Hi guys! Well today I am going to share how to make these Christmas bells with you out of egg cartons, yep I said egg cartons. If that’s not Christmas kitschy I don’t know what is. For the life of me I can’t find the original tutorial I had copied. It was from a Vintage Pack-O-Fun Magazine. Apparently making bells out of egg cartons was a popular hand made holiday craft back in the fifties and sixties. I see them at the flea market a lot around the holidays. I have seen them mainly made with the colored foam cartons or even where they were wrapped in foil. How ever they are made, they are a thrifty and green upcycled craft, perfect for Kitschmas!
Here’s What You Need:
*Egg Carton
*Scissors
*Craft Knife
*Gold Paint and Red and Green
*Glitter
*Glue or Mod Podge
*Wire
*Bells
*Jewelry Pliers
*Awl
*Twine or String
*Scissors
*Floral Pick
*Bow
*Hot Glue
*Felt
Instructions:
The first thing you need to do is cut your carton. Cut each egg cup off of the bottom of your carton with your craft knife. Trim each “bell” up with your scissors.
Paint the outside of your bells with your gold paint. I painted a layer of gold and then a layer of gold glitter paint. Then pain the insides of each bell red or green. Let the paint dry thoroughly.
Now you need to glitter the bottoms. Dip each bell into Mod Podge or craft glue, then dip them into your colored glitter. Set aside to let dry. Note: It makes it easy to dip if you use small paper bowls or ice cream cups for each color of glitter and also your glue.
Now you are ready to add the jingle bells. Cut a small piece of wire and loop it around the top of the jingle bell. See how it fits your egg carton bell and trim the wire to be slightly longer than the bell. Form a loop at the top of the wire with your pliers. Now loop another piece of wire through the loop on the top of the jingle bell hanger.
Punch a hole through the top of your bell with your awl. Make sure it is a tiny hole, just large enough for your wire. Push the wire through the bottom of the bell up through the top. Trim the wire short and form a loop at the top flush with the top of the bell. Make your other bells in the same way.
Once you have your carton bells with the jingle bell clappers made you are ready to string them. Cut a length of string or twine for each bell. Tie one end of each piece of twine to the wire loop on each bell. Trim the tail. Gather all your strung bells together and arrange them at different heights. Then, holding all the strings together tie a knot at the top to hold them all together. Trim the top of your bell bunch so your tail is even.
Tie the floral pick on with some more twine. Cut a piece of twine for a loop. Glue a bow to the top front of the floral pick. On the backside add your loop of twine to the back side of the bow with a little glue. Then glue a small piece of felt to the back enclosing the loop to reinforce everything and make it neat at the top. Now it is ready to hang.
Aren’t they fun! I love how my hanging bells turned out! I am planning on hanging them on the door to my craft room. They were involved to make, but very fun! If I find my Pack O Fun issue I will update this post with the original tutorial. This is a great project to make with your kids, or for a craft night with your friends. I think they would make really cute ornaments too if you use smaller floral picks. Overall it’s a great project for kitschmas and I hope you all will give it a try sometime! I’ll be back tomorrow with another holiday DIY. Until then…
Happy Crafting!
