Jingle Bell Ornaments Made From Egg Cartons

Look for the protruding bell shape that separates the eggs.

Don’t toss that empty cardboard egg carton. Recycle it in your next craft project to create jingle bell ornaments. An 18-count egg carton makes 10 tiny bell shapes. You won't be using the cup portion that cradles each egg, however. The bell shape is actually made from the cone-shaped protrusion positioned between the corners of four egg cups. If doing this project with a group of young children, precut the cartons and let the youngsters have the fun of decorating the bell ornaments. Depending on the carton manufacturer, there is typically a hole on the top of each cone shape that can accommodate the ribbon.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Ice pick
• Newspaper
• Gold spray paint
• White glue
• Paintbrush
• Glitter
• Paper plate
• Ribbon
• Bells

Instructions

1. Open the egg carton and position your scissors at the side of the carton, on the bottom half, between two "cup" shapes.

2. Cut through the side of the carton to reach the first bell shape. Cut out the bell shape, keeping the scissors as close to the bottom of the bell shape as possible.

3. Cut out the remaining bell shapes. Discard the carton.

4. Trim the bottom of each bell shape to make the bottom edges as smooth as possible.

5. Poke a hole on the top of each bell shape, using the ice pick. If the bell shapes already have holes, skip this step.

6. Lay the cardboard bells upside down on newspaper and spray the interior of the bells gold. Allow them to dry thoroughly.

7. Paint the exterior of each bell with white glue.

8. Hold each glue-covered bell over a paper plate and sprinkle liberally with glitter, completely covering the outside of each bell. Position the plate below the bells to catch the excess glitter. Pour the excess glitter from the plate back into the glitter container when you are finished.

9. Allow each glitter-covered bell to dry thoroughly.

10. Poke a hole into the top of each bell again, to remove any glue and re-open the holes.

11. Cut thin ribbon into 4-inch pieces, one for each bell.

12. Tie a tiny bell on the end of each ribbon.

13. Tie a knot in each ribbon about 1 inch from the bell. Add a second knot over the first. The object is to make the knot area so thick that it won’t go through the hole at the top of the bell. Add additional knots to make the area thick enough, if necessary.

14. Insert the end of a ribbon without the tiny bell into the bottom of a bell. Pull the end of the ribbon through the hole at the top of the bell until the knot stops the ribbon. Make a second knot on the outside of the bell to keep the ribbon from slipping out of the hole. Repeat with the remaining bells.

15. Tie each bell on a Christmas tree, using the excess ribbon protruding from the top of the bell.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase small bells at craft stores.