How to Turn Waste Paper Baskets Into DIY Christmas Bells

Get ready to turn ordinary waste paper baskets into festive DIY Christmas bells! With just a few easy steps, I'll show you how to transform dollar store finds into DIY oversized Christmas decorations.


Let's dive in and bring some holiday cheer to your space!


This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.

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Waste paper baskets and jingle bells

I was in the dollar store the other day and I came across these waste paper baskets. They're actually meant to be basketball nets but when I flipped them upside down, I realized they would make the perfect giant Christmas bells.


So I picked up two of those and then I also picked up some jingle bells. I'm going to head back home and we're going to make them over into fun Christmas bells.

Spray-painting the waste paper baskets gold

1. Spray-paint the waste paper baskets gold

To begin my project, I used some gold spray paint and I just spray painted both the baskets. I started with the baskets flipped over, did a generous coat on both baskets, and let them fully dry.


Once that was dry, I flipped the baskets back over and made sure to spray paint the inside as well, making sure that I got the full rim of the waste paper basket so that everything was nice and gold. I let these fully set and dry.

Spray-painting the jingle bells black

2. Spray-paint the jingle bells

I want to make these jingle bells look a little more antique. So I'm going to take them off the string and put all the jingle bells into an old cardboard box.


Then, I'm going to take some black spray paint and spray them. While I'm spraying them, I'm also going to move them around. Don't worry too much about doing a perfect coat of spray paint because I want these to look vintage. So moving them around is actually attributing to the style.

Spraying the jingle bells with vinegar

Once those dried, I sprayed them with some white vinegar.

Spray-painting the jingle bells gold

While the vinegar is still wet on the jingle bells, I'm going to come in with some gold spray paint. I'm going to just lightly spray paint over the vinegar and the black jingle bells.

Drilling a hole in the basket

3. Make the hole for the clappers

Next, I'm going to take a half-inch spade bit and drill down through the top of my waste paper basket to make a hole.

Cutting the bows

4. Attach the clappers

Then I'm going to take the ribbon and the hoop that my jingle bells were originally attached to and remove this bow. I'm just cutting it off. It was glued in place and I couldn't get it off but I don't want that.

Gluing the handle to the bell

I'm going to take the ribbons and slide them down into the hole, pulling them through so I have this nice handle here for my bell.

Gluing embellishments to the top of the bells

5. Embellish

Hot glue the hoop in place and then come in with some nice embellishment. I'm using some greenery here; some picks, little pine cones, and a fluffy bow. I'm going to attach that as well just using hot glue to hold it in place.

Reattaching the jingle bells as clappers

6. Reattach the jingle bells

I'm going to reattach my now vintage jingle bells back in the original place where they were.

DIY Christmas bells
Jingle bells inside the DIY Christmas bells

DIY Christmas bells

These are my finished DIY Christmas bells here. I've displayed them here on the outside of my cabin. I think they're so cute and I love that these were so easy to do just with a few dollar store items.


I hope this inspires you to get creative this Christmas season with things you find in the dollar store. Let me know what you think of this DIY Christmas bell project in the comments below.

Holly Grace
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  2 questions
  • N. G. Londonderry N. G. Londonderry on Oct 18, 2023
    If these were originally meant to be basketball nets WHY did they have bottoms?
  • Linda Linda on Oct 18, 2023
    These look beautiful and so creative. May I ask what is the purpose of the vinegar? Thank you.
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 2 comments
  • Lesley Lesley on Oct 18, 2023
    I’d love to see a video just to make sure re attaching everything
  • Val Val on Oct 18, 2023
    Great idea, I would love those copper solar lights intertwined in these ❤️
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