This clay pot wind chimes tutorial is super sweet if you’re looking for something to do with your small terracotta clay post collection! The ones that are like, real small, like 4 or 5″ in height are ideal for this craft. You can also combine multiple pots are create a swag effect windchime lawn ornament too!
That would look real good with pots of differing sizes arranged from largest to smallest. I’ll show you how to use both these approaches!
Materials List
Get one or more pots…some heavy stringing material or leather cord, jute, etc., depending on what kind of objects you want to attach together. Some paint if you want to paint your clay pot(s) as well as some basecoat white primer. Assorted beads and metal objects, or if you can locate some of the metal tubes, too, even better.
Objects that will look the best include those that are natural and “earthy” looking…Objects that will compliment your terra cotta pot, include:
- Wooden beads
- Small plaster shapes
- Large clay beads (preferably in a natural color)
Painting Your Clay Pots
At first I wanted to make my clay pot left natural….but then it looked like it had some faded spots on it (I must have had these awhile) so I decided to paint it. Before you get started, save yourself some unnecessary trouble and apply a white primer base coat as that terracotta color will show through without it.
You May Also Find Helpful: How to Paint Clay Pots
I’m painting mine yellow -pretty spring yellow. I’m also stenciling it too when the base coat is dry. Stenciling is a great idea to decorate your pot after you apply the base coat color of choice. It’s getting close to spring officially so I’ve got flowers on the brain, hehehe.
Stringing and Attaching Objects
Now I’m going to get my beads in order. As you know the bottom of the bottom of the pot has a little drainage hole in it…we want to create something to plug that hole so the windchime will hang. Depending on how big the hole is…you’ll need a couple of beads that should be a little bit bigger than that hole.
Thread the first of the two beads through the thread or cord through the pot on the inside….You can make a loop (which will be your hanger later) that threads through the bead. Knot it securely.
If you are using some type of cord, either that of leather or jute, pony beads would work real well for this (At the current moment, I have neither) I came up with a rig on my own using a wine cork and a couple of small mug hooks; the same approach I took with this ant trap tutorial right here – worked very well.
Check out this approach with shapes made from what I think are candy molds and plaster/grout used to form them used in this chime decoration. This is an idea if you’ve scoured your craft supply for suitable beads but come up short.
Image credit: sudaem3
Make a Clay Pot Windchime Using Multiple Pots
Do you want to make a wind chime using multiple pots? Having two or three pots with different sizes and two being gradually smaller, is another strategy that looks good. Using strong cord will work better for this…Something made of leather would be excellent; it will be strong enough to support multiple pots in a row.
You still want to have beads below and above each pot though. Tie a knot in the cord and then thread it through the inside of the pot to make it easier, starting with the smallest pot.
Lots of unique possibilities with the “tiered” approach using multiple pots!
Hang Your Windchimes
When you’ve tested it out by holding it up inside to make sure everything is attached securely, now you can hang up your chimes!
I’m going to give my pot a spray coat of protective polyurethane before hanging, since it will be outside for the long haul!
Hope you enjoyed! Now get yourself some cute little clay pots and go to town!
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