Every year you see them draping mantles or on front door wreaths. I have always wanted some vintage bells and finally tried my hand at making them from none other than trash! Last year my Christmas craft was an Advent Calendar that I absolutely love! There just isn’t anything better though than a good DIY project that requires no buying and luckily I was able to pull this off with things I had around the house.
Materials Needed:
- Toilet Paper or Paper Towel Rolls
- Plastic Easter Eggs
- Hot Glue
- Black Paint
- Corn Starch
- Antique Gold Rub ‘n Buff
- Wood Dowels
- Wood Beads
- Twine
Step 1 - Cut Rolls & Glue Eggs
Cut a toilet paper roll in half for the smaller bells and a paper towel roll in thirds for the longer bells. Run a bead of hot glue along the inside rim of the rolls. Insert a plastic easter egg into it upside down so the bottom round portion sticks out the top. Let them dry and repeat for the process for as many bells as you want, I recommend and odd number when clustering them together.
Step 2 - Add Loop & Glue Detail
Once dry, cut a small strip from the bottom of a few (or from an additional toilet paper roll). Cut the strip in half and use these to create the loop at the top of the bell. Use a dab of hot glue to make it a circle and then secure with glue to to the top of the egg. I pushed mine down a bit to make it a more oblong loop. Add extra hot glue all around the base of the loop and hold in place as it dries. Lastly add a large bead of hot glue to the seam where the egg and roll meet, along with at the bottom. This gives it way more detail and adds to the antique “welded” look.
Step 3 - Add the Clapper & Scuff
Take small wooden dowels, I used 3/16″ that I got from the dollar store and cut them so that they are even with the base of the roll when inserted inside. Use hot glue to add a wooden bead to the end of the dowel. Last secure the clapper you just made to the inside center of the bell. You may need to hold it in place for a bit to ensure it will dry upright in the middle.
Lastly, scuff sand the exterior of the egg so that the paint will adhere better to them. I used a 220 grit sanding block for this.
Step 4 - Paint
Next I hung them by some string so that I could spray paint them with black paint. Once dry I used a black craft paint mixed with corn starch to make it thicker and painted it on them very “messy”. I wanted this to give more texture to them. I would have used Plaster of Paris but could not find mine so that is why I used this method.
Once dry, take Rub ‘n buff and lightly spread it over the entire bell and clapper ball. You can use a sponge, or paper towel for this. I used Antique Gold but they have many different shades to pick from! Just remember a little goes a long way, so start slow! You can see them really come to life from this step though.
Step 5 - Add Twine
Last step is to add twine or a ribbon of your choice. Make them all long so that you can cut the excess off of some when layering them together to hang.
That’s it! I was able to pull these off for FREE with things I had laying around my house. I bet if you craft you have most of this as well. I hung mine on the side of my mantle with garland and you would never know it was toilet paper rolls and easter eggs!
