Create Seashell Wind Chimes
A wind chime crafted from seashells can be a simple and inexpensive way to remember a seaside vacation. This project can also be a fun and memorable way to spend time with a child, as they can help you design and construct the wind chimes. This project will only require a few tools and materials, and affords considerable latitude in making your own design decisions to create seashell wind chimes that are unique and beautiful.
Steps
- Gather your materials. For this project, you will need 24 shells of relatively uniform size, some string or fishing line, the inner wood hoop from an embroidery hoop, a drill with a small drill bit (1/32 inch [0.8 mm] or smaller), and a pair of scissors.
- This guide will present only 1 possible design for seashell wind chimes. You can adjust and augment these plans as desired to create wind chimes that are bigger, smaller, or have a different appearance.
- If your seashells were gathered from a beach, it is best to clean them before using. Stray sand, grime, and bacteria can be removed using a mild dish soap and water.
- Prepare the embroidery hoop for hanging. The wooden hoop will be the piece from which all of the seashells hang. You will need to begin by drilling holes into it for passing the string through.
- Place the hoop on a flat surface and use a pencil to mark out 24 evenly spaced points around its circumference. Do this by marking 4 points at the top, bottom, leftmost, and rightmost areas of the hoop. Then add 4 more points at the midpoints between the first 4. Finally, fill each remaining space in with 2 equally spaced points.
- Fit your drill with a small drill bit and create 24 holes in the hoop where you marked the points. The holes should be large enough to pass your string or fishing line through.
- Prepare the seashells for hanging. Each seashell will also need a hole drilled in it so that the string can be tied around it. The hole can be placed anywhere on the shell, keeping in mind that the position in which the shell hangs will be dictated by the hole's location.
- Drill a small hole through each shell using the same size drill bit as before. To help prevent the shell from cracking, you can cover the hole's location with a strip of masking tape before drilling. Remove the tape after making the hole.
- Cut your string into 24 separate pieces that are about 12 inches (30 cm) long. Tie one end of each piece of string through the hole in each seashell. Cut off any excess string to neaten the appearance.
- Hang the seashells from the embroidery loop. Once all of the shells have been attached to pieces of string, they are ready to hang onto the wooden loop.
- Begin by tying the first seashell to a hole in the wooden loop using the full 12 inches (30 cm) of string. Tie the adjacent shell to the loop, this time positioning the knot so that the new shell hangs just higher than its neighbor. Repeat this process for all 24 shells, hanging each one slightly higher than the last. This will create a pleasant cascading appearance.
- Once all of the strings are tied to the loop, you can cut off the excess string using your scissors.
- Display your new seashell wind chimes. Once all of the seashells are hanging from the embroidery loop, the wind chimes are ready to hang. You can use the same string or fishing line to hang the wooden hoop from a hook. The string can be looped through the same holes used to hang the shells if the holes are wide enough. If not, you can drill 4 new equally spaced holes to suspend the hoop from 4 pieces of string.
Tips
- Make sure that each seashell is hung closely enough to its neighbor to strike against it in the breeze. This may require using greater or fewer than 24 shells depending on the size of your shells and your embroidery hoop.
- If you live in AZ or any desert, instead of an embroidery hoop, go natural and use the dried cholla cactus spine! Where desert meets sea, perfect for beach girl transplanted to AZ.
- You can try painting or staining the embroidery hoop for a different appearance.
Things You'll Need
- Seashells (24)
- String or fishing line
- Embroidery hoop
- Drill
- Drill bit
- Scissors
- Water
- Dish soap
- Pencil
- Masking tape (optional)
Related Articles
- Make Wind Chimes From Old Silverware
