Walmart Christmas Decor: Vintage-Inspired Hanging Bells

Inexpensive hanging bells get a simple vintage-inspired makeover!

As much as I prefer not to be in Walmart every other day, I'm in Walmart every other day haha.

It never fails. I ask the kids what they need, I go to the store then the next day they need something else.

The plus side of taking a ridiculous amount of unnecessary trips to Walmart is being able to check out their holiday decor. I'm usually able to control myself, but some items are just too good to pass up, like hanging bells.

I was eyeing similar bells weeks ago, but they are super popular now and sold out before I could snag a set for myself. I ended up grabbing a set from Walmart and giving them a little vintage-inspired makeover to fit more with my vintage Scandi Christmas decor.

- SUPPLIES NEEDED TO UPDATE WALMART HANGING BELLS -

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- Hanging bells (I bought mine from Walmart)

- Craft paint (I used Metallic Gunmetal, Brushed Gold and Real Brown)

- Gold Leaf Rub 'n Buff

- 400 grit sandpaper

- Craft paintbrush

-HOW TO GIVE HANGING BELLS A VINTAGE-INSPIRED LOOK-

Walmart carries two different styles of hanging bells, but I liked the shape of the ORB ones, so those are the ones I bought.

Luckily, I already had all the supplies I needed for this project since I've used this painting technique many times in the past.

I started by lightly sanding the bells with 400 grit sandpaper. This scuffs up the surface just enough (without leaving scratches) and allows the paint to adhere without chipping.

I then painted each bell with three coats of metallic brushed gold craft paint. I probably would have used gold spray paint, but it was a little too cold to use spray paint on the day I worked on this project.

After the gold craft paint was dry, I applied Gold Leaf Rub 'n Buff over each bell. You can stop here or you can continue onto the next step if you prefer a more aged vintage look.

Adding gold leaf rub 'n buff to hanging bells

I dry brushed each bell randomly with a mixture of metallic gunmetal, real brown and brushed gold paint. It's easier to blend the colors together while the paint is still wet, so work quickly and do one bell at a time. If you blend too much just add more of the darker paint colors until you are happy with the aged vintage look.

I hung my set of vintage-inspired hanging bells from a hook on the mudroom shelf, but they would also look nice hung from a mantel or from the center of a Christmas wreath.