orm-1.php

<?php

use Phalcon\DI,
    Phalcon\Events\Manager as EventsManager,
    Phalcon\Db\Adapter\Pdo\Sqlite as Connection,
    Phalcon\Mvc\Model\Manager as ModelsManager,
    Phalcon\Mvc\Model\Metadata\Memory as ModelsMetaData;

$eventsManager = new EventsManager();

$di = new DI();

$connection = new Connection(array(
    "dbname" => "users.db"
));

$connection->setEventsManager($eventsManager);

$eventsManager->attach('db',
    function ($event, $connection) {
        switch ($event->getType()) {
            case 'beforeQuery':
                echo $connection->getSqlStatement(), "<br>\n";
                break;
        }
    }
);

$di['db'] = $connection;
$di['modelsManager'] = new ModelsManager();
$di['modelsMetadata'] = new ModelsMetadata();

if (!$connection->tableExists('user')) {
    $connection->execute('CREATE TABLE user (id integer primary key, email varchar(120) not null)');
}

class User extends \Phalcon\Mvc\Model
{
    public $id;

    public $email;

    public static function myCustomUserCreator()
    {
        $newUser = new User();
        $newUser->email = 'test';
        if ($newUser->save() == false) {
            return false;
        } else {
            return $newUser->id;
        }
    }
}

print User::myCustomUserCreator();