Starting with inexpensive bell ornaments from Dollar Tree or another discount store, you can add names, family surnames, Christmas words or dates using permanent adhesive vinyl. They are quick enough to make in batches and make lovely inexpensive handmade Christmas gifts.
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What you need
Rustic Christmas bell ornaments or Dollar Tree bell ornaments
Cricut cutting machine
Permanent adhesive vinyl
StandardGrip cutting mat
Transfer tape
Cricut weeding tool
Scraper or burnishing tool
Scissors
Ruler or measuring tape
Soft lint-free cloth
Ribbon or twine, optional
Small Christmas greenery, berries or embellishments, optional
If your vinyl drawer looks anything like mine, this is also a very good project for using those awkward little permanent-vinyl scraps that somehow become too precious to throw away.
Instructions
How to Make Personalized Rustic Christmas Bell Ornaments
There is something lovely about putting family names on the Christmas tree.
These personalized Cricut Christmas ornaments can be made for your own family, but they also work beautifully as teacher gifts, neighbour gifts, Secret Santa presents and inexpensive handmade gifts for grandparents.
You could make one for every member of the family and add new ones as the family grows. Add the year underneath the name and they become little Christmas keepsakes too.
The original project uses rustic bell-shaped Christmas ornaments, which gives the finished decoration a farmhouse Christmas look without requiring you to paint or distress anything yourself.
If you love this style of Christmas decorating, have a look at the CraftBits rustic natural wood Nativity Cricut ornaments too. They work beautifully alongside these personalized bells on a rustic Christmas tree.
Step 1: Choose Your Bell Ornament
Start with a bell ornament that has a reasonably smooth area where the vinyl can be applied.
Before buying a whole basketful, check the surface carefully. Vinyl adheres much better to smooth painted, metal or plastic surfaces than it does to heavily textured glitter.
If your bell has glittered sections, position the name on the smooth section whenever possible.
Gently wipe the area with a clean lint-free cloth to remove dust. If you use any cleaner, test it first because some inexpensive painted ornaments can lose their finish surprisingly easily.
Step 2: Measure the Available Space
This is the little step that saves a lot of vinyl and a few muttered words at the craft table.
Measure the widest usable area on the front of your bell.
Your design should be slightly smaller than this measurement so that the lettering does not wrap too far around the curved sides.
For curved ornaments, slightly smaller lettering is usually easier to apply than trying to fill every last millimetre of space.
Write down your measurement before opening Cricut Design Space.
Step 3: Create the Name in Cricut Design Space
Open Cricut Design Space and start a new project.
Select the Text tool and type the name or word you want on your ornament.
Some ideas include:
- Mum
- Dad
- Grandma
- Grandpa
- Our First Christmas
- Baby’s First Christmas
- The Smith Family
- Merry
- Joy
- Noel
- Believe
- Peace
- A child’s name
- A pet’s name
- A family surname
Choose a font that will remain readable when cut at a fairly small size.
Bold handwritten fonts, simple script fonts and clean farmhouse-style fonts all work particularly well.
Very delicate fonts can look beautiful on screen but turn into a weeding exercise designed to test your Christmas spirit.
Step 4: Prepare Script Fonts Correctly
If you are using a script font where the letters overlap, check the design carefully before cutting.
Overlapping script letters should appear as one continuous design rather than separate shapes cutting through one another.
Use the appropriate combine or weld function in Design Space if necessary so the overlapping letters become one clean cut shape.
For simple block lettering, you can usually leave the letters arranged as they are.
Step 5: Size the Design
Resize your name using the measurement you took from the ornament.
Pay particular attention to the width.
A design that is a little narrower than the flat area of the bell is easier to position and less likely to wrinkle around the curved edges.
If you are making several ornaments, duplicate the design and change the names before cutting them all at once.
This is much faster when you are making family sets or Christmas gifts.
Step 6: Cut the Permanent Vinyl
Place permanent adhesive vinyl onto your Cricut cutting mat with the coloured vinyl side facing upward and the paper backing against the mat.
