:: Tambourine Stick :: Upcycled Musical Instruments :: Homemade Recycled Instruments ::

March 10, 2015 in fun kids stuff, rubbish! garden, rubbish! packaging

Make a Tambourine Stick using upcycled bottle caps, wire hanger and a tree branch!

:: Here’s What You’ll Need ::

* Upcycled wire hanger
* Upcycled bottle caps
* Y-shaped piece of a tree branch
* Yarn/string (optional)
* Pliers (make sure it has side cutter tool for cutting wires)
* Hammer
* Hot glue gun
* Self healing mat or padded surface
* Sharp and pointed tool that can be hammered

Read on to find out how to make recycled music instruments with just 3 household items.

:: Step 1 ::

Find a Y-shaped branch from trimmings or from a nearby tree. Make sure its a nice sturdy piece! Trim as needed.

:: Step 2 ::

Take the cardboard section off from the wire hanger (if it has one). Using the pliers, cut off one side of the wire hanger near the top of the hanger. If your hanger doesn’t have the cardboard tube section, then cut at the bottom corner as well. You should end up with a piece like the picture below: Upcycled Bottle Cap Tambourine Musical Instrument by oh rubbish blog

:: Recyclable Instruments ::

:: Step 3 ::

Using the pliers, wrap one end of the metal hanger around one side of the Y-shaped branch.

It should look like this:

:: Make Musical Instruments Kids :: Recycled Musical Instrument ::

:: Step 4 ::

Using a hammer and a sharp pointed tool that can be hammered (see below)…

Hammer the pointed tool into the center of the top of the bottle cap. Flip the bottle cap over and make sure that it went all the way through. If not, hammer again from the other side until you have a nice hole. To make sure the hole is wide enough, insert the bottle caps into the wire hanger piece to make sure its a loose fit! Once the hole is a good size, then hammer in any rough edges, so that the area around the hole is smooth. Continue to do this for all your bottle caps. We used a total of 6 bottle caps–but measure yours out, so that they fit but still have room to move around.

:: Make Recycled Instruments Kids ::
:: Step 5 ::

Slide in your bottle caps in pairs, facing each other. Then, using the pliers, wrap the end of the wire hanger around the other side of the Y-shaped branch (same as step 3), and cut off any excess wire hanger piece (if any).

Your project should look like this:

:: Upcycled Instruments ::
:: Step 6 ::

(Optional) To add the handle details on the bottom of the tambourine stick, tie a knot of string and then wrap from the bottom up. When you have reached the height you want, simply cut and hot glue in place.