Make Bamboo Wind Chimes

If you have bamboo growing in your yard or garden you know how prolific it can be. Use your bamboo to make everything from garden trellises to these clever and easy to make wind chimes.

You will need dried, seasoned bamboo. Select a length long enough to get two 30 inch and three 15 inch pieces, plus a 20 inch piece for the "hanger." You will need twine or string, a fine toothed saw and a drill. For the first cut, go slow and use smooth movements. Bamboo is a grass and will splinter more easily than wood.

Measure four inches up from the bottom of one of the 15 inch pieces. Carefully make a horizontal cut into the bamboo. Only go half way down.

Firmly hold onto the cut bamboo in one hand, braced against a table. Using a knife, make a short, quick chop on to the edge of the bamboo (the same end where you made the horizontal cut). The bamboo should split up to the horizontal cut. Hold onto the piece, this is the "clapper" for the remaining two 15-inch pieces.