I absolutely love bell jars! My favorite holiday decorations are small vintage bell jar ornaments with sweet little snow scenes in them! I have been wanting to make some of these tiny cloche ornaments for a long while now, but have had a really hard time finding the little glass belljars anywhere. Recently I was at the dollar store and saw some plastic wine glasses. They were the right shape, so I decided to give it a try, and they actually turned out to be a pretty fun substitute! These little ornaments are easy to make! I had so much fun making them, I went back and bought more wine glasses to make more!
Here’s What You Need:
*Plastic Wine Glasses
*Dremmel or Utility Knife
*Chipboard (cereal boxes, etc.)
*Scrapbook Paper
*Rubber Cement
*Trinkets
*Glitter
*Large Beads
*Pipe Cleaners
*Twine
*Scissors
*Hot Glue
*Large Circle or Scalloped Circle Punch (optional)
Step 1: Cut Glasses- Gather up your plastic wine glasses. They come with bottoms, just throw those away, you don’t need them. The stem of the glass is just a bit too long, so I cut mine down a little with a dremmel with a grinding attachment. You can cut the stems with a utility knife, but it is a lot easier to break them that way. If you have a dremmel, I would recommend using that.
Step 2: Make Bottoms- I used a paper punch to cut out my chipboard bottoms. I think it is around 3 or 3.5 inches wide with a scalloped edge. I also used the punch to cut out my scrapbook paper to cover the chipboard with. I cut out paper for the top and bottom. You can draw circles and cut them out instead of using a punch. I just think it makes it a whole lot easier if you have one. When you have all of your circles cut out, you are ready to glue. I used rubber cement to glue the paper to the chipboard. Let the glue dry.
Step 3: Make the inside- First, lay out your trinkets on your circles. Once you know where you want them, glue them down with some hot glue. Next, run a bead of hot glue around the bottom of your wine glass. Center the glass on the paper bottom and press down, glueing into place. With a funnel or rolled up paper pour some glitter into the top hole for snow.
Step 4: Make the tops- First you want to add the hanger part to your beads. If you want to use pipe cleaners, cut one in half. Then push it through he bead and twirl it around the bottom of the bead so it will stay in place. At the top of the bead make a nice sized loop with the other end of pipe cleaner and twist it together at the top of the bead. If you wish to use twine, first cut a long piece of twine. Fold the twine in half and push it through the bead. Double knot the twine loop at the top of the bead and then double knot the ends below the bottom of the bead and snip off any excess. Next, run a bead of hot glue around the top opening of the wine glass and glue the bead right side up to the top, sealing in your jar. Now you want to finish off the area where the bead and glass meet because it is not so pretty. I took small pieces of pipe cleaner and wrapped around the spot securing with glue in the back. And now they are ready to hang on your tree, yay!
Although they are not quite as awesome as their vintage counterparts, I really love how they turned out! I love how versatile you can be with them as well! You could fill them with anything you like, and top them with loops for hanging or no loops for grouping on a shelf or table. I hope you all go out and make a few of your own, they are so fun! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more holiday projects!
Happy Crafting!
