Decorative Spheres

We've all seen decorative balls in stores and online. However, very few of us want to spend the money on them. Besides, it's so much more fulfilling to create your own especially with a spin on them, like I've done here.

Flipping through a magazine I came across mosaic tiled spheres and was really drawn to them.

Knowing that all you need is some small tiles and grout, I wanted to create them but with a twist.

So I immediately thought of crushed shells for this project. They have the shiny resemblance of the tiles but I really hadn't seen a sphere like this before.

Oddly with me being a crafter, one thing I don't like purchasing is Styrofoam balls. I mean, they are just unreasonably expensive. I guess it's because they are so useful, you can do so many things with them. But, I gave in with this project and picked up a package of 6 Styrofoam balls.

Now, I didn't just want to create one ball, I wanted a collaboration, if you will.

So, I needed another natural material that would compliment the shells. I already had a bag of green pebbles in my craft stash, and so I thought of another natural object that would complement both and I went with black sand.

These materials can be picked up in the floral section at Michael's, ironically right across from those pricey Styrofoam balls.

First, the balls needed to be painted so that in between the rocks, sand and shells, you would not see the plain white Styrofoam.

For the pebbles, I chose a metallic because the pebbles were a little dark and needed some reflection to lighten it up.

The shells naturally have a pinkish hue so I painted the ball pink.

As for the black sand, I had on hand a dark grey metallic spray paint so that worked perfectly.

Now for the adhesion.

The sand is not heavy so I simply applied spray adhesive to the Styrofoam and dipped into the sand. I gave it about 2 to 3 coats of glue and sand. I pierced a tool into the Styrofoam while painting for an easy hold.

Out of all three of them, the sand was the easiest and quickest.

As for the pebbles and shells, since they were heavy, I needed a thicker glue. I first tried a hot glue gun but the drawbacks are that the hot glue drys to quickly to apply the shells and pebbles, plus it melts the Styrofoam.

I used a glue that is fairly similar to E-600. It's thick enough to hold the material and dries fast but not too fast.

After applying the pebbles and shells, I went back to fill in tiny spaces that were peeking through.

I like their turnout, all I need now is a nice decorative bowl to place them into.

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Wooden Stars

Copper and tin stars have long been on my radar and I have wanted to get on the band wagon for some time now. Now that I have my own house I totally have reason to go for it.

It's an intention to find a real one to accompany this wooden one but when I saw this wooden star hanging up in Micheal's at a 3.99 price tag, I couldn't resist. I had my star plus I could put my own creative spin on it at the same time.

The copper stars are really my favorite but since it would be placed in the living room, it would not really complement the color; which is kind of a caramely suede color. So I thought a faux tin patina wood fit best.

First I had to fill in the hole with wood filler.

Then gave it a white primer base.





I wanted a black undertone, so I then sponged on black acrylic paint.

After glazing with silver metallic paint, I lined the edges and corners with black for highlights and to give it depth.

Painting was easy and fun.

I hung it up next to the front door.

I had so much fun with this star I decided to run out and get another to hang in the bathroom.

My bathroom is a pale yellow with black and white tile so a black star would accent perfectly.

I'm not sure if it's noticeable in the picture but I wanted a rough texture so I simple added sand to the black paint.

Then I remembered a small wire cage I picked up at the thrift store a few months ago. I put it away because I knew it would go well in the bathroom after I moved into the house. It was only a dollar, and all it needed was just a coat of paint. Black of course to complement the rest of the decor.

Little by little, my house becomes a home. :)

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Updated Picture

I originally bought this picture from Family Dollar a few years ago which in fact they have some really nice pictures and frames under $10.This picture has been hanging in my office at work for a few years now.

I have always loved it, but it was time for an update.

Removing the backing was a little difficult but I eventually removed all the innards and got to work.

Using the same technique as my clock and pot I spruced up the outer and inner frames in red.

I then used black and silver paint and brushed over the middle pottery picture.






I really liked the pattern of the 4 squared papers on each corner so I wanted to keep that theme.

Using red and a contrasting sage scrapbook paper, I glued those in the corners.

Next I found a Fleur de lis image online and printed that out.

The fleur de lis was cut out on this silver crinkled paper.

Then I distressed the edges with more black paint.

Using mod podge I glued the Fleur de lis to the middle.

Near the very end, I decided it needed a little more something. Since the backing was basically made of cardboard, I pressed 4 upholstery tacks in the corners and 3 on the Fleur de lis. I also added some black embossing powder around the Fleur de lis to make it pop.

All in all, I think it turned out well!

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