Did you get glass or metal? Mine's a glass Bird Brain. I bought it on Amazon. It doesn't get sun exposure, so I can't tell you if it would fade or not. I keep a string of lights inside of it that I turn on at night.

DH says it's metal, but I dunno. I saw the Bird Brain balls at Amazon but I don't think any of them are fade resistent. I'll check again.

I keep a string of lights inside of it that I turn on at night.

I did not know this was possible. Thought they were all solid, but then never looked at one up close. That sounds really pretty!

I have an idea...

mosaic it : )

It's done all the time, and yet if you make it yourself, it will be completely unique to you. Imagine it done with iridescent glass tile, glittering and changing with your movement around it, or the light near it...just silicone them on and grout it with latex-modified grout *or not*, if you put them close enough together...hm, just thought of one question, though: is it plastic or glass? Plastic you wouldn't want to mosaic to, but glass would be just fine.

fly, you might have just given me a fun little summer project.

Maybe you'd like some inspiration? : )

Here is a link that might be useful: it can be *anything* you want : )

Beautiful! And yes inspiring! Thank ya ;D

They sell the mosaic balls and I'm seriously considering getting one, but not sure of their reflection.

Natal, what type of ball do you have where you can put lights in it?

Would you show a picture of it again?

The Bird Brain balls have a stem that provides an opening into the ball.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Brain gazing balls

I like that first one on Natal's Bird Brain link, which is mosaic. Pretty.

How do you arrange/distribute a string of lights inside the globe, Natal? You prefer using a string of lights for this purpose instead of a single, led candle? Guess you position the globe near an outdoor electrical outlet and the cord is hidden with plants? Do you have a pic?

Agreed, stinky--and just a note about the flickr pics -- as you can see by comparing to natal's link, you *don't* have to use as wide groutlines as some of them do. Tiny groutlines are completely possible, not that hard at all, and to my eye, more pleasing than the wide groutlines in some of the flickr photos.

the nice people over on the Stained Glass and Mosaic Forum are very generous sharing their knowledge about mosaicing. There are often glazing ball (or bowling balls dressed as glazing balls) projects going on over there.

ML

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb Stained Glass forum

SG, I just stuff the string in the ball. Using a battery-operated candle might be difficult to access. I do have the ball next to an outlet. When it was sitting on the screened porch I'd plug it in at night. I've since moved it to the garden shed porch and have it plugged into a remote control outlet that I can turn on from inside the house.

Thanks for the link, Natal. Below is the one I'm going to order which I've been eyeing.

Only thing though, it's glass and not steel. So I plan on adding sand to it just in case it wants to blow away during a storm. The other one is very light-weight steel, and not once did it get blown off its stand.

I'm also going to buy some Prisms Amazon has for inside the house that have a ton of 5 Star ratings! Cheap and fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gazing Ball

That's beautiful! What color did you choose?

Have prisms hanging in a window in dh's old office. They tend to catch the sun more in the fall/winter when the sun is lower in the sky.

If your gazing ball comes with a rubber plug on the end...DO NOT REMOVE THE PLUG. Removing it will cause condensation to build up and could remove the silvering or any coating on the interior.

The one in the Amazon link doesn't appear to have that rubber seal, that might just be for the photo, so if you get it, don't remove it.

DH and I used to sell gazing balls when we had our business. He made holders for them, and I learned A LOT about them. Also, keep it away from an area where branches can fall from above. And bring it in during the winter or windy periods. I've had many fly away or just shatter for what seems to be no reason, but is really due to heat/cold. Sits in the sun during the day, cools off at night too quickly, etc.

Very pretty. Love the colors. What is the best stand for it. They don't look too secure, I would be afraid it would blow off.

I haven't ordered it yet. I'm not sure if I want to pay $50. lol.

Livvy, Amazon and other places where you can get a ball sells stands for them.

The ball I bought last year is extremely lightweight and not once has it blown off during the violent storms here in Oklahoma.

Livvy, you can always finds stands at Hobby Lobby and some larger nurseries.

I think $50.00 seems like quite a bit, but I haven't priced them. I like the stands that are cement, or at least look like cement. I have always liked gazing balls, have never knew they came in so many colors.

I just check Ebay and there are lots of gorgeous ones on there at much better pricing.