No surprise, I follow quite a few designers on Instagram and something caught my eye this week on two of the sites – ceramic bells. I never knew I needed these in my life until a few days ago but now I am sure they are essential. Unfortunately, when I looked up the price of the bells that I saw on the design sites and found they were >$300, I thought it was just going to be one of those things that I had to get over.
But seriously, look at these amazing designs by MQuann. Her designs are hand-built or thrown on a wheel and fired a gas kiln. While these may seem simple, I can attest having joined my son with some of his ceramic projects, nothing to do with clay is easy. We have also just started watching the reality TV show Throw Down where they compete by building ceramic pieces and have to say that we are not blown away by their pieces but maybe they will improve as it goes.
Source: Emily Henderson
Not one to go down without a fight, I started searching ceramic bells high and low, and behold, my favorite JOANN’s to the rescue with a cute small bell for $20. Now, that I knew budget-friendly options existed, the search (also known as obsessive late-night browsing) began and I found lots of great options including Target and now I just need to obsess over which ones to buy and where to hang them.
In fairness, the budget bells are in the 2-3” range, whereas the MQuann Studio ones are in the 7-9” range, but the pricing is astronomically higher. Ironically, my favorite is the astronomical one that you can customize with your desired astrological constellation – as a Cancer, I have never been a big fan of my sign though so maybe that is another sign that one is not to be. I really love the thick rope designs that are possible on the larger ceramic bells.
Source: GabiBovioHandmade
Ceramic bells provide a great 3-D art installation and look great in entryways, as part of an art gallery wall, or even hanging off a curtain rod! I do not have any curtain rods in my house, but I am going to hang these beauties in my entry using some modern black pegs I got on Amazon. The first one is a $10 Target find and it is even better in person! The other two are one-of-a-kind Etsy find so they are sold out n ow but I have linked to the artist in the round-up below she has some similar ones.
The style is a bit eclectic, boho or California chic, and would work well with most designs except for traditional. I recommend getting 2-3 of the same or similar bells so that they have a similar design style. Of course, you can always add a black one to the mix as I am a fan of adding a little black in most situations. If you buy different bells, I recommend purchasing some rope or twine to hang them all the same which will help tie them together. You will also need some way to hang the bells and there are many great inexpensive modern peg or hook options on Amazon.
I will continue to pine for the more expensive and larger ceramic bells, but until they go on super clearance, I will stick with the ones above. Check out the options below if you are also sure now that you need ceramic bells in your life.
Source: A Bubbly Life