Great projects you have done. Loved the Angels Trumpet, and what is a Walking Iris does it throw seed?? I live in Michigan, but I still have a few Angels Trumpets, I put in the basement over the winter and bring back up in the spring. Can't wait till warmer weather, although this weekend was a tease 80 degrees on Sunday.

Thanks everyone. I might adjust the windchime some and remove the beads that sit up on top of the star, not sure you can see that from the picture but they look kind of odd up there. Patti, I love the idea of using a teacup. Did you have any trouble drilling holes in it or did you just tie string to the handle? I think using a teacup as the top hanger part (where my star tealight is) would be awesome. But I'm kind of afraid to drill holes in one. Maybe a thick one like a Fiestaware cup, I have a ton of those we don't use (too small for coffee and we're not hot tea drinkers). This is at least the 2nd year that we've had birds in the propane tank. I don't see the birds though because it's under my deck and I can't see it from inside the house. My water spigot is right next to the tank and once I was under there turning on the water and the bird flew out right past my head. But it was so fast and I was so startled that I didn't see what kind of bird it was. I imagine it's something small though, although the eggs are about the same size as robin's eggs so I don't know. I'll have to research it. thanks again for all the nice comments on my chimes! Robin

I had wondered the same thing if there was a new craze going around using forks and/or spoons? Gosh, Jaybird, I guess the silverware windchimes may be the cause--those are still very popular. Or maybe others wanted to do the chocolate dipped spoons too. Jenn, thanks for the offer, but I will just keep an eye open for them. Maybe hit a couple stores in a nearby town too. I need to go ahead and get my little gifts I made mailed. Your comment on the "dangling knives" was too funny! I would never have thought of that! LOL Hey, I bet the knives would make nice hooks if they were bent so the thinner part could be drilled and attached to a wood piece. Has anybody ever seen that done? Oops! That's probably a question for the crafts or T2T forums. Sorry, just thinking "out loud". LOL Luvs

I line the hole up by laying the horse on its side, positioning the pole over the horse and marking with a pencil. I don't like for the horse to have its front hooves too high up, I try to keep it a bit off balance. The rod is one you can purchase in Home Depot or Lowe's. It is about 2" in diameter and it can be as tall as you want but I like mine around 5.5 feet. I cut the wood dowels that hold the springs so when you place the dowel back in the holes it is about 1/4 inch inside the horse on both sides. If you look at the last picture you can see where the hole was at the front of the horse. Then I glue the dowel in place with a good carpenter's glue or adhesive. Then I fill the remainder with a wood putty (some have used an epoxy filler or Bondo). I don't know how to use those items so I tried the wood putty and it worked. To keep the horse from sliding down the pole, there are several ways you can do this. Once you have the horse on the pole, slide it up or down until you get it in the position you want, then mark it with a pencil. Drill a 3/8" hole through the dowel and place a shorter (4") dowel through that hole. Now when you place the horse back on the pole he can slip down. Or you can take a round wood curtain ring, screw in small long screws in both sides place it on the pole in the right position and finish screwing in the long screws so the curtain ring stays in place and the horse can't slide down the pole. For the stand, I used 2 - 2" think pieces of wood. One about 12"x22" and the smaller one about 6"x10". I used a wood boring bit (2") or hole cutter to drill through both pieces. I cut the smaller one first, set it on the bigger piece of wood used a pencil to draw where the hole would go and then drilled it. You don't want to go all the way through. Then to secure the pole once it is in both pieces of wood, I sunk a screw in the bottom of the stand so it would go into the pole. I also add glue inside before I put the pole in. Anything to keep it stable. Does any of this make sense? It actually sounds harder than it is. I don't think you will have any trouble because I know you like working with wood. If you ever find an outdoor umbrella stand at the TS it would work too, you could paint it as well. Feel free to ask any questions. I only have one of the horses left as I sold the others. But my hubby is after me to make another one for our granddaughter. Bebe