Anitha Bennett

Rainbow colours streaming in through your window with light, tinkling chimes. Sounds good? Get your children excited about it, and work on making it happen. Working on a craft project for your home is a great way to encourage family bonding.

Materials needed
• Cardboard — 1 sheet
• Cellophane/metallic paper — 5 sheets in different colours
• Black chart paper — 1 sheet
• A few tiny bells or the jingles found in anklets
• Scissors, punching machine, paints, brushes
• Thin satin ribbon, stapler, glue

How to make one circle
1. Cut out two circles of 3 cm diameter from the cardboard.
2. Carefully cut out an inner circle of 2 cm diameter from each of the cardboard circles. You will now have two cardboard circles resembling bangles.
3. Cut out one circle of 3 cm diameter from cellophane paper.
4. Alternately, you can use saucers and bangles to draw and cut the inner and outer circles.
5. Next make a small paper cut-out of a heart or star from the black chart paper.
6. Stick the heart to the centre of the cellophane paper.
7. Sandwich the cellophane paper between the two cardboard bangles using glue and stapler.
You will now get a lovely circle with glass paper and a shape in the middle.

Assembling the glass chime
1. Make five such circles using different colours of cellophane paper.
2. Paint the cardboard part in vibrant colours, preferably colours in contrast to the colour of the cellophane paper inside.
3. Punch holes on the top and bottom of the cardboard glass circle and attach circles one below the other with bits of satin ribbon.
4. Loop a few tiny bells through the punched bottom hole of the last circle.
5. Loop a long satin ribbon through the punched top hole of the first circle and hang it up near the sunniest window of the house.

Alternately, draw and cut curves in different colours, attach the edges with craft glue, and make a single rainbow like the one in the picture. Hang a few tiny bells so that they gently tap each other in the breeze. You will see that as sunlight passes through your glass chime, your room will have coloured light all around.