What to Do With Old Bowling Ball

Last summer when we were all home, you could find me perusing websites and Amazon a lot... I mean a lot, a lot... I was in search of unique finds for our yard. I am always on the search for unique decor no matter where it will go in or outside our home. I found these gazing balls...

I was hooked right away... I thought they were unique, but I could not make up my mind whether to take the plunge and make the purchase or not. They are stainless steel and pink! I liked the idea of pink in our beds. I read the description and it indicated to not leave them outside, so I let them stay in my wish list until I decided what to do. Of course I am not opposed to items that look worn, it is kind of my style after all. They have been on the back of my mind for the past year. When I thought about our flower beds again this year, I still considered purchasing a set of three, but still did not make the purchase yet.

While we were cleaning out Mr. Vintage's childhood home, we came across several bowling balls... and this gazing ball came to mind. I decided to try my hand at making my own to reuse what we already have and save some cash. I then decided to give a metallic copper color a try and see how I liked it.

I of course had my helper with me. Mom sees gazing ball, peanut sees a ball with which he wanted to play with. He did not want me to take his new toy away from him. He wanted it to stay on the ground right where it was, but mom prevailed.

No fancy spray tents for this gal... I just put the ball inside an old box and spray painted the top of the ball first. Waited about 10 minutes and turned the ball over to paint the other side. It was literally that easy, and we all know how I like easy when it comes to projects.

Once the bowling ball was completely dry, I decided to put it in our backyard flower bed. I have mentioned many times I cannot seem to grow flowers, but hey, that doesn’t stop me from dressing up our beds a bit. I have gotten pretty good at creating my own no flower beds as you can see.

We found these pieces of concrete in our yard when we changed things up around here and I decided they could stay. We have a pup in our beds, the gazing ball, lanterns, and a trellis. There may be no flowers, but it makes me happy when my eyes wonder over to that side of our yard.

Seriously looking like a gazing ball, isn't it? Did you know you can find bowling balls at thrift stores for very little money? If you have any laying around the house unused, you can have a new gazing ball for the cost of spray paint, not a bad deal, eh? Some prices on gazing balls are kind of steep, but it did not stop me from getting what I wanted, just in a different way.

I did look into recycling bowling balls and basically found there is not a place for this other than thrift stores so I thought hey, I can use them all here! I have more ideas for the others we have. I think we inherited 5 or 6 balls which you know is completely fine with me. I mean, it gives me more ways to stretch my creativity and I do enjoy a challenge.

Mr. Vintage’s mom was an avid bowler, she was asked to be on television, but declined. She was a shy gal and did not want to be in the limelight. There have been many trophies found, and we are not really sure what to do with them all. Don’t worry, we are thinking about it since we do enjoy being surrounded by family memories and keeping those memories close.

Do you know I thought those leaves in the background were weeds at one time? My mom had to tell me they were peonies... they are one of my favorite flowers, but they have never bloomed, ever. I keep holding out hope they will one day bloom, but I do not hold my breath... if you have any tips for us, please share!

What do you think? Does it look like a real gazing ball? I was pretty tickled with the metallic copper... we all know I light bright and shiny things. I cannot wait to have more time to work on crafty projects again! I do miss my crafting to help manage stress levels. How about you? What do you do to help manage the daily in life? Is it just me, or does it feel like life is on fast forward anymore? Slow down life, we want to enjoy you after all...

He really did not want to give up this ball... curious little stinker that he is.