Bud Light Wind Chime Homage to Super Bowl XLVI 02-05-2012

It started raining here on Thursday, and we really need the rain from last years drought. I knew it looked like it would rain all the way throughout the weekend, so I need to do something to keep me busy. I started thinking about a bottle cap wind chime I wanted to make.  I had seen one on Pinterest, and knew I had the materials it takes to make one.  I dug out all our beer caps & tabs we have here at the shop, found my fishing line and pliers as well as some tape, drill bit box, black magic marker and my black wire.  I also put the cordless drill on charge.  Saturday I came to work and of course the rain came rolling in around 10:00 am.  So that's when I decided I would get to work on my wind chime.  Since it was Super Bowl weekend I found a aluminum Bud Light bottle that was a limited addition for the SB and decide to use it.  

This is what I did.....

I drilled a small hole in the end of the bottle for the wire to be inserted for hanging, using a 1/16 drill bit.  I needed to do this first before I had all those strand on the bottle, and it would be hard to handle with all those beer caps and tabs swings around.

I put the bottle in a towel before placing it in the vise as not to scratch the sides of the bottle.  

I determined that I could drill 12 holes at a 1/2" apart, and marked them with the marker.  

I started with a 1/16 drill bit and then progressed up to the 5/8's inch so the wire could fit through the holes.  

I then drilled a small 1/16 hole in the beer caps and tabs.  This way I could tie off the fishing line to the tabs and caps.  

I used eight caps and eight tabs per strand.

I cut 12 pieces of fishing line at about 36" long for each strand.  Make sure you have plenty for the end, and you are not trying to wrangle a small piece of line when tying off the last tab.

I started each strand with a beer cap and then a tab and so on until I used all eight caps.  

Once I finished the strand's, I used the extra line at the top of the fishing line and taped it to the heavier gauge wire so I could snake the line through the holes.

I used the last tab at the top of the bottle to hold the strand.

I used about two feet of the black heavy wire to hang 

the bottle with.

I then trimmed all the extra fishing line off.

Voila, one Bud Light Super Bowl Homage Wind Chime!

I am glad I used the blue beer bottle, because the Giant's won

and that's their color!

This was a fun project!  

Recycle/Reuse/Up-Cycle!  

Supplies I Used:

1/16 drill bit

5/8 drill bit

20 lbs fishing line

Black marker

Regular desk tape

Ruler

60 Beer caps

60 Beer tabs

4" Piece of wire

2' Black wire

1 Aluminum Beer can

Needle nose pliers

Cordless drill

Towel

Vise



Update:  2015....

I decided I did not like the beer tabs on the strands.  I switched them out with glass beads!  I also added a eye hook with a bolt for easy hanging.  I think "Giant Super Bowl Hangover" looks so much better now!