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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Alphabet Balls

I must preface this post by telling you, dear readers, that I will be using the word "balls" a lot. I don't point this out to offend anyone, but, as a high school teacher, I know this word can make most people giggle just a little bit. Come on, admit it, you laughed.

I was walking through Pier One last month and I saw some ceramic decorative balls with letters and numbers on them. I liked them a lot, but they were expensive! They remind me of these from Ballard Designs.
I decided I could make them myself. I went and bought some unfinished wooden balls at Hobby Lobby.


I painted them white with craft paint as a base coat.


Then sprayed the balls with a few coats of spray paint.


I found some clear stamps at Michael's with the alphabet on them. They ended up being perfect for this. I stamped on each letter.



Each letter gets stamped for a total of 6 times. When they are dry, I used a clear finish to spray them with. Balls are round and hard to work with. Notice the trays? They are for Easter eggs! They were purchased at the Dollar Store and worked perfect!


Now, I need something to hold my balls...

I found some candle holders on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I also got the glass containers for half off.


I sprayed them with a glossy black, then glued the glass containers to them. Fill with balls and voila!






74 comments:

  1. COOL! You made balls like mine...yours are CUTE! Love them with letters too! I know I love my number balls SO much I could have baskets and baskets full! I would put them every where! hehe
    ~Bridgette

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  2. LOVE BALLS!! i thik these turned out wonderful!! (and i always giggle when i say balls too!)

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  3. I love this! Gorgeous! And yes...I giggled...I teach high school too, and I STILL giggle at this! :)

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  4. I love this! I saw these at Pier 1 too and loved them but thought it was just too darn much to pay. I love that you thought out of the box to make these. Defintily one I will be trying soon.

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  5. Your balls turned out gorgeous! hehehe! I have three boys plus always a friend or two hanging out at the house and I could never say the word balls without them laughing like little hyena's! But seriously yours are great! I will make some someday! (I hope)

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  6. The abc balls are so darling....saves a lot of money to make your own.

    Barbara

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  7. This is a great idea-I really love the candle sticks with the glass jars on them!

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  8. Hi Howdy Hey - I found you on Marketing Monday! Great blog - I am now following - hope you can return the favor - http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com

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  9. I love these! I'm heading to hobby lobby and making some of these!

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  10. They turned out great! Good job!!

    Judy@cutest-little-things

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  11. Those are great!!!

    and I'll pass on a little secret while I'm here...I found the porcelain letter balls at Marshalls (Plymouth, NH) yesterday maked down to $5.00/set...yes, five bucks for 24! I bought 5 sets which is all they had. Might be worth taking a look at your local Marshall's to see if they have them as well!

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  12. Mommyroo,

    I found them at TJ Maxx, right after making them, and I bought some because they were the number balls, but I actually think I might like mine better, must just be the sweat and tears that went into it! Thanks for the tip!!

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  13. Well done. I never thought alphabet balls would so trendy as decor. Balls, balls, balls. Sorry I had to say it. *giggle*

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  14. That looks amazing! Totally diggin' it!

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  15. Cute! I've seen something similar at Halloween with little glass eyeballs. This could be a year round DIY!

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  16. What a COOL idea...sooooo NIFTY THRIFTY! Hope you have a FUN week:)

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  17. LOVE this, I've made them before, but used a paint pen. Love your method more!

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  18. From one redhead to another, I'm happy to say that these are darling! What a great idea! I love decorative balls. . . what else are you gonna call them? Spheres? Anyway, these are really cute.

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  19. This got my attention. I have all the parts. Now I just need to put them together. Thanks for the idea.
    Pameal

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  20. Yours came out super and I love the way you displayed them. I made some a month or so ago too. However, I ordered a bunch of blank white ping pong balls (I think there were over 100!) for something like $10-12 on ebay. Saved a LOT of time. Then I used some black ABC/123 stickers I had from my scrapbooking days.
    So far I have used them with my Kindergartener to spell letters and work on phonics. And, I also put numbers 1-6 on six balls(six people in my family). I haven't done this yet, but the plan is to put the six balls in a separate little container and draw one out each night at dinner when we don't have a volunteer to say grace! He is Risen!

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  21. Thanks so much for sharing! I saw those BALLS at Pier One this weekend and was trying to figure out the best way to recreate-- $2.50 ea is a bit much. Thought it'd be cute in a glass "atrium" lamp. Well Done!

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  22. Lol! Totally not offended over here. What is it about certain words that make us giggle?

    Meanwhile, your balls look great! ;)

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  23. Very cool. I could see using these as BIG bingo balls for kids too! Very neat. Thanks for linking up at Trendy Treehouse.

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  24. Oh my, I love those balls. I guess I can say that. I really do. How simple but how cool looking. Seriously love them.
    Brooke

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  25. Love them! They look fabulous.

