Christmas Bells

I've been making some holiday wreaths and door hangers to give as gifts to neighbours and friends. I live out an area where there is an abundance of free greenery (without stripping the neighbours' trees). (I'm conscientious about harvesting - I only take a little from each plant).
I've been amazed at what I can make from material on hand. In particular, Christmas bells. Sometimes a little gesso or paint was required, some wire, twine or ribbon to attach them. But check out the variety of Christmas bells I was able to make in an afternoon. My uncle lives in a seniors complex and I'm going to take some wreath, door hangers and jars of my homemade cranberry sauce for him to give to the ladies in his complex who have been wearing a path to his door bearing cards and gifts.

Recently I posted a wreath I made from a tire rim I picked up from the side of the road. One of the features of it was little bells at the top made from little peat pots sitting idle on my potting bench.





A pair of rusty, paint-splattered cheesegraters hanging from a scrap plaid flannel bow make a rustic hanger on a fun neighbour's fence.





A couple of years ago I rescued a food grinder and used the cups as planters in a wine holder (see junk gardening). They are bell shaped, and after a couple of years in the garden sporting pretty rust. And look wonderful hanging from a burlap bow on another neighbour's gate.





When I took my batteries to the local recycling depot recently, I noticed they have a bin where people can drop off lightbulbs. Note to self: source of extra burnt out lightbulbs for my tree ornaments. I noticed that some of them have a bell-like shape.





I put then into empty toilet paper rolls to hold them and then gave them a couple of coats of homemade white chalkpaint.





when the base was wet with paint, I wrapped a strip of scrap lace around it. It acted like glue. When everything was dry I used some scrap wire to attach it to the base of a bow made from scrap white cotton and attached to an assortment of seasonal greens and holly berries.





Also on my potting bench is a stack of small terracotta pots. I dabbled some white paint onto a couple of them. You don't always have to sand paint off an item to create a distressed look: on a porous item like terracotta, a light coat with missed spots does a decent job.





I used jute to hang these together and to hang a little bell inside each.











My followers may remember the light fixture I repurposed as a pretty birdfeeder smorgasbord last spring. I have a new use in mind for the base, and lo and behold the glass shades are beautifully bell-shaped.





I have some spare vintage coffee spoons that I hung inside each shade as a clanger.





then I used strips of torn scrap cotton (an old bed sheet) to attach the bells to a porch wreath I already have.


















Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/12016083/christmas-bells site