How To Make A Gorgeous Garden Gazing Ball With These Easy Tips

I love how the black base complements the blue turquoise glass gems!

Buy Used At The Thrift Store

In the small town I live in we have a thrift store that only carries home building supplies. Builders and home renovators can drop off the surplus or gently used home items. The shop sells the donated items and after expenses all of the profits go back into the community to help qualifying residents with affordable housing. This venture also keeps a lot of stuff out of the landfill site and is filled with all kinds of treasures! This is where I found the globe lights and lights designed for chandelier hanging lights that I used as the base for the gazing ball. The pretty turquoise glass gems were purchased at the dollar store.

Use Materials Specifically Designed For Outdoors

When I glued the globe light and the chandelier light together I used a multi-purpose glue that also was designed for outdoor use. I also used a clear silicone to glue the glass gems that came in a tube much like a tube of toothpaste that was specifically designed for the outdoors.

Apply A Spray Primer First

Before applying the black gloss paint I applied a spray primer first. This step makes it easier for the paint to adhere to the glass surface. Both the primer and paint also helped secure the globe and chandelier light together.

Apply Glass Gems In Sections

This is not a project that can be completed in one session. If you apply all of the glass gems at once you will be dealing with a lot of slipping and sliding. Start at the top of the ball. Apply one glass gem in the middle and one ring of glass gems around the centre one. Then stop and go do something else for a couple of hours so the silicone on these first glass gems can set. Come back and apply another ring or two. Go do something else so this next section can dry. Keep following this procedure. It is slow in the beginning but once you get towards the end it will go a lot faster.

Use Blue Painter’s Tape

The blue painter’s tape has two helping jobs. It helps to stop the newly applied glass gems from shifting as you are working down the curved surface. Just remove the painter’s tape as each section dries.

It also works as a great little stand when you invert the gazing ball and start applying gems to the bottom area.

Keep It Neat

All you need is a little dab of silicone per glass gem for it to adhere to the glass. I prefer to apply this little dab to the flat side of each one and then stick each one onto the globe light. This is compared to smearing the silicone directly onto the globe and then sticking the glass gems onto the silicone. When the silicone dries it will be transparent. If you apply the silicone directly on the globe light first it will be invisible but the exposed surface areas will have a bumpy look and feel.

The last tip is to find a special place in the garden for your newly made garden gazing ball. I placed my set of three in the same garden bed! I have to admit they look really pretty when the sun shines on the glass gems!

For more photographs and detailed information I invite you to visit the original blog post.

Take Care,

Thea