I have been thinking about making some rain chains for a while because I found them to be pretty costly at most of the garden centers. Here are some of the ideas that I have found via:
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2012/07/tutorial-rain-chain-from-wire-wrapped-rock/comment-page-1/#comment-59864
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2012/07/tutorial-rain-chain-from-wire-wrapped-rock/comment-page-1/#comment-59864
Project Materials:
- 2 spools of floral wire, $1 each
- 5-10 coils of thick decorative floral wire, $1 each
- 1 bag of decorative river rocks, $1
- Paper clips, on hand
- Pencil, on hand
- Wire cutters, on hand or $1
- Needle-nosed pliers, on hand or about $3
Note about Supplies:
Wire: You can find the thin, green floral wire, the thick decorative wire, and wire cutters in the floral section of the dollar store. If you can't find the thick decorative floral wire, pick up a spool of colored 20-Gauge Wire
in the jewelry-making section of your local craft store for about $5. You can also use plain silver floral wire instead of green floral wire if you prefer.
in the jewelry-making section of your local craft store for about $5. You can also use plain silver floral wire instead of green floral wire if you prefer.
How much wire you need depends the final length of rain chain, on your wrapping technique, and how sparing you are with the wire. It is easier to wrap with more wire, as opposed to less wire, but with practice, you will be able to conserve wire if you want to.
Rocks: I bought a bag of decorative river rocks at the dollar store because it was easier than collecting my own rocks from outside, but this could be a fun way to showcase rocks you collect on nature walks or at the beach.
Paperclips: These will make the connecting rings. Any old paperclips will do.
Note about Technique:
I used two different gauges of wire because I couldn't get the large gauge wire to work well with the slippery rocks. I added a layer of light-gauge wire to give the large wire something to grip onto. If you are an experienced wire-wrapper, you will probably have more success than I did using just the large wire. When I started this project, I had no experience with wire-wrapped rocks, but after I made the rain chain, I found a wire-wrapping tutorial that was very helpful, and I recommend you read it before you start:
- Wire wrapped beach glass the easy way by Gaylebird
I will still share my "folk art" technique with you, just promise you won't laugh too hard at me! I do think that its imperfection is part of the charm of this wire-wrapped rain chain, though!
wrapping with floral wire
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