A Penny For Your Thoughts...
Have you ever made or seen a penny ball? I saw these images when I was rambling around
Pinterest and thought how clever! I have always loved spheres in gardens, but most of the
ones I have been drawn to are quite expensive. This one piqued my interest, because it
could be made with pennies. All you need are a bunch of pennies and an old bowling ball
to make a beautiful garden sphere, that not only repels slugs, but also makes hydrangeas
blue? I think this could be a fun summer project! The pennies don't patina like 100% copper
does, but what a great looking sphere to add a little interest to your garden. You have to use
a really strong glue like Amazing Goop in Home and Garden or marine formula because it is
UV resistant and waterproof according to Beth Evans Ramos of a Greener Life.
Bowling Ball Yard Art
This weekend I turned an old bowling ball that I found at
a garage sale into a gazing ball-like piece of yard art.
I bought this bowling ball, bag and pair of
old used bowling shoes (yuck) at a church
garage sale all for just $1.00. I knew I only
wanted the bowling ball itself, so the other
items were just along for the ride.
The first thing I did was fill in the finger holes with
paper towels until there was about 1/4" of the holes
left and then filled the rest of the holes in with some
caulking I had laying around the house.
And then threw the bag and shoes into my Goodwill
pile.
I wanted to cover the ball in pennies so I used roughly
$4.50 worth.
I wanted them to be all bright and shiny so I decided to
clean them with my beloved Coke Zero to see if Coke's
cleaning abilities are an urban legend or not.
So I emptied a roll of pennies into a
bowl and added the Coke Zero and
let them sit for five minutes.
The Coke Zero cleaned them a little
bit, but they were definitely not as
bright as I was expecting them to be.
It's not often that my Coke lets me
down.
So then I searched the Internet for other
penny cleaning tips and ran across
some science experiments for kids that
uses 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1
teaspoon of table salt to clean them.
The vinegar is 5% acetic acid and
dissolves the copper oxide on the
pennies. The salt acts as a catalyst to
speed up the process. But enough of
the fascinating science lesson of the
day.
Anyhow, I just put the pennies in there
for about a minute, rinsed the solution
off them and they came out amazingly
shiny.
Next I used DAP Clear Silicone Rubber
Sealant for Doors and Windows to glue
the pennies onto the bowling ball.
I glued them all heads up, but that was my
OCD kicking in - you could mix it up if you
wanted. Or maybe do all heads except for
one tail???
And here is the finished project.
I tried sitting it on my birdbath base as a
regular gazing ball.
Then I remembered that I had bought this
silver chafing dish pedestal at a garage
sale. It's almost like it is made to be a
bowling ball holder.
Of course you could place it directly on
the ground or leave one of the finger
holes exposed and place a wood dowel to
stake it in the ground.
Read more: http://www.houseofhawthornes.com/2010/06/bowling-ball-yard-art.html#ixzz3COQD3iU2