Ring-a-ling, it’s a new year calling

Tired of shrill horns and ear-splitting firecrackers? Ring in the new year for real with an assortment of bells.

If you’re throwing a party to bid 2006 adieu, ask each of your guests to bring a decorated bell of some kind, then have a bell exchange shortly before midnight.

We offer some suggestions here, but use your imagination and see how many bells you and your guests can come up with.

Makeshift doorbells

Since we don’t have a regular doorbell at our house, we decided to make our own by decorating a service bell and mounting it on the wall next to the door. We thought this might be a good addition to the New Year’s Eve bell party as well.

You’ll need one of those service bells that sit on customer service counters everywhere, available at office supply stores for about $5 each.

These bells are hollow underneath, so you’ll need to add something to the bottom (we used a cork circle, but wood or plastic will work as well) so that you’ll have something to which you can attach the mounting material of choice. It will also give you an extra base for adding embellishments.

We made four different bells for our samples: two wrapped with homemade cord (one with a pearl cluster and one with fuzzy puppy embellishment), one decorated with colorful flowers and a butterfly, and one with black and pink pompoms.

All you need to do is add the embellishments around the bottom of the bell with hot glue, or a more durable glue if you plan to use the bell outside.

But be very careful. Make sure that the decorations do not touch the metal dome of the bell as this will deaden the ring, leaving you with nothing but a dull thud.

Hand bells

Our holiday hand bells will work nicely as dinner bells when the season is over and the decorations are discarded.

You can find hand bells in the seasonal sections at craft and department stores this time of year. Some of them are very inexpensive, but it might be a good idea to spend a few extra dollars for a nicer bell as the ring will be more pleasant. Our sample bells cost $5 each and the tone is quite nice.

Using a wide wired ribbon, tie a bow around the handle and add a seasonal embellishment if desired.

Jingle bell door hanger

Make a door hanger using a cluster of three large jingle bells, and customize it by making your own twisted cord.

Select yarn, ribbon or cord in colors that strike your fancy and twist them, using a braid twister, into a cord. We found some sparkly yarn in a variety of colors that worked up into a nice quality cord.

We left the loopy ends of the cord long and made them into the hanger (to go around the doorknob) by tying them together with pieces of yarn at various intervals.

For a little bit of extra interest, we tied knots in the cord, then added the bells to the bottom.

You might want to choose something other than seasonal colors for this project so that you can use the door hanger year round.

Other bell ideas

Cowbells: Tie a big bow around the handle on a large cowbell, or find a smaller version of the bell in a craft store and attach it to the end of a knitted or crocheted spiral. We featured the latter in a column some years back under the name of “burglar bell” – the idea being to hang the bell-on-a-spiral on a doorknob to alert residents if burglars try to enter. If you opt for the large cowbell, just present it to old Bossie after you finish ringing in 2007.

Small jingle bells: Make necklaces, bracelets or headbands by stringing small jingle bells on yarn, ribbon or beading elastic. You can also tie several cascading strands of small bells together to make a different kind of door hanger.

Doorbells: You won’t be able to ring these at the party (unless you install them first), but a real doorbell from the hardware store might make a fun gift for someone special. Check out the different kinds that are available, from traditional “Avon calling” rings to more unusual musical sounds.

And a holiday wish…

We’ve had the chance to meet lots of our Craft Corner readers in person during the past year and it’s been a wonderful experience. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you so very much for all of your kind words and support for the column.

We look forward to another year of creative crafting in 2007, and to all of our readers, here’s wishing you the very happiest of holiday seasons and a joyous New Year.

Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.