I am excited to be offering 30 days of fun crafts to keep kids active and entertained this summer! You won’t want to miss a day of these fun crafts for kids from some amazing bloggers! Please be sure to pay them a visit!

Hi there! I’m Alicia of Mayfly, and with the help of my two monkeys (ages 10 and 6), I’m thrilled to be sharing a project for the Craft Camp!

We have been talking about making these silverware wind chimes for awhile now, and it was super easy. It is, though, a project for older kids or a patient parent who is willing to help quite a bit.

Step 1: Gather your materials. We found thrifted silver utensils for $1 each. With a little looking we probably could have found them cheaper. My kids chose them for their sound- by clinking them together to see which ones sounded nice. We used some small logs cut to length to hang the silverware. An older child (closely supervised and wearing safety glasses) can help cut the log. My son loves sawing.

Here are all the items you’ll need for a silverware windchime:

1. Rag or old cloth
2. Hammer
3. Something to hang the silverware from- we used these chubby little twigs.
4. Scissors
5. Silver or silver plated utensils (they sound pretty)
6. Fishing line
7. Beads to embellish the hanging silverware
8. Drill bit- you might have to go purchase this specifically for this project. It needs to be a small drill bit suitable for hardened metals. The one I found was about $3.50.
9. Drill
Not pictured – safety goggles.

Step 2: Pound the silverware flat.

We discovered that placing the old towel over the silverware kept the surface smoother. And then we finished them up bare.

Be sure to hold the utensils still by their handles while pounding the curved parts. Both of my kiddos really enjoyed this step. Remind them to watch those little fingers!

Don’t bother flattening the handle of the knives. We tried and found that ours were hollow and ruined one. Oops!

Step 3: Prep the hanging sticks and drill the holes in the silverware.  This is a step for mom or dad. My son was able to drill the holes in the twigs, but asked me to finish.

When drilling the holes through the twig, place them pretty close together. We made them about an inch apart, and it takes a pretty stiff wind to make them jingle. Maybe try 3/4″ or so.

 

An adult should definitely drill the holes in the silverware. This is the hardest part. Hold the utensil firmly on the table covered with the cloth (it will get hot!) with only a small overhang. Drill carefully through the handle near the tip. Wear safety goggles to protect yourself from little metal shavings!

Step 4: Cut lengths of fishing line and thread them through the holes in the twig. Wrap the line around a time or two and tie multiple knots to assure they won’t come undone.

I left pieces of the line on the outermost holes on the top side to form a loop from which to hang the wind chime.

Step 5: Plan and string your beads and silverware.

I pretty much did this step for my daughter with her close instruction. It’s a little tricky to thread and tie knots in the fishing line. Be sure to wrap the line through the silverware holes a couple of times and tie multiple knots. Trim left over line fairly close to the knot.

My son was able to do this step on his own. Be sure to keep your silverware hanging at similar lengths so they’ll all be able to clink into each other in the wind.

Step 6: Tie the two lengths of line at the top to form a triangle/loop to hang the chime from. We added a few more beads up there too, just to make them look prettier.

We hung ours from some funny little metal hooks that I made for another project, but they would hang nicely from a simple loop tied in the fishing line too.

That’s it! Hang them up and hope for a nice summer breeze.

Thanks, Cindy, for letting us join camp- we can’t wait to try out some of the other projects too!


About Cindy Hopper

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Comments

  1. Just curious as to why the silverware needs to be flattened? I actually had just bought a bunch of old spoons at a yard sale, with doing something crafty with them in mind!

  2. Hi,

    I’m putting together a round-up on Spoonful (Disney’s crafts and cooking blog) of garage sale upcycling projects. Would you mind if I included a photo of this and linked back to your site for the instructions?

    Thanks!
    Janssen
    everyday-reading.com

  3. I’ve been making these for years, however instead of the twig/ log i use a fork. you turn up the ends with pliars and hang the flattened spoons from it. They make a very unique gift.

  4. Creating such a beautiful wind chime with help of spoon and folk is awesome and it is looking very beautiful.It is remarkable

  5. Love that you recycle too and your idea is very cute. if you want some more inspiration check out our website and keep on creating and recycling. Have a happy day.

  6. This one sounds wonderful as i have two grandchildren, boy 9, girl 12! Next time they spend a day around during summer, i intend to involve them on this piece! thanks for publishing!

  7. To flatten (an adult, of course) can drive over them with the car. It works really well actually!

  8. Love the crafts.
    So love your idea of 30 days of Crafts. Sharing with my granddaughters. Thanks for passing on your creative ideas.

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