How to Make a Mirrored Ball for Cats

Total Time: 1 Hour

Yield: 1

Supplies:

• 1 rubber ball ($1.00)
• 50 mirror pieces ($1.00)
• hot glue gun
• darning needle
• 6 yd crochet thread ($.10)
• pliers
• spice jar lid

Steps:

1. The first thing I realized was the ball was heavy. I will get a hollow wiffle or foam ball next time. I used the pliers to insert the darning needle in for a hanger.

 
2. I began to glue the mirror pieces on and found you couldn't get them very close. With another ball and smaller pieces you can. Besides, cats aren't that picky.

 
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3. I found a spice lid to set the ball in for ease of working. Then I finished the mirror pieces.

 

 
4. I threaded 6 yards of thread through the darning needle and tied a double knot at the end, touching some hot glue on it. With some knots in the thread so it won't twist, it's ready to hang up.

 
5. Now I will tell you what not to do.
6. Don't get rubber, it's too heavy. If you find a wiffle ball it has holes you can easily hang them from. If you use a foam one, just use a large darning needle and thread it through the middle and tie a knot or glue it at the bottom. Use E-6000 or another glue that will hold the mirror pieces on better. One of mine has popped off already. If you can, use smaller pieces of mirror.
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7. And lastly, if you find something that reflects even better, like faux crystals, use that. I hope these tips helped.

likekinds
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts

February 27, 20180 found this helpful

I don't know what a wiffle ball is. I'll have to look that up. It stands to reason the glass would stick better to a larger ball because the flat back of the mirrors would make more contact with a larger ball.

If the ball is larger, then you surely would want a lighter material, but I don't know about foam. If you're thinking about styrofoam, I'm not sure it would work with E6000 or similar glue. I believe the glue would melt the foam.

I checked into Aurora Borealis crystals and found them to be too expensive, even for small projects. I'm still looking for alternatives. Right now, I'm using glass drops, a dollar a bag at Dollar Tree. I'm trying to be creative with them, but it ain't easy.

My latest idea which I think is pretty good, is to crack the drops and then apply gold leaf to the back before gluing to a surface. I've started a bowling ball to be used as a combination gazing ball and sun catcher. I want to post a craft of it but I'll have to wait til I'm far enough along to make sure it will look OK.

I'm posting a picture of the drops, before and after cracking and adding the gold. They look large in the pic but actually are between the size of a dime and a penny.

By the way, where did you get the tiny mirrors?