We made our own bells! And this post will show you how we made them, just as I promised to do in my previous post about our tin can percussion set.  The tin can music machine is outside in our mudpie corner as are two of the garden bells we made.

First up – here is what we used to make them:-

I had seen this post about Making Bells over at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I knew we had to make them too. The idea stayed in the back of my mind until I saw these three mini terracotta pots for 50c each at a local op shop.

We also used:

• paint
• mod podge (sealant)
• tough string
• colourful beads

Zoe volunteered to be the bell decorator.

Zoe was enjoying making new colours in the paint tray. Actually she got very excited about a new purple she had ‘invented’.

Once the artwork was completed we had to give the bells a coat of sealant – we use Mod Podge – to protect the paint from the weather. Then once the sealant is dry it was time to add the string and the beads.

The beads are used to keep the string in place by blocking the hole on the inside. Start with this bead and knot first.

I also used them as the noise maker for the bell ringing and as a place to hold on to when ringing the bell. Lots of knots required The large yellow, small pink and small orange beads in the middle below are for noise making. The big purple and small pink on the end are for grabbing ono (like an indicative handle).

I asked the girls where they would like the bells to be. They decided they wanted two at the mudpie corner – one for ringing on entry and one for ringing on exiting the mudpie corner. The other one was up to me!

Zoe was so excited when I told her that the bells were ready for ringing

We’ve got bells!

The bell you ring on the way out of the mudpie corner.

I cannot help but ring a bell every time I go past one. They are adding a little bit of ‘sunshine’ to our garden.  We had a visitor who learnt which bell was for what and quickly reminded me as I entered the mudpie corner which bell to ring on my way out. These bells are being taken seriously! Respect for the bells

Thanks so much for dropping by!