Sparkle and Chime: DIY Beaded Wind Chime

Sometimes jewelry can look just as pretty displayed as it does adorning you. Learn how to create a sparkling wind chime using the Jewelry Jam Craft Kit from Kid Made Modern. With a little help from nature, you can string up a sparkly chime in no time.

What You Need

Jewelry Jam Craft Kit

A Stick

Metal washers or shells (optional)

Craft paint or washi tape (optional)

Step One

Trim stick to size. This will depend a little on how large you want to make your chime, but a stick about 18" long is a good place to start. Lay your stick next to the materials so you can get a good sense of scale and then trim accordingly.

Step Two

Mark spaces for hanging beads. Using craft paint or washi tape, decorate the stick at even intervals. This will mark each spot you want to hang a strand of beads. Advanced crafters may wish to skip this step and decorate the stick more randomly, but this helps younger kids evenly space strands along the chime.

Step Three

String the beads. Thread the needle from the kit on one color of embroidery thread and begin stringing beads. Try to vary the colors and types of beads you use. The metal jump rings will also make a little noise when the wind blows the strands against each other, so try working those in as well. When you get to the end, you can tie a metal washer or a shell to complete the strand—they'll also make a nice noise when they brush and clang against each other. Repeat for additional strands, varying the lengths so that some are longer than the length of the stick and some are shorter. Remember to leave a few inches of embroidery thread at the top of each strand to tie it on to the stick.

Step Four

Tie the strands to the stick. When you've beaded all your strands, wind the extra embroidery thread around a marked space on the stick, tie it tightly, and trim any tail necessary. Repeat for additional strands, varying the lengths of strands as you go.

Step Five

Tie the hanger to the stick. Pick a color of embroidery thread or any kind of craft cord that you might have available and tie to each end of the stick to create a hanger. Finish by hanging your sparkly beaded wind chime where the sun and wind will catch the gems!