Hi Janice! Welcome.....I am lazy,so the way I do it is to "frost" my BB with silicone using a plastic disposable knife, then stick the half marbles on. I do it in sections, and it sets up really fast, so you get the ball finished quickly and I hardly ever get silicone on the marbles. Use a bowl or something similiar to hold the BB while you glue,or even a wadded up towel works great. I just passed up some bowling balls at a thrift store( kicking self) that were only a dollar each all because my DH had a fish-flopping seizure and said we didn't NEED any more gazing balls in the yard! Can you imagine???? One was a beautiful hot pink swirly color :) Usually he goes along with whatever I want.

Hi Raven! Welcome...glad you've dropped in and are going to try some totems. Be forewarned....they are terribly addicting! I took mine out to put in the garden the other day and I have about 20 or so and more to make. I tend to decide what I want first by stacking the pieces up (very carefully or they will fall...my cat tends to love to "help" me with that part!) Then, I glue about 3 pieces together and let them dry at least 24 hours before I stack those pieces together for the final gluing. I've found that helps them not to slide around as much. I let mine cure at least a week before I put them out. I do have some that have the plates right side up and they do catch the water. You will have to clean them as mine tend to get green with algae after a while, but since you're in a hotter, drier climate, you may not have as much of an issue with that. As for birdseed, you can use that, but you will have to replace it after a long rain. If it's just a shower, often it will dry out. Or you can drill some holes in the plates....regular pottery plates are easier to drill, but they are not necessary. Just remember to put something heavy and/or wider at the base for stability so they won't topple in the wind or when the birds land on them. As for the caulking gun, you will learn to cut a smaller hole to help control the flow. At the end of caulking, I release the pressure on the gun and either put the cap on it or stick a nail in the end or you can even just put tape on the end, but the key is releasing the pressure by pulling the back handle back a little. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your creations!

obxgirl I think your idea sounds nice. Micki I think your ge II is spoiled. I had a tube that was bad even tho the date was ok. And I've had old tubes that still worked. Soo I guess it depends on what its been exposed to. (temperatures maybe?) I got some Mac Glue and unfortunately my out door experiment with glass blobs on a upside down glass bowl didnt work out very well. They fell off in a few days and the geII ones are still there 3 mo later. I am thinking that it may be that a couple days to cure enough inside wasn't long enough before putting it outside in January, so I'm going to try again. It dries beautifully clear. I used it on the garden junk on my house for Toomuchglass. If it does work better on glass after curing, the one thing that ge II still has on it is volume. GE is globby and fills spaces and grabs stuff. Mac glue is more watery and things need to be held in place or at least be flat more or less so they don't slide around. The Mac site says its good on outdoor mosaics so I'll try it with non glass as well as flatter glass soon and report back. kathy

I'm in zone 5 so we get lots of cold and snow. I leave my totems outside all winter and so far so good. I use Lexel for my adhesive and make sure they cure completely before going outside. I think that is very important. With Lexel it takes two weeks to cure...probably less with silicon...not sure since I don't use it. Now my BBs come inside for the winter because they can crack otherwise, depending on what the ball is made of (I guess they are not all made the same). I just store them inside my unheated garden shed. If you are painting them, they should cure for at least 30 days before going outside. If you are doing a mosaic, then probably a week is good.