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  26. They look FAB!!!Love them!!!
    Nish

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  27. I thought I might have commented already, but I don't see it. If I did, just delete me.

    This is so great! I did see the ones at Pier 1 ~ weren't they expensive for something like this? Love your version and how you've displayed them!

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  28. WOW! Those are some Awesome balls (I couldn't resist! I am a middle school math teacher!)

    But really they turned out great! Way to go! : )

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  29. I love these!

    Thanks for joining Get Your Craft on Thursday. Please join me next week for another great party. Don't forget to stop by and enter my giveaway. I'll announce the winner at next week party!

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  30. Wow, this turned out so nice! I just love the jars on the candle holders. Looks great!

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  31. I love those balls! You really did say balls a lot in your post~ I have a 14 year old boy so I can appreciate what you mean...

    Thanks for linking up to Make it Yours Day at My Backyard Eden!

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  32. Those are so much fun! I want to play with them!!

    Thanks for linking to Creative Cats!

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  33. How cute! I love that you had them drying in deviled egg trays. Too clever.

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  34. Hello visiting from Friday follow.I am a creative redhead so of course I couldn't pass up your beautiful blog.Looking forward to reading more!

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  35. I like the idea of using the wood over ceramic. I may have to find some time (and patience) to do these. Thanks for sharing.

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  36. Very cute, I love the idea. I know if I made them I would never be able to keep my kids out of them!

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  37. You did a fabulous job of recreating those! The best attempt I've seen yet! Thanks for sharing!

    ~ Michelle :D

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  38. I've been eying the "real thing", but there is no reason I wouldn't make these. The containers are cute, too. Well done.

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  39. Too cute! You must be really patient to make so many balls! HA! :O)

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  40. I love these--I have seen them done with ping pong balls--but never thought of using the wooden craft balls. Thanks for linking up!

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  41. Hey there! Found you through girl creative--just now getting around to looking at everyone's things! So very cute!! And i love it anytime we can look at pb or ballard's and come up with our own thrifty (and equally cute) version! I'm going to feature you on my Saturday shout out post and it will link back here! Nice to meet you -shaunna :)

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  42. So cute - and what patience you have with all the details! Gorgeous result!

    Jen @ Noting Grace

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  43. These are great! Thanks so much for posting on Favorite Things Friday!

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  44. these are so fantastic I can see them in a game room looking like a cool game

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  45. Shauna these balls are great!
    I love your idea!

    Thanks for sharing.
    Hugz,
    Dolly

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  46. Very cute! I like your balls. I substitute at high school and all I have to say is "that's what she said". Thanks for sharing

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  47. What a great idea! So CUTE! Thanks for sharing!
    Jenn

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  48. Love how you did this. So chic...and great price too!
    Holly
    504 Main

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  49. You crack me up! I've done posts about "balls" too! hehehe

    I love your project! I found some of these on clearance at Garden Ridge and I have them in an apothecary jar in my boys game room. I never thought of MAKING them. Great job! I'm a new follower!

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  50. What a super cute and creative idea. Now that is the way to create what you saw and for a lot less money.

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  51. Courtney, how creative you are!!! Those balls look fabulous! Not only did you do a wonderful job of painting them and finishing them, but the way you have displayed them is gorgeous -- so eye-catching. I am so happy that you shared this project with me. Thank you for linking to the Boardwalk Bragfest.

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  52. I like your project- very interesting.
    You did a great job getting the alphabet on each one, I especially like your display!

    found you at Jan's Bragfest

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  53. stopping over from Boardwalk Bragfest - nice idea with the balls. The finished display is really nice - love the jars and the black candlesticks.

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  54. I just LOVE this!! What a fun idea for decor! I am featuring it as part of my Spring has Sprung Party at Fun to Craft. Come by later and snag a featured button!

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  55. How do you think these would look with golf balls? Do you think the letters would stick? I have a whole bucket of golf balls, we don't even golf!

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  56. Ooh Carol! Definitely try the golfballs and let us know how they work. You could try one and see how it goes. I wonder if the little bumps on the golfballs would give you any trouble? It is worth a shot! You can do it! Good luck!

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  57. Wow, you are talented!
    I'm stopping by from Friday Follow. I hope you'll follow me back (or if you already do, thank you!)

    I just put out, oops, help the big bunny put out my daughter's Easter basket and I'm hopping some blogs.

    Happy Easter from my family to yours!

    Kelly
    http://KellysLuckyYou.blogspot.com

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  58. Such an awesome idea! I'll have to try this! thanks so much for sharing

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  59. I saw these at Pier 1 over the weekend and thought I could diy them. Thanks for showing me how!

    heather

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  60. Hi Courtney - I wanted to let you know that I linked back to this post as my inspiration to my latest project - a Jolly Jar.

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