The Mystique of the Gazing Ball, or, Why I Shouldn't Drop my Bowling Ball on a Mean Girl's Head

Have you ever just wanted to drop a bowling ball on someone's head?

I know how terrible that sounds, and, of course, I'd never do it. But in full disclosure, the thought has crossed my mind lately. You know the term "Mean Girls?" Well, they aren't just in junior high school. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Although we rarely go anymore, I actually enjoy bowling.
Growing up, it was the only sport I where I didn't have to wait to be the last person selected for a team. It's the only sport where I didn't have to get hit in the head with a ball or a bat. It's the only sport where I didn't have to run from one end of a field or court to another. Okay, so my memories of Phys. Ed. class aren't the best, although I loved square-dancing in elementary school (Yep, that was part of PE back in the days of yore).
Bowling is the only sport I ever excelled at. So much so that while attending FSU, I took Bowling (and Women's Glee Club) as a class for three semesters so I could keep my GPA up, because Geology and Chemistry really messed it up. Smart, huh?
Bowling is also the only sport that I can beat my husband at.

Anyway, instead of dropping my bowling ball on a mean woman's head, I found something more creative to do with all that pent-up frustration. At our November Crafting Sistas night, we started a project that I hadn't finished and had almost forgotten about. We were to up-cycle old bowling balls and make Gazing Balls.

In the end, this is a beautiful addition of art to my garden, but it takes time and patience.

What you need:

old bowling ball

Liquid Nails

glass beads

Pre-mixed Adhesive & Grout

Sealant

sponge and water

pedestal

Using just a small amount of Liquid Nails, begin applying the glass beads to the bowling ball.

You can only do one section of the ball each day, then you let it dry overnight before starting on another section. This took me a total of five nights, but only about 15-minutes each night.

Note: I saw a project similar to this one on the HGTV site, but they only glued the beads on and then set the ball in a garden. I have gone a little further by grouting my Gazing Ball and placing it on a pedestal.

When the whole bowling ball is covered in glass beads and the glue is dry, apply the Pre-Mixed Adhesive & Grout following the instructions on the container.

I simply put on a pair of surgical gloves and began smooshing it into the spaces between each bead, all the way around the entire ball. This took me about a half hour.

I let it sit for about 10-minutes, then I took a wet sponge (not soaking -- wring it out) and began wiping the grout from the tops of the beads.

This took a little more time, because you have to keep going over it with a clean wet sponge until all the beads are clean.

Let it dry overnight, then apply grout sealant. When that's dry, clean the beads, again, with a window cleaner so they shine in the light.

Voila! You have a beautiful new Gazing Ball!

Here's mine in my front garden.

And here's a little history/trivia about the Gazing Ball: http://www.yardenvy.com/pages/Gazing-Ball-Mistique.htm

You'd love this one, Mom.

I Ate Paste!

It's definitely time for some crafting.
In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy holidays.
All holidays, even the ones made up by Hallmark, give me reason to bring out the hot glue gun and paper cutter. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I should look for something related to that. After all, it's all of my favorite colors - reds and pinks.

And thanks to the 'invention' of Pinterest, I no longer have to scour through my shelves of craft books and old magazines for ideas. Pinterest has made the research process so much simpler, hasn't it? Type in what you might be looking for, and "poof," like magic, hundreds of ideas come up on your screen.

My younger sister first introduced me to Pinterest when she was helping her daughter plan her wedding. At first blush, that's really all I saw in it - a place to store wedding ideas. But then one day when I had nothing better to do (yah, right), I took another look and was immediately hooked. It actually happened just like the night I realized how easy it is to get drawn in to power-watching the TV shows you can download.

So, truth be told, I've been in a deep, dark, ugly place for about six-weeks. Not sure if it's the change in jobs that's the culprit or what, but today I decided it was time to turn to my blog and my craftin' supplies for some therapy.

I saw picture of a wreath while searching through the folders on Pinterest that interested me and decided to make it. It's very easy to do, but takes about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish.
Here are the supplies:
Heart-shaped Styrofoam
1-inch straight-pins
7 pieces of 12"x12" reversible scrapbook paper
paper cutter
12-inch long piece of ribbon
bone folder

Begin by cutting all of the paper into 1/2-inch strips.

Then, using the bone folder or the blade of a long pair of scissors, curl the paper strips from the middle to the end in both directions.

You'll end up with a whole bunch of curls that you will now pin onto the Styrofoam heart. Put a pin through the middle of the strip of paper and then down into the Styrofoam. It's really quite simple. I finished (from cutting the strips of paper to hanging the finished wreath on the door) mine in an hour and a half - during which time I watched the Food Network and learned some new recipes.

Pin a ribbon to the back of it so you can hang it and you're done!
How cute is this?
And it can be made in any shape of Styrofoam you can find using any colors of scrapbook paper. I can actually see this as a small decorative Christmas tree using a foam cone shape! Hmmmm...

So, speaking of getting ideas off of Pinterest -- I know I've told this story before, but it's worth re-visiting. (http://alwaysonmymindforeverinmyheart.blogspot.com/2013/11/this-little-guy-will-make-it-to-july.html) Soon after I became hooked on Pinterest (about three-years ago), Mother asked me how long it would take me to make everything I had "pinned." So, again, with nothing better to do (yah, right), she and I began calculating the time, giving each project 5-hours (which included sewing, quilting, crafting, gardening, cooking and baking). At that time, it came out to something like 18-years!
Oh my gosh, we laughed and laughed.
Good times that I miss, for sure.

Thanks for passing your talents on to me, Mom.