DIY Glass Wind Chimes for Dummies

glass wind chimes

Sometimes our staffers swear that these posts write themselves. This is especially true when one of the freelancers claims to have gotten DIY plans from a source that, when checked, has abso-friggin'-lutely nothing to do with the subject at hand. One of the kids dug into the files and found this example a staffer had turned up years ago. Its Kelly Sundstrom, leaving her "blueprints" niche for the eHow.com post, "DIY Wind Chimes With Glass Bottles."

Sundstrom, already a two-time DotD winner, scrounged up a set of plans for wind chimes made by recycling glass bottles, a 1980 post you can still find at Mother Earth News. According to Sundstrom's reference, you cut a bottle twice to make glass ring, then fire the rings in a kiln to give them some "character'"

That's not what Kelly said, however: what she wanted people to do was cut six lengths of twine, then

"Tie the end of each piece of twine tightly around the mouth of a glass bottle... Tie the other end of each piece of twine around an 8-inch wooden craft ring. Space each piece of twine about 1 1/2 inches apart."

First, an 8-inch ring has a circumference of about 25 inches and the six pieces of twine would take up 7½ inches – did Sundstrom think the eight-inch measurement is the circumference? Besides, if it were the circumference, most glass bottles are a lot more than 1½ inches in diameter, so the bottles would just form an amorphous clump.

Second, tying the twine to the neck means the bottles will all hang crooked anyway. And third, wouldn't glass bottles make a more satisfying "chime" if they were different sizes? Sundstrom never said squat about any of that.

So, we're left with directions that have nothing to do with the alleged source material, dimensions that are bogus, and a bunch of "chimes" that looks (and sounds) like crap and would not "add a lovely ambiance" as promised by our Dumbass of the Day.

DDIY - CRAFTS