How to Make a Wind Chime

Grab a clean, empty can. A short tuna or chicken can works great, or use a taller vegetable can if you want more room for dangles. The lid end becomes the top of your chime, and everything hangs down from it. Since this is an upcycling project, dig through your recycling bin and pick whatever shape you like best.

Cans can have a pokey rim, especially the pull-top kind. Set the can on a scrap of wood and give any sharp spots a few taps with a hammer to flatten them. You just want it safe to handle. Take your time here so you aren't fighting a sharp edge while you wire on your pieces later.

Start with one hole in the center of the top for the hanger. Then punch a ring of holes around the rim, one for each dangle you plan to add. Work from the inside of the can so the metal doesn't distort as much. A metal hole punch is easiest, but an awl or a nail and hammer will get the job done too.

This is the fun part. Pull out old jewelry, mismatched buttons, keys, bells, bottle caps, safety pins, crystals, and any small hardware you've been hanging onto. Spread it all out and pick the pieces that catch your eye. CraftyHope went with a black, white, and red theme, but you can mix colors however you like.

Now link your pieces into strands. Use craft wire and round-nose pliers to make a wrapped loop at the top and bottom of each button, bead, or charm. Buttons need a little extra wire so they sit right. Anything that already has a loop or a hole can just get a jump ring. Build each strand to the length you want it to hang.

Connect each finished strand to a hole around the rim using a jump ring. Larger jump rings help the wire clear the sharp edge of the punched hole. Once the outer pieces are hanging, add a longer center dangle through the middle hole if you want. Then run a length of chain up through the top and finish with a big jump ring so the whole chime can hang.

Hold it up and take a look. The silver can top, the colorful buttons, and the little charms all come together into something bright and one-of-a-kind. Give it a gentle shake and listen. That soft clink is the reward for all those saved-up bits and pieces finally getting a job.

Find a spot on the porch, a shepherd's hook, or a tree branch where it'll catch a breeze. Hung against greenery, all that color really pops. Make a second one while you're at it, they go quick and each turns out completely different. You just turned a can and a junk drawer into something worth looking at.