Tealight Bell Place Card Holder

This bell-shaped place card holder will add a light (pun intended) and festive touch to your holiday table!

Premo! polymer clay - silver (about 2 1/2 oz. for each bell)

Premo! polymer clay - red and green

Sculpey clay machine

Sculpey gloss glaze

1 tealight candle for each bell

metal paper clip

1 plain piece of paper

12" ruler

pencil

black marker

small paintbrush

glass baking dish (for clay use only)

cookie rack (for clay use only)

oven mitt (for clay use only)

a large piece of acrylic or a smooth working surface

clay tools: needle end pointer, triangular blade, acrylic roller, flat blade

silver metallic acrylic craft paint (place card)

piece of cardstock (place card)

decorative scissors - paper edgers (place card)

red marker (place card)

regular pair of scissors

Draw a 6" circle on a plain piece of paper.

Fold and cut the circle in half.

Use the half circle as the bell pattern.

Set the Sculpey clay machine on #1 (thickest setting) and put approximately 2 1/2 ounces of Premo! silver clay into the machine.

Roll clay through machine until the piece of clay is smooth. It will be approximately 1/8" thick. (If you don't have a machine, roll clay out by hand using an acrylic roller.)

Place bell pattern on top of the flat clay piece.

Using a flat or triangular blade, cut around the pattern.

Fold curved sides together to form a cone shape.

Using fingers, smooth the seam together.

Flatten point to form the top of bell.

With fingers inside the bell, gently push sides out to create a more rounded shape as shown. The bell will be approximately 2 1/2" tall and 2 3/4" wide.)

Check to make sure that the tealight fits comfortably under the bell.

Using a needle end pointer, pierce the clay and make circular motions until a clean hole is created (about 1/8 " in diameter.) Tip: To check for neat holes, occasionally place a lighted tealight candle under the bell.

Make a ring of holes around the bell and then continue making another row of holes, moving toward the top of the bell as shown.

Using the triangular blade, make a small slit in the top of the bell.

Gently push a paper clip through the top as shown.

Roll out green clay and using the triangular blade, draw holly leaves (about 1 1/4" long).

Cut out holly leaves.

Make the veins of the holly leaves using the needle end pointer as shown.

Place the holly leaves on top of the bell.

Roll out small red balls for the berries and arrange as shown.

Place the bell on a glass baking dish (used for clay only).

Bake at 275 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.

Using a oven mitt, remove the glass dish and set on a cookie rack to cool.

Using a paintbrush, glaze the entire bell with Sculpey gloss glaze for a shiny finish.

With the ruler and pencil, make a 3" x 2" rectangle for the place card. Cut out using decorative scissors.

Paint around the borders of the place card with silver metallic acrylic paint.

Use a red marker to write a name on the place card.

Turn on a tealight candle and put the bell in front of each place setting. Your guests will appreciate the personalized, welcoming touch.

These bells can also be used as ornaments. Just slip a thin red ribbon through the paper clip and hang. The lights from the Christmas tree will glimmer through the bell.