Garden Sparkler

Garden sparkler

Over the winter my grand-daughter Kaylee and I made a garden sparkler to dance in the breeze.  We have installed it in the flower bed near the cornzebo.  We enjoy watching it dance.

If you are interested in making one for your garden, here is how we did it.

I used 17 guage wire, random beads, needle nose pliers, side cutter pliers, and a zip tie.  I wanted mine to be random lengths, so I didn't measure my wire lengths.

I had a lot of beads left over from jewelry making projects, and crafts.  I dumped them all onto paper plate so I could see the different colors, shapes etc.

I made a loop in one end of the wire to keep the beads from coming off, then randomly in size and color threaded the beads onto the wire.  I used crimp beads at random areas to create seperation (stops and starts in the beads) you could also create a loop in the wire and then continue threading.

We threaded about 17 wires and then secured them with a zip tie.  I used an old piece of pipe I already had, beat it into the groud far enough that it was sturdy, and then inserted the ends of the wire into the pipe.  I then bent them a bit, and spread them out.  They won't stay exactly that way becuase they move in the breeze, but they are very fun to watch dance.

I have added a more recent  picture.  I found out the picture above won't enlarge, so use the one below if you want to see more detail.  I spray painted my pipe a pretty purple to add more whimsy and color.

I hope my directions are enough to inspire you to try one for your own garden.  Good luck and have fun!