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.