Wind Chime Gifts

Wind chime gifts can be as eclectic as the recipient.

Create customized wind chime gifts for your family and friends based on their personality, interests and home life. Wind chimes aren't difficult to make. Fishing line works to string everything from beads to tools. Tie the wind chime strands to a header that complements the overall design or to a generic header made from a block of wood or a metal ring.

Gardener Wind Chime Gifts

Create wind chimes as a gift for the gardener in your life using small, handheld gardening tools. Look for rustic tools at thrift stores to make antique-style chimes or purchase new tools for a fresh look. Use an upside-down, decorative planter as the wind chime header. Tie the wind chime strands around a dowel that fits inside the planter and feed a hanging loop that's also tied to the dowel through the center drainage opening. Make a row of several strands, each containing a hoe, spade, small watering can or other small tool. Alternatively, make a single strand with a craft bell at the end and the gardening tools in a vertical row.

Outdoor Kitchen Wind Chime Gifts

Make a set of wind chimes as a gift for an outdoor barbecue enthusiast. Old metal utensils and grilling tools create their own kind of music when the wind brings them together. Using a long grilling fork as a header, tie the wind chime strands along the length of the fork. Dangle strands made with a combination of old utensils and grilling tools. Wrap colorful craft wire around the utensils in decorative spirals that end in a wire loop at the top. Connect the wire loops with fishing line to create the strands.

Special Interest Wind Chime Gifts

Wind chime gifts that cater to a recipient's special interests can range from dog toy chimes for the animal lover to red hat chimes for members of the Red Hat Society. Incorporate plastic, metal and glass components that speak to the special interest. Glue-on bails work if you need to add an attachment ring. Beads and charms are available in many styles and sizes to enhance the strands. You can also mold shapes from polymer clay to hang on the strands. Headers can be metal craft rings or an object that fits the special interest. Craft bells at the end of one or more strands bring a musical element to the chimes.

Housewarming Wind Chime Gifts

Celebrate your friend's new home with a wind chime gift that suits the landscape. Create chimes with horseshoes dangling from a chain to complement a ranch-type setting, seashell beads with a driftwood header for a coastal setting and bamboo stalks with a natural wood header for a Zenlike surround. Wind chimes made with copper pipes work in a modern urban setting or with a country-style landscape. Accent the copper pipe chimes with crystal or metal beads and a round wooden header to fit a modern design or with rustic elements, such as a watering can header, to suit a country style.

Resources

• Disney Family Fun: Wind Chime