Reuse Bottle Caps as Wind Chimes

 

In our house, we recycle as much as possible, especially when it comes to making crafts.  Craft supplies are expensive.  While I do purchase quite a number of craft supplies, when I can use something we have on hand, my wallet thanks me.  As moms, we look at Pinterest or craft books and try to create little masterpieces with our kiddos.  Truth be told, the little ones see the end product much differently than we saw it on Pinterest or in that book.  It has been my experience that the memory of doing the craft is what the kids cherish, not the craft itself.  So, don’t hang on to unrealistic goals of perfection.

This project took 15 minutes which is about the extent of my 4 year old’s attention span.  We explored the yard for a stick and shortened it.  We gathered milk jug lids that we have been collecting for quite some time.  However, we thought about using shells or rocks for this project and may do it again with those.  This was a quick fun project for those days when the kids are climbing the walls and need to do something but you cannot go outside.

What you need: 

• Stick of desired length
• Twine
• Milk jug lids or other similar object
• Drill or something to make a hole in the cap
• Glue gun (optional)

I made holes in each of the caps.  These are soft plastic, so I was able to just poke through them.  Then, we fed the twine through the holes.  Since this is jute twine, it grabbed the rough edges of the holes and the lids stayed put where they were placed.  However, if you use a drill or the twine is a bit more slick, you may need a dab of hot glue to hold the pieces in place.

 

After stringing each cap into place, we tied three strips of caps onto the stick we collected.  We put them about two finger widths apart from each other on the stick to ensure they were close enough to clang together in the wind.  Then, we attached a piece of twine in a loop to hang them with on our front porch.

The end result is so cute!