You do not need to mirror the design when using standard permanent adhesive vinyl.
Select the appropriate material setting for your brand of vinyl and send the design to your Cricut.
Once the cut is finished, remove the vinyl from the machine.
Step 7: Weed the Design
Cut around each name so you are working with a manageable piece of vinyl.
Use your weeding tool to carefully remove all the vinyl surrounding the letters.
Don’t forget the little centres inside letters such as:
- A
- B
- D
- O
- P
- R
Small names can be fiddly, so good lighting makes an enormous difference here.
Step 8: Add Transfer Tape
Cut a piece of transfer tape just slightly larger than the vinyl design.
Place the transfer tape over the lettering and use your scraper to burnish firmly across the surface.
Turn it over and burnish from the back as well if the vinyl is reluctant to transfer.
Slowly peel away the vinyl backing paper.
The letters should now remain attached to the transfer tape.
Step 9: Apply the Name to the Bell
Position the centre of the design against the centre of the bell first.
Rather than pressing the entire piece down immediately, work slowly from the centre outward.
Because the bell is curved, this helps prevent wrinkles.
For particularly curved ornaments, make a few tiny snips around the outer edge of the transfer tape only, taking care not to cut through your vinyl lettering.
These small cuts allow the transfer tape to spread and conform to the curved surface.
Burnish the lettering firmly onto the ornament.
Slowly peel the transfer tape back on itself rather than pulling it straight outward.
If part of a letter starts to lift, lay the transfer tape back down and burnish that section again.
Step 10: Finish the Ornament
Once the vinyl has been applied, leave the ornament sitting undisturbed so the adhesive has time to settle.
Avoid repeatedly rubbing or repositioning the lettering.
If your bell already has greenery or ribbon attached, you may decide it needs nothing else.
Otherwise, finish it with:
- Jute twine
- Buffalo check ribbon
- Velvet ribbon
- Mini pine sprigs
- Faux berries
- Tiny pinecones
- Small wooden beads
- A miniature bow
For another farmhouse Christmas idea using bells, see the CraftBits Dollar Tree Farmhouse Christmas Bells tutorial.
Make a Whole Family Set
This is where this Cricut Christmas ornament idea becomes particularly cute.
Make one bell for each person in the family and hang them together on the tree.
You can even include the pets. Frankly, any dog who has spent December attempting to steal wrapping paper deserves their own ornament.
Try using the same vinyl and font across the entire collection so they look coordinated.
Another lovely option is to add a small year underneath each person’s name.
Over time, the ornaments become a miniature family Christmas timeline.
Turn Them Into Handmade Christmas Gifts
Personalized Christmas ornaments are especially handy when you want a thoughtful gift without spending a fortune.
Try making them for:
- Teachers
- Grandparents
- Neighbours
- Work colleagues
- Newlyweds
- New parents
- Children
- Grandchildren
- Pet owners
- Secret Santa gifts
Tie the ornament onto a wrapped present instead of using a traditional gift tag and it becomes part of the gift.
You could also personalize several ornaments and package them together as a family Christmas ornament set.
More Cricut Christmas Ornament Inspiration
If you have your Cricut out already, you may as well make the most of it before putting everything away.
The CraftBits Rae Dunn inspired Cricut ceramic Christmas ornaments use the same basic permanent vinyl and transfer tape technique on ceramic ornaments.
You can also browse the CraftBits Christmas Tree Ornament projects for plenty more handmade ornament ideas if you’re planning a whole DIY Christmas tree.
These little personalized bells are quick, inexpensive and wonderfully adaptable. Change the font, ribbon and vinyl colour and the same basic project can go from rustic farmhouse to modern, traditional or even wonderfully over-the-top Christmas glitter.
And because you are starting with a ready-made ornament, you still get that satisfying handmade result without spending an entire afternoon trying to manufacture a bell from scratch. At Christmas, I call that a win.
This project image was contributed by Nancy Maloney Lilley, Thanks for sharing Nancy.
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