Our back yard is FULL of them. Worse yet, the tree is in our neighbor's yard - so there's not much we can do about it. That is until I needed some quick decor fixes for an upcoming party.
I had been wanting some orbs to fill random bowls around the house. However, I'm also trying to cut back on my spending. Grrrrr....saving is so hard when you love to shop. Luckily, I had a few styrofoam balls left over from some wedding DIY projects and put them to good use with some of the gumballs from the yard.
I collected quite a few of the gumballs and put drywall screws into each one using my drill. I had tried just using a nail, but the inside of the gumball is really dense and the nail approach didn't work.
The screws stick out of the other side of the gumball just enough to poke it into the styrofoam. With the screw grabbing and holding on to the styrofoam, this elimated the need for glue. I kept going with the gumballs until the ball was completely covered.
Next I spray painted the gumball covered ball. Spray painting helps with two things: first it covered up the small gaps between gumballs and second it killed off some of the little bugs that were living in the gumballs. (you could also store the gumball orb in an airtight container for a day or two to make sure no little critters will be crawling around)I used 3 different colors, and placed them all into a large bowl.
Ta-da!
Ah, Belleville and its gumball trees. We have two of them. I've been told that every house on our block used to have them on either side of their front walks. Only two of us still have them.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago my daughter and I made Christmas tree ornaments with the gumballs: stick toothpicks in gumballs and spray paint. They looked like little Sputniks.
I've since found out I'm allergic to all things sweet gum-related.