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.
- Old bowling ball
- Alcohol
- 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
Suzanne says
May 19, 2017 at 11:08 pmWhat a fabulous idea! My mission now is to find a bowling ball. I also want to know what Tatouage is.
Many thanks.
Gail Wilson says
May 20, 2017 at 9:37 pmTatouage 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 says
May 19, 2017 at 1:21 pmLOVE 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 says
April 3, 2012 at 12:17 amGail, 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 says
April 3, 2012 at 12:16 amAdorable…I love this idea.
Sharon says
March 17, 2012 at 1:44 pmOh 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 says
October 18, 2010 at 4:17 amGail:
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 says
April 15, 2010 at 2:30 amWhat 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 says
April 5, 2010 at 2:48 amWhat 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 says
February 13, 2010 at 4:31 amHi, 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 says
September 25, 2009 at 4:56 pmOK, 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 says
September 25, 2009 at 3:33 amis 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 says
September 25, 2009 at 1:03 amThat is crazy creative, girl! My goodness.
Pam says
September 24, 2009 at 1:23 pmNeat..very inventive.
Pam
Rita @ Goodwill Haunting says
September 24, 2009 at 6:15 amThis 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.