cut to match the length of the others when they are tied, but only from the ring. These want cutting and after they are affixed, add a large bell to the bottom of the main four. Continue by putting smaller bells on any other strings and preferably some of these will jingle.
If you think this is may be too plain, you can always decorate these, by painting the bells in other colours and use gaudy cords. Nail varnish colours would do the trick, or some metallic paint, or any acrylic.
This is just a general guideline of how you could go about it. Naturally you will have some ideas of your own which you can try. But I will just put a few ideas your way. How about using some old keys? These can be painted too.
However, it may be that you actually live in or near a seaside town. In this instance, you could scour the beach for nice shells, which would be very effective. If this is out of the question, you may be in luck if you visit a local art and craft store, as these sometimes stock shells, mainly for craft work. Failing this, small stones would go on strings, if they are glued properly.
Personally, I often think that strings made of coloured beads in glass are rather nice. Also, at Christmas, why not use the lovely silver and gold beads as decorations and cut them to the size you want and, if that's not enough, you can still add items at the bottom.
Of course you can make them in a variety of ways and they leave plenty of scope for a bit of improvisation on your part! You will need to save a lid for this from something you use at home. Preferably a plastic one, to have a base to work from, as you will need a circle to hang your items from.
If you have found a suitable lid for this, you now will have to remove the middle of it. So get cutting with a craft knife or scissors. The width of the rim left will need to be at least 1 centimetre and now you will need to make some holes at regular intervals all the way round this.
You may not like the colour of your ring and therefore decide to paint it another colour. If you are going to do this, use an acrylic paint, like gold or silver. You will also need to decide which holes you are going to use for hanging this by.
You need to sort out your hanging strings now (4 in all). So gather what you will, in the form of string or cord. The cord needs to be cut long enough to enable you to go through one of your four designated holes, with enough string left at the bottom to hang your items, but also have enough length at the top to hang it by, when joined with the other three. Enough to knot them all together and make a hanging loop.
As you will have quite a few more holes still on the ring, you are going to need some more strings cut to match the length of the others when they are tied, but only from the ring. These want cutting and after they are affixed, add a large bell to the bottom of the main four. Continue by putting smaller bells on any other strings and preferably some of these will jingle.
If you think this is may be too plain, you can always decorate these, by painting the bells in other colours and use gaudy cords. Nail varnish colours would do the trick, or some metallic paint, or any acrylic.
This is just a general guideline of how you could go about it. Naturally you will have some ideas of your own which you can try. But I will just put a few ideas your way. How about using some old keys? These can be painted too.
However, it may be that you actually live in or near a seaside town. In this instance, you could scour the beach for nice shells, which would be very effective. If this is out of the question, you may be in luck if you visit a local art and craft store, as these sometimes stock shells, mainly for craft work. Failing this, small stones would go on strings, if they are glued properly.
Personally, I often think that strings made of coloured beads in glass are rather nice. Also, at Christmas, why not use the lovely silver and gold beads as decorations and cut them to the size you want and, if that's not enough, you can still add items at the bottom.
About the Author:
The author of this guide, Anna Meenaghan, operates an interactive internet art community where artists and art enthusiasts alike have a meeting point. There you can find more or less everything about art from canvas art through to abstract paintings as well as huge amount of "Help" guides for budding future artists.
