Handmade Home Decor: Kool Tak Spring Chimes

Handmade Home Decor is easy to create by embellishing a purchased wire and glass wind chime using Kool Tak’s versatile products.

Spring has arrived here in Tennessee. We still have some cool days, but the sun has warmed the earth enough for flowers to push up through the ground, and the  flowering shrubs and tress to burst forth in bloom.

I’m always ready for warm weather, and this year is no different. My favorite spring colors are the ones I associate with Easter eggs: deep purple, turquoise blue, pink, orange and spring green.

I decided to bring a little of the outdoors into my studio with vintage-style Handmade Home Décor Spring Chimes (See Tip 5) I discovered this great piece at a decorator store, but you could very easily make them. Note: I will be posting directions for making a wire  and glass wind chime March 31 on my blog, www.candicewindhamdesigns.blogspot.com.

I knew exactly what I wanted to use for this piece: Kool Tak’s Adhesive Clear Foam Pads, Ultra Clear, Foam Roll, and Spring Blossoms Foil. The height and width difference in these KoolTac adhesives make it easy to create visual interest. As an option, you could apply embossing powder, beads or glitter to the adhesives.

Materials

• Kool Tak ^TM Clear Adhesive Foam Pads
• Kool Tak ^TM Clear Foam Roll
•  Kool Tak ^TM Ultra Clear Adhesive, ¼” and 1/8”
• Kool Tak ^TM  Shiny Transfer Foil Sheets, Spring Blossoms
• Wire and bottle wind chime
• Wired tissue, 10” x 3”  (15)(Peacock Park Design)
• Glossy Gel Medium
• Transparent acrylics, Golden, Turquoise, Pthalo Green, Quinacridone Magenta  See Tip 1, below.

Tools
Brush, flat 1 ½”, Scissors

Instructions

1. Paint 10 of the wired tissue pieces with various colors of acrylic paint, using gel medium to thin them. Set aside to dry.
2. Apply Kool Tak^TM adhesives to each bottle.
3. Remove the protective plastic tape from each piece of adhesive. Add Kool Tak^TM Foil in your choice of colors. See Tips 2-4.
4. Add wired tissue to the ring, alternating the pieces by color. Just twist the wire in the center, wrap onto ring and add a small bit of Kool Tak^TM Ultra Clear Adhesive to hold the pieces together.

Tips­

1. You can use other acrylic paint colors, but be sure they are transparent. Using opaque colors will obscure the beautiful French text on the tissue.
2. Place all the Kool Tak ^TM adhesives on the bottles first. When applying the foil, remove the plastic from all the areas on each bottle for that particular color.
3. If you see areas where the foil has not adhered, just re-apply it until you completely cover the adhesive.
4. Don’t discard your foil backing sheets until you have used every bit of foil. You can apply several colors from the used sheets for a variegated effect.

     5.  If you hang this piece outdoors, hang it under a covered porch away from the elements.

I hope you see bits of spring soon where you live. I know I’ll be enjoying my indoor spring chimes!