Thursday, September 23, 2010

Rusting jingle bells

You girls are truly wonderful!  Thank you so much for all your words of support, advice, and encouragement on my last post!  I really love and appreciate each one of you!

I have managed to set some jingle bells outside to rust.  I loaded up when Hobby Lobby had their bags 50% off!  That included the ones in the Christmas section that were in big tubes.  It always excites me to get my supplies so cheap.  I had such a huge grin when I was walking out of the store.  Is anyone else as cheesy as me?  Lol!

My thoughtful husband saw my platter of bells and said "It's going to rain, those bells are gonna rust, you better get them inside".  Haha!  When I told him that was my plan, he just looked at me like I was crazy then went on about his business without saying a word.  He's just used to it by now.

That was on September 8th.  Here it is two weeks later and they are doing pretty good:

The bigger ones are going pretty slow.  I will have to move them to a deeper dish so they will be completely covered.

So you girls that rust bells the natural way... how long does it usually take?  I check my water level every few days to fill it up and give them a shake.  My itty, bitty ones are probably done.  They are so tiny, so cute!  You can't even see them, they are covered in the water.  I can't wait to use them!

Have fun crafting and creating!  Till next time~

15 comments:

  1. Never thought about letting them rust naturally! Love the idea -- no harsh chemicals. Thanks!!!

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  2. Hi Angie! I never thought about setting them outside in water and letting them rust naturally. I will have to give that a try, getting away from the mix of chemicals sounds like a good idea to me!
    Kim

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  3. Hi girls! I know, I never thought of it either. I read on someone's blog where they set them out in the rain to rust them. I'm not fond of the chemicals either so I thought I would give it a try. Seems to be working so far, I just don't know how long it takes. I think there is something in the rain like acid that rusts them quicker than just water. We haven't had much rain, so I keep having to add water to it. We'll see. =]

    Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

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  4. Angie,
    Heres how you rust stuff naturally, fill a spray bottle with salt water,
    (very salty)leave your tray of bells outside, dump out the water. Spray the bells every day, a few times a day and the combination of oxygen, salt water etc, will rust them!
    Hope this helps, let me know.
    XoXo
    Michelle

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  5. PS, Whatcha gonna do with those bells????
    XOXO

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  6. Nice easy way to get them rustic. Great post!!

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  7. I was going to suggest adding lots of salt but it seems as though someone beat me to the punch! LOL
    I did use peroxide and white vinegar and it worked well with salt, but I do believe next time, I will use just the salt water spray and lots of air instead of putting them under liquid. I know salt is an oxidizing agent!
    ★Linda★

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  8. Hey Angie: I use a ton of salt & white vinegar in a glass pie plate...I've noticed that when I keep them under the fluid, they don't rust as fast...but If I use a shallow amount of the "rusting mixture" and wiggle them around every so often, they rust up quicker....
    :) patti

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  9. Well girls... salt it is! Lol. Thanks so much for the tips!

    Patti, I never thought that using a shallow amount would work better than completely covering them. Thanks so much for that advice!

    Michelle, I will be using them on some pillow tucks and ditty bags that I will be making... one of these days. =]

    This is exactly why I love the prim blog community! So much wisdom out there, thanks girls!!

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  10. Gosh, I learned something new today!! Salt huh? Gonna have to try that for sure. And yes Angie, those pears in that picture on my blog are from Jody! I love them!

    Brenda

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  11. Salt....so thats the key huh? I tried the same way you were doing it and left them too long and lots of them broke!! Great idea with the salt and it makes sense too!
    Thanks!

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  12. I normally just leave my bells, pins in the deep solution for about 24 hours, scoop out the bells, pins, lay them on a piece of cardboard shallow box and let the sun do the rest...just jiggle them around a bit.
    Works great.
    Karen

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  13. Oh Angie this is such a great idea. I love it and how easy too!!!

    Thanks so much for stopping by and all of your sweet comments.

    Enjoy your weekend!
    Leann

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  14. FUNNY about hubby "trying" to be helpful. Mine just about has things figured out now and even joins in by bringing me scrap materials to craft with. Old metal, wood, etc. LUV rusting metal.
    I LUV bargains, and feel pretty good when I know I got a great deal on something.

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  15. i set tin cans outside to rust like that...takes a few weeks but it works..

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Thanks for stopping by for a visit ~