Egg Carton Chimes

We eat a lot of eggs. And I’m a collector, so therefore I have an overflowing pile of egg cartons. Even worse, they are in my living room (where I teach art classes). So I do try and work my ever-growing pile of recycled materials into my art projects. Not only because they are cost-free, but also because it keeps me thinking creatively. (Also, giant bins of recyclables in living rooms aren’t necessarily attractive.)

These chimes are so beautiful in real life. I’m not sure these photos do them justice because they are so rich and vibrant in color. I added some opalescent paint to the colors so they literally shimmer!

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Supplies:

~ egg cartons

~ liquid watercolors (I also added a little metallic pearl to each color) + small containers to put them in (I used plastic egg cartons!)

~ q-tips

~ wooden beads (round or assorted)

~ bells

~ yarn (this assorted pack is cute and perfect for just a few crafts)

Process:

Step 1: Cut out each individual egg carton and trim to individual domes. This part doesn’t take as long as you think. The egg cartons are not too hard to cut. Each child used about 6 or 7 domes.

Step 2: Paint the domes and the beads using the q-tips. You can also just use a paint brush. I put out the q-tips because they are short and won’t fall out of the shallow plastic egg carton cups.

Step 3: After the domes are dry, punch a hole in the top. I actually used a thick nail and pushed it in from the top and wiggled it around.

Step 4: Cut a piece of yarn and add some tape to the ends, so it’s like a shoelace. This will make threading a whole lot easier.

Step 5: Thread the pieces together. We put our bells just inside our domes, then added a few beads. Then repeat.

I wish I had thought of taking a little movie clip of the jingly sound these make. The kids were super happy with them, and so proud to show their parents.

xo, Bar