DIY Craft Bells With Clay

If you are looking to beautify your home without spending much, you have landed in the right place. Here, I will show you how you can easily do this with things that are already lying around in the house.

The wall hanging that I am going to make is a bit expensive if you want to buy it from the market. In this instructable, I am going to recreate a beautiful and traditional Rajasthani wall hanging by reusing waste material with a minimal budget.

1. Harpic Bottle Cap
2. Wall Putty ( Amazon )
3. Aluminum foil ( Amazon )
4. Gesso ( Amazon )
5. Acrylic Color ( Amazon )
6. Thread ( Amazon )
7. Acrylic beads ( Amazon )
8. Metal Bells ( Amazon )
9. PVA Glue ( Amazon )
10. Tissue Paper ( Amazon )
11. Rhinestones ( Amazon )
12. Safety Pins ( Amazon )
13. Cardboard
14. Lace ( Amazon )

To make this wall hanging, we need to create some clay bells. For this, I wanted to make a reusable mold. After many attempts, I found an easy way to make a decent mold using a Harpic bottle cap (Harpic is a type of toilet cleaner generally used for cleaning bathrooms and toilets). The good thing about the Harpic cap mold is that you can easily remove the clay from it and reuse it for making new clay bells.

I have wrapped a piece of aluminum foil all around the cap so that the bells can be removed smoothly from the mold. If you put the clay directly into the cap, it will be very difficult to separate the clay bells from the cap. While wrapping, keep in mind that every small area needs to be well covered.

First, you need to make a good dough. To make the dough, I am using wall putty powder and adding some water to it. You can mix it with your hands, and you may wear gloves for safety purposes.

For more details, you can watch my YouTube video

Now that the dough is ready, take the cap covered with aluminum foil and cover the outer surface with the wall putty dough. Smooth the surface with water and remove any excess dough.

Allow the wall putty to dry completely. If you have only one cap, let it dry for 5-10 minutes, then gently remove the cap. You will see that only the cap comes out while the dough retains its shape.

By following the same procedure, you can make as many pieces as you want. For this project, I made 5 pieces. Now leave them to dry completely.

Now it's time to de-mold the last piece after it has dried. You can remove the aluminum foil from inside if you wish; otherwise, you can leave it as is since it won't be used further.

To hang the bells with thread or macrame, you need to punch a hole in each bell. I am using a safety pin for this because it is easily available in most households.

While using the pin, be very careful. Do not apply too much force at once, as this can break the entire structure. Instead, place the pin on the surface and rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise. By following this process, I have made holes in all the bells.

Now the bells are ready, and I am going to start the coloring process. But before that, I need to smooth the surface. I am using sandpaper to smoothen the surface. After sanding the bells, you will find putty dust all around them. To resolve this issue, I am using gesso and applying a good coat over the surface. I am using gesso because it includes glue, which helps seal the surface.

After applying the gesso, let the bells dry completely.

Now, using a pencil, I have marked the sections to make it easier to apply the colors. I am using acrylic paint to color the bells. I am making these bells very colorful because it is a beautiful Indian craft from the state of Rajasthan. I am keeping the patterns easy and simple, and I am using only small-size brushes (0-2 No.) and dotting tools.

In this step, I am recreating a wooden base using waste cardboard. If you have a wooden piece of the same size, you can use it directly. First, I cut two pieces of cardboard to the same measurement and glued them together.

Next, I needed to close the open side edges of the cardboard. To do this, I used a solution of water and PVA glue, along with tissue paper.

Apply the glue with a flat brush and gently place small pieces of tissue paper over the edges. Once all the edges are covered, let it dry completely.

Now I am starting the coloring part. For this, I am using shades of Burnt Sienna and Driftwood chalk paint.

First, let the paint dry completely. Then, I will make some holes in the cardboard.

Before making the holes, I marked the points accurately with a pencil. I made the holes using a compass. Simply punch the cardboard perpendicularly, and it's all ready.

Now I am taking embroidery thread to hang the bells. You can use any color of thread you like. I am also using some colorful beads, which are easy to arrange.

Hang the bells as shown in the figure. For added security, apply some hot glue inside the bell to ensure it stays in place.

I kept some extra length while hanging the bells, and in this step, I am adding some metal craft bells to create beautiful sounds that will enhance the decoration. Everything is now set. For additional decoration, I am adding some rhinestones.

It's now ready to hang. I will do that in the next step.

I have already made the base, so now I will hang the threads. Gather all the extra threads together as shown in the figure and tie them securely with glue and golden lace.