Gourd Windchime

I got this idea from the Michaels website over a year ago, but it is no longer there. As soon as I saw it, I thought of my mom. So I went down to the craft store to get the supplies and was shocked at how much the gourd cost! Well a few weeks later, I happened to be at Michaels and the gourd was on super sale (I think I only paid $2 or $3 for it!) so I got one and put it in the closet until just a few days ago. I made this for my mom for her birthday last week.

It is kind of hard to see from the picture, but the windchime part at the bottom is sticks of bamboo that I painted. After painting the three sticks of bamboo (from an existing windchime) I attached them to the bottom of the gourd using the screw hooks they came with. To get the hooks into the gourd I stuck a push pin in to create a pilot hole.Then I printed out a fancy M on the computer and cut it out with an xacto knife creating a stencil (word of advice: if you are going to do this, paint the initial before you screw in the bamboo!). I traced it with pencil, since my stencil wouldn't lay flush with the gourd, and then painted it, drilled two holes in the top and laced some wire and ribbon through to hand it by. 

Also linked to The Idea Room