Upcycled Holiday Bells Wreath
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Waxes Treasure Gold Tools Outdoors My Home How-To General Crafts Garden Folkart Craft Painting Chalk Paint Brushes Acrylic Paint Acrylic Craft Paints Accessories
Give your empty cans a major makeover with this trash to treasure holiday project! No one will know that these beautiful weather worn golden bells started as a soda!
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Other Things You'll Need

  • Aluminum Cans (i.e. Soda Can)
  • Wooden Beads
  • Optional: Sand Paper
  • Twine / Jute
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun and glue stick
  • Craft Knife

Instructions

Bells
  1. Cut 3 cans in half. The top half of the cans, including the tab, will become your bells. Retain one bottom half to create the bell clappers out of.
  2. Optional'' using your sandpaper, dull the cut edge. Alternatively you can fold in the very edge using pliers or another tool.
  3. Using your hands and any nearby tools, pinch, scratch and generally “beat up” your cans for a weathered look.
  4. Base coat your 3 bells with chalk paint. Do not forget the inside and pull tab. Allow to dry.
  5. Coat your bells in Gold with multiple layers of paint, allowing to dry inbetween coats. Set aside to fully dry.
  6. Using a Stencil Brush, dry brush your other warm metallic colors and black onto your can until it looks weathered.
  7. Thread a foot long piece of twine through the soda tab hole. (see image or video)
  8. Thread both ends of twine through a raw wooden bead.
  9. Repeat for all three cans.
Clapper
  1. Using your retained bottom half of a can, cut out a rectangle approximately 2x3 inches. Repeat steps 4-6 on this rectangle and allow it to dry.
  2. Cut out long and thin rectangles that will become your bell clappers. See image for general size and shape.
  3. Carefully punch a hole in the top of each clapper. I used my craft knife and scissors for this.
  4. Cut a 4 inch piece of twine and separate the threads until you have one thin thread. Thread this through the punched hole in your clapper. Check your hanging measurements from the end of the twine to the inside of your can. Place a dab of hot glue on the inside of the can on the tab. Hold your twine to the hot glue until stuck.
  5. Repeat for all three cans.
Display
In the project video an upcycled frame is used which is painted with red chalk paint. Then glue some greenery and bell twine under a bow to create a modern wreath.