I have made several of these beautiful gazing balls. They are one of my favorite garden ornaments. They are very shiny, very pretty, and the best part . . . unbreakable!
These are the supplies you need.
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Old bowling ball
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Alcohol
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Pieces to decoupage (wallpaper samples, fabric, stickers, etc)
Use alcohol to clean bowling ball
Use the alcohol to clean the bowling ball. The alcohol cleans all of the oils from the bowling alley.
Fill holes with plaster of paris
Mix up a small portion of the plaster of paris, and pour into ONLY the finger holes. Be sure to leave the thumb hole clear.
Let the plaster of paris dry for several hours, I let mine dry overnight. Neatness does NOT count in this step.
Smooth-sand excess plaster
Use a knife or similar item to scrape off excess dried plaster, then wipe it down with water.
Decorate Bowling Ball
You are now ready to begin decorating your gazing ball.
Disguise plaster of paris
Use a marker to color in anything on the ball. If you look closely you can see that I colored over the stars and one of the finger holes. I of course colored the other one after this picture was taken.
Apply decor
Start applying your appliques. On this bowling ball gazing ball, I used a Tatouage rub-on transfers. I have also used these kind of transfers on a floor cloth and on a headboard bench.
It is fairly simple to do the Tatouage. You simply lay it on your gazing ball, and rub it on. 🙂
Seal Bowling Ball Gazing Ball
How to apply Polyurethane to bowling ball
gail
Gail Wilson is the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. She is obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believes that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again, including herself!
Gail reinvented herself during a midlife crisis and has found purpose again. She hopes you will find new ideas for old things and pick up a few tools along the way.
deedee
the plaster of paris to fill holes is great but if you don't have or don't want to buy a stand,leave 1 hole and drive a stake(pc. of re-bar or a metal pole,etc.) into the dirt for the ball to sit on the ground. It's very windy where I live and this keeps it in place
Gail Wilson
That's a great idea deedee! I've had high winds, and never lost a bowling ball yet. š
Thanks so much for stopping by, your comment (tip) is greatly appreciated.
gail
Carolyn
Can I use unicorn SPIT on my bb for the gazing ball
Gail Wilson
I've never used Unicorn SPIT, so I have no idea how it would work on a bowling ball (gazing ball)
gail
Brenda
What else can you do with a black bowling ball? Can it be painted to be as attractive as your other colored wavy ones??
Gail Wilson
Brenda,
I've done the decoupage on the black bowling balls, but I've never painted one before.
gail
Suzanne
What a fabulous idea! My mission now is to find a bowling ball. I also want to know what Tatouage is.
Many thanks.
Gail Wilson
Tatouage is a transfer kind of sticker. I think it's a dying breed these days. It sort of a rub-on. My friends at Iron Orchid designs have sort of brought it back, you can see my project here: https://www.myrepurposedlife.com/decor-transfer/
gail
Sarah Pickering
LOVE this idea, I have my grandmother's bowling ball from the 60's and I could never find a place to rehole it as my fingers are larger. This way my daughter can enjoy her namesake more in her garden.
Pam
Gail, thank you so much for coming by and liking my page in facebook and for sharing it also. That was really sweet of you. Thanks again.
Pam
Pam
Adorable...I love this idea.
Sharon
Oh My Word! I totally love this. I was just looking at my neighbors gazing ball the other day on my walk. And I have a pretty purple bowling ball (Like your blue one) in my bowling bag that is to heavy for me to use. I just might have to make a project out of it. LOL!
Sharon
Jan @ bobbypins boardwalk
Gail:
I wanted to let you know that I shared this post as a "bookmarked on the Boardwalk" feature. I love this project and wanted to make sure that my other readers had a chance to love it too! You can find it here:
http://www.bobbypinsboardwalk.com/2010/10/bookmarked-on-boardwalk_17.html
You're welcome to stop by, take a look, and grab a button.
Have a great week, friend!
Stacey @ Fun to Craft
What a cool idea. I really like how yours turned out. Thanks for sharing at 'Look at me, I'm SO Crafty!' at Fun to Craft.
Veronica
What a neat way to use a bowling ball. I have featured your gazing ball on my blog. If you like,come by and grab my featured button at Veronica's Korner. http://veronicas-korner.blogspot.com/
Cousin B
Hi, I'm new to your blog, and Im so glad I found this! I love this gazing bb idea...how cute! But, pardon me for being uncrafty, but what's this Tatouage? I can see they are flowers here, but not sure, where I'd get those?
rosemst2t
OK, you got me. Now that you posted this handy step by step tutorial I have absolutely no excuses not to do this with those 2 BB's I found at the curb Wednesday morning.
It's like it was meant to be! You must be psychic or something.
Rose
vintagesue
is that not stunning. i can't stop gazing at it!!! lol. it's very, very cute. love it!!!
thanks for such a great idea. wow.
sue
Miss Mustard Seed
That is crazy creative, girl! My goodness.
Pam
Neat..very inventive.
Pam
Rita @ Goodwill Haunting
This is great! I also read your post about the blue gazing ball. How very creative! I want to do one, so I just need to find a bowling ball! Thanks for sharing.