Billie stopped over yesterday afternoon and we did a quick holiday project. These sparkly balls are even prettier in person and really pretty easy to make.

You take a clear glass ball and remove the cap. Then you squirt in some dye ink and add a small splash of water. I’m not giving you amounts because we learned that the amount seemed to vary based on the bulb size and even on the ink choices. Basically you want a puddle in the bottom that will allow you to roll it all around the ball and coat the entire inside. While you do this it is best to have on a rubber glove and hold your thumb securely over the opening.

It is also a good idea to take care that your thumbnail doesn’t puncture the glove. This photo was taken after billie had been cleaning her thumb for several minutes already. She is such a good sport. She had been laughing from the moment she took her glove off and saw this mess, then it was her suggestion to take a picture and share it with all of you.

We discovered that some balls seemed to resist the ink in a few places leaving a splotchy look so we had to come up with a solution to that. If it happens to you, don’t panic. Just follow along with the instructions and I’ll tell you what to do.

OK, so you have the ink rolled around. Now you want to pour out the excess ink and use a paper towel to dab up any left over droplets at the edge of the opening. Once that is done pout in a teaspoon or two of glitter. Use a fine or ultra-fine glitter. A translucent glitter will give you a much lighter ball because it will allow more light to pass through it. The color of the glitter with combine with the color of the ink so keep that in mind anduse a clear glitter if you want to stay true to the ink color. Put your thumb over the opening and shake the ball to distribute the glitter. You can add more glitter if it looks like you didn’t cover everything. Pour out any extra glitter.

If you didn’t get good coverage with your first coat of ink you will now be able to see all the clear spots on the glass. Take a re-inker and start adding a few drops to the ball. Hole the ball on an angle and twist it around to direct the ink where you need it. If you use the same color as you did in the first step it will appear as a much darker shade. You can also select a second color to spice things up. Be sure to swirl it around a bit to creat an interesting pattern of swirls and lines.  Now add more glitter and sake it up again. Pout out any extra glitter, replace the cap, and you are done!

Poor Abbey doesn’t know what is about to happen. My daughter will be here in a couple of hours with her two cats. Enjoy your peace and quite Abbey, while you can.