How To Make Giant Jingle Bell Outdoor Decorations

I am loving the giant Jingle Bell decorations I have seen online.  I wanted to make my own version.  I thought about making them a cylinder but didn’t know how I would secure them. Instead I made ones that attached to my porch railing. I thought I would paint them to give them more of a three dimensional look. 

Here is how I made them:

Supplies:

3 Sande Plywood Boards

Rustolium Gold Metallic Spray Paint

Color Shot Sparkly Gold Spray Paint

Jigsaw

Sharpie

Wreath

Measure and Buy Materials

I measured the railing space. I decided I wanted the Jingle Bells to be 24 in tall and 25 in wide in order to fit 4 Jingle Bells on the Porch. Now I knew how much to buy.  I started at The Home Depot and bought the Sande plywood boards and spray paint. Two Sande Plywood Boards made exactly 4 Jingle Bells.  I bought a damaged discount Sande plywood board for the third one because I just needed it to make the small circle hooks on top.

Make The Large Circles

I cut the boards in half and stacked them to make two circles at a time.

I used the pencil and strength method to draw the circles. It isn’t the best, but I measure and mark my circle outside points from the center and make sure I hit those marks when I draw.

This works ok enough.  I drew it over with a sharpie so I can see the lines better when I cut because sometimes it’s hard to see with all the sawdust that flies up when your cutting. I used my jigsaw and cut a few slits on the ends first and then cut across them.  This makes the round cuts a little easier and helps with less bending of the blade when I am cutting the circles I have learned.

Make The Small Circles

I used a Frog Tape container and traced around it to make the 4 smaller circles.  I used the Frog Tape Roll as a stencil to make the inner circle. I cut the four ornament tops and started painting.

Attach The Rim and Ornament Top

I used a scrap piece of trim and cut it to fit the bells. I glued all the trim pieces on.  Then I glues on the small circles for the hook top

Painting

I spray painted the bells with the metallic gold and sparkly gold.  I made a stencil for the black holes and painted them.

Attach to the Railing

I used my drill and screwed on the bells to the railing rods.  I was able to attach all 4 but then I realized I didn’t account for the hook top when I measured the railing, so I had to tilt them to fit.  I added a wreath across the top and some rope to go through the hook holes

I strung lights behind the jingle bells so you can see them at night.  Here is how they turned out.