Make Your Garden Sparkle – Easy DIY Beaded Wind Chime

I never could have predicted the endless possibilities that would arise from bringing my mom’s collection of decorative jewelry-making beads into my home last year. What started as something hesitantly brought home after cleaning out her home, has now become a creative inspiration for countless projects, none of which involve making traditional jewelry.

In my latest endeavor, I ventured beyond my usual crafty comfort zone and attempted to make a DIY homemade beaded wind chime.

This post contains affiliate links that help to support this blog at no additional cost to you.  I hope you find something wonderful for your home through these links.

This post is part of the monthly Creative Craft Blog Hop, where I cohost each month with Sara of Birdz Of A Feather blog. 

If you are visiting from Gail’s site, I am glad you stopped by.  Her Trash To Treasure Tin Can project turned out so well!

A great idea to add color to an outdoor space.

Working through this large supply of beads has been both a joy and a challenge.

I love that making creative things with these colorful beads is a way for me to feel close to my mom, who lives out of state, as we continue to struggle with her dementia as a family.

One of my biggest creative challenges with her jewelry supplies is finding crafty projects that aren’t jewelry-related but still put these beads to good use.

So far I have made vintage-style Christmas tree garland, and beadable pens (my favorite bead project thus far).

In an attempt to make something whimsical for a future kid’s garden area in our yard, I decided to make a DIY beaded wind chime using supplies I have on hand in my craft room and a beautiful assortment my mama’s beads and jewelry pendants.

With a little trial and error along the way, I finally pulled together an adorable and easy DIY beaded wind chime I liked.

Supplies used for this wind chime project include decorative beads, blown glass necklace pendants, seashell necklace pendants, metal pendants, different gauges of jewelry wire, and a roll of Stretch Magic® cord.  I used an 8-inch gold wreath hoop and E6000 glue from my supplies. 

Creating a hanger for the wind chime out of wire.

Considering this is my first attempt at making a beaded wind chime, I am sure I started the whole process wrong, but it worked out in the end. 

To ensure the beads stayed in place and provided support for the weight of the beads, the gold hoop needed a strong hanger at the top.

To achieve this, I used 20-gauge wire and wrapped 3 strands of it tightly across the inner opening of the gold hoop, twisting them together in the center as they overlapped. Much like a spider web shape at the top of a lampshade. 

I then twisted the three ends above the opening, creating a looped hanger at the top that hopefully would support the wind chime once it was left to dance in the breeze.  

You will be able to see the hanger for the top of the wind chime in the completed photos. 

The color plan for the strands of beads.

Based on the colors in the blown glass necklace pendants selected in green, orange, yellow, gold, clear, and white, the beads used for the strands were in similar colors. 

Making the strands was an easy process.  I twisted one end of a cut length of 28-gauge jewelry wire around the gold hoop and inserted the other end of the wire through the small hole of each bead selected.  I didn’t follow a preplanned order of bead colors, sizes, or shapes but strung them along the wire in random order. 

The goal was to create each strand with an eye-catching display of colors. 

When I felt like the string of beads was long enough, I threaded a pendent or a seashell on the end of the strand.

Working around the perimeter of the gold hoop, I continued to add strands of beads alternating the last piece with either a glass pendant or a seashell pendant to balance the weight on all sides.

Helping the wind chime dance in the wind.

Being a bit heavier than expected, the beaded strands had to be spaced out around the circumference of the gold hoop, with more lightweight strands using the Stretch Magic® cord between them to fill it up.   This stretchy cording, usually used for bracelets, is lightweight and will give the wind chime more bounce in the wind. 

Meant to be both colorful to catch the sunlight, and to make noise, the final strand of beads for the wind chime was hung from the wires strung across the diameter of the hoop where they were twisted together, using more stretchy cord and a metal flower pendant on the end. 

The strands of beads kept sliding around the gold hoop no matter how hard I tried to stop them by tightening and twisting the ends of the wires. 

Once I had the beaded strands perfectly balanced and the hoop hanging level, a small dab of E6000 at each connection point kept everything in place. No more lopsided chimes for me. Now, my beautiful creation can dance harmoniously in the breeze without a worry.

And it will look stunning swinging in the wind on the front porch as the sun reflects off the colorful glass beads.  

In the next few weeks, I will continue to finish up the last of my outdoor decorations planned for this summer.  This idea for a DIY homemade wind chime was an easy project and a great way to display my mom’s colorful beads. 

Pin For Later

I invite you to visit the other bloggers who participated in the Creative Craft Blog Hop this month. After my project, I am followed on the list by Carol’s project on How To Make An Easy Leaf-Inspired Air Dry Clay Coasters.