Making a Jingle Bell Candy Pail

Kids love finding candy and goodies in their stockings at Christmas, but why give them an ordinary stocking again this year? Especially when you can create a magnificent jingle bell candy pail that will hold much more! Theyll be so excited to see the bucket full of candy that theyll temporarily forget about all the other gifts! Its easy to make the pail that will hold the Christmas goodies. Start with a plastic plant pot or even a Kentucky Fried Chicken pail. Most any lightweight but sturdy pail or pot can be used to make the jingle bell candy holder.

Use paint, fabric, felt or decorative paper to cover the pot or pail. Or, purchase a pot that is already red, green or white in color. Add a few craft supplies and your candy pail will be complete. The entire project takes only a few minutes to make after the paint has dried.

Use felt, fabric or decorative paper to create a "collar" for the pail. Cut the collar about three to four inches wide, depending upon the size of the pot you are using. On one edge, cut the material straight. On the opposite side, scallop the material with special scissors or your own design. Some plant pots already have a handle attached so that they can be hung. These types of pots are great for making the jingle bell candy pail. Decorate the handle by wrapping and gluing garland or velvet ribbon around the handle. If the pail youre using doesnt already have a handle its easy to make one. Cut two strips of felt or fabric and one strip of cardboard. The strip should be two or three inches wide and long enough to reach from one side of the bucket to the other. Lay the cardboard between the two pieces of felt and glue them together. After they dry trim the excess away. Glue the handle on to the pail. Now glue your scalloped collar around the top edge of the pail. The scalloped edging will hold the handle in place. Glue the straight side of the edging to the top portion of the pail. The scalloped side should not be glued down. On each scallop youll stitch a bell. You can find bells in colors of red, gold, green or silver. Choose the color that best goes with your pail design. Use a needle and thread to stitch one bell to each scallop. When youre finished stitching on the bells your jingle bell candy pail is finished. There are any combination of colors and designs you can do with the pail. Use a red pail with green collar and gold bells. Or, use a green pail with white collar and red bells. There is no limit to the designs you can make. Stencil your childs name on the pail or use other craft supplies to embellish. Wooden shapes, like candy canes or puppies, can help you create the look you want. Other embellishment choices include pom-poms instead of bells, Christmas stickers, colored tape for striping the pail, rubber stamping, cording or even foil cutouts. Mix and match to make your own unique creation. The buckets dont necessarily have to replace your childrens stockings. Create a candy pail for the table and let kids help themselves to goodies. Or, make small versions of the pails - without the handles - to hold fake poinsettias or even candy canes. No matter how you use them one thing is for sure: youll have lots of fun making them!