THE Sparkle Ball!

Have you seen these?  Have you looked real close when you have seen them...and see what they are made out of?  Cups...Solo Cups...Plastic Cups....SUPER FUN CUPS!!

I tried making a Sparkle ball this week and it was a little touch and go in the beginning.  The size cups you choose determine the size of the ball.  Well, when you start out, go small...trust me

This is how I started out...way too big of a choice on the cups.  16oz, and they were tall and skinny.  The taller they are the more you need.  I recommend going shorter and fatter.

So, I went and bought small and wider solo cups.  Much better.  After a little crafting and some football I had made two sides of my new Sparkle Ball.  Much better size to start out with.

I had a string of pink lights in my studio and decided to use them.  The holes I drilled were a little too small for the lights so I put on a bigger drill bit and made the holes a little bigger.  The lights fit perfectly.

Supply List:

Solo Cups (I used 54 9 oz cups)

Stapler and Staples

Drill and Drill bit (not sure on the size I used)

String of lights (I had pink on hand)

Directions:

1.  Drill holes in the middle of each cup.  I stacked about 3-4 on top of each other and did them as a group.

2.  Start by making a circle with 12 cups, stapling them together at the sides.

3.  Your next round (circle) of cups will use 10 cups to make the round.

4.  Your last round will use 5 cups.

5.  Now staple the three rounds together to make one half of the ball.

6.  Now make another half.

7.  Add lights into each hole.

8.  Attach the two sides of the ball together with staples.  This will form the ball.  

9.  You can add a hanger on to the top of the ball by using a clip ring.  I just strung the end of the light string up from the top of the ball and used that as the hanger.

SEE HOW COOL IT LOOKS.   

Perfect for Valentines Day coming up!

What a fun project.  Here are some links to where you can find more specific directions.

www.sparkleball.com

DIY Crafts
YouTube Tutorial

Try out different sizes, colors and textures.  There are even tutorials out there on doing it with the cups that are hard plastic.  You use a glue gun to attach them and a soldering iron to make the holes.  More time consuming but might be worth trying on a larger version....for more strength.

Happy Crafting!

Maryfrances
"crafty" girl