Furin is a Japanese wind chime that produces melodic sound of bells when moved. It is usually hang from the window. Our furin is constructed from Chinese envelopes know as 'hongbaos" or red packets. Chinese children received these red packets containing money from their parents during their birthdays or Chinese New Year. The red envelopes used in this project were free gifts from a bookstore although any type of 'hongbao' packets will do.

What You Need:

Double-sided Tape
Paper Glue
8 + 1 Small Red Envelopes (a.k.a Red Hongbao Packets), 8 with the same design
Scissor
Bell
1 m long String and Needle
Stapler & Staples

How to make:

From the set of 8 envelopes, choose 4. Make a triangle fold on each of these 4 envelopes. The fold line should begin at the top left corner and end at the mid point (a) on the right. Stick the double-side tape onto the folded portion as shown in picture. Remove the tapes and attach the 4 envelopes together to form the cap.

Curl up the edges of the cap. Use double-side tape on these to secure the curled up edges. It can be tricky but the result produces some nice decorative effects.

For each of the remaining 4 envelopes, make a horizontal back fold at the top of about 10 mm and another one at the bottom of about 5 mm. Stick double-sided tapes to the top folds as shown.

Remove the tapes from the envelopes in the previous step and attach these to the edges of the cap. At this point the project should look like the one in the picture.

Turn the piece over. Stick a small piece of double-sided tape at each corner of the 5mm folds at the bottom. Remove and attach to form a squared base.

Secure the corners with stapled reinforcements.

String the last envelope from the inside of the packet and attach a bell at the end. The top end of the string should go through the tip of the cap. Adjust the string as you go along. The complete furin should look like the one in the picture.