How To Make GIANT Christmas Baubles With Gym Balls

Fancy making some cool GIANT Christmas Baubles to have next to the Christmas tree, or maybe you can put them in your window? A lot of us will have a Gym Ball hanging around the house that is no longer in use. Now's the time to dust it off and put it to good use.

The children's faces will light up when they see these huge Baubles sitting in the living room. These are great fun and you could make them with the kids if you have more patience than I do.

What you need to make these GIANT Christmas Baubles:

• Gym Ball (any size will do, but the bigger the better) These ones* are only £4.99 from Argos*
• Chalk Paint (You can find this at B&Q*, Homebase* or most DIY Stores)
• Water Based Paint for detailing.
• Plastic cup (Or you can use Plastic Bowls from the likes of Poundland or Home Bargains)
• Hair Grips or Sturdy Wire
• A Design in your head or down on paper... How about a Snowman or Santa?
• Glitter (only if you want it to sparkle!)
• Hot Glue Gun (makes it easier to attach the top) or other Strong Glue
• Water Based Varnish... something like Polyvine.
• Pencil to outline your design
• PVA Glue if you are adding on extra bits to your design at the end.
• Giant Gift Bow for the top

How to make them:

• Inflate your Gym Ball
• Paint with the base colour of your Snowman, Santa or other Festive Design with the Chalk Paint. Chalk Paint will take to the rubber ball better than other paints, Spray Paint won't dry at all, for instance.
• Once your Chalk Paint base is dry, outline your design in pencil.
• If you are happy to start painting without drawing your design first, then you can.
• You can do the details of your design like the eyes, nose, snowflakes or whatever, with the Water Based Paints, as you now have the Chalk Paint Base.
• Leave to dry completely. This bit is REALLY important, unless you want a smudgy mess.
• Take your Plastic Cup/Bowl and bend the Hair Grip or piece of Wire into a curve to make a hook.
• Use the Hot Glue or other Strong Glue to attach the hook to the top of Cup/Bowl. Hold onto this until it has dried to prevent tipping.
• Leave to dry completely.
• Once dry, you can detail this top part by painting it with chalk paint or you can use spray paint on this bit only if you so desire.
• Once both Ball and Cup are dry, use your strong glue or hot glue that is cooled a bit, to fix the cup to the top of your ball.
• Now for the last bit... Varnishing. One coat is all it takes. You may want to add glitter at this stage for that extra festive sparkle or just leave flat. Why not go the whole hog and add fur, fake snow or anything else that will complete your design. These extras can be stuck on with PVA Glue.
• VOILA! You know have a GIANT Christmas Bauble to put by your Christmas Tree.

For other cool Christmas Craft Ideas, check out our Top Ten Post, here*.

Thanks to Jo @ Robert Watt Butchers Facebook Page