Monday, April 13, 2009

Having a Ball! (Giveaway!)

Giveaway is now closed!
I'm going to add this post to Julia's Hooked on Fridays this week, because I heart these ceramic alphabet spheres so much! As I said originally, I don't know what it is about them. Somebody said basically the same thing in the comments, and I got thinking about it a little bit. I didn't come up with anything profound, but maybe we love letters and numbers because it's a reminder of childhood, of learning our ABCs and 123s on mommy's lap or in our cozy kindergarten room. Maybe because a mere 26 letters and 10 digits are the basis of all communication in the English language, and have formed great documents of freedom and beloved works from Shakespeare to Jane Austen to J.K. Rowling.


What-ever! They're just really cool. And even if you don't care about all the nonsense written above, you can still enter the giveaway until 6pm today (Fri. Apr 17).



A couple of months ago Dixie and I were in Pottery Barn and saw a display with some ceramic alphabet balls. I don’t even remember looking for a price, but they are not on the website, so apparently are not available.

We both loved the look and started brainstorming about how to create such a thing. Dixie thought of ping pong balls. I ran with that, and remembering some rub-on letters that I had, gave that a try. It worked great!
The next day Craig asked me to spend an online gift certificate we’d had for a while. There were only two stores that I recognized that accepted it; one was Coldwater Creek, so I started there. I couldn’t believe it when I stumbled upon their Word Play Letter and Number Spheres! On clearance, no less!

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I don’t know what it is about these, but I. love. them. They’re just so cool! Dixie and I ordered a large and small set of both the letters and numbers and divvied them up.

I thought I’d go ahead and try one of the ping pong balls, just to give you the option of making them if you wanted to.

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I got the little package of ping pong balls at Walmart, but they have a logo on them. If you were going to do this for real, you would want to get blank ones.

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I cut out the rub-on letters individually, held it down sort of curving around the ball, and just rubbed it on with the stick. If you look closely at the top photo, you can see that each ceramic ball has the letter several times. Six, to be exact; four around the diameter and then one top and bottom.

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Next, I gave it a few coats of glossy ModPodge. You can push a pin into the ball and use that to hold it while you brush on the ModPodge.

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I then stuck the pin into some floral foam to let it dry. Obviously, if you were doing a bunch of these, you would need a lot of pins and a lot more foam to stick them in. Really, it could be anything that would support it and allow you to push the flat end of a straight pin into it. Maybe clay or playdough.

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Maybe even a pan of brownies. Or in this case, what’s left of the Easter carrot cake. Well, it would give you an excuse to bake some goodies!

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Here, I’ve put the ping pong ball in with the ceramic ones. It’s the ‘U’ on the top left. If it wasn’t a slightly different typography, I don’t think you could tell!

This was really quite easy, and you could make a bunch of them without too much effort. Or, you could order them from Coldwater Creek. Or, you could enter my giveaway!

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Yes, I thought of my readers and ordered an extra set of large number spheres just for one of you!
  • Leave a comment on this post to enter
  • Blog about, and link to, this giveaway for another entry (let me know if you do)
  • Become a follower of my blog for another entry
Contest will end Friday, April 17 at 6:00 pm. Good luck!
P.S. If you decide to make your own, be sure to let me know how it turned out!

48 comments:

Mrs. Petrie said...

Great giveaway! I've seen these around and think they are so cute, but I didn't want to pay $2 per ball. :)

Lucy Marie said...

Count me in. I'm a follower.

Ashley said...

what a great idea!

aahcoffee said...

Oooh, cute! Please include me, and I follow you.

Liz said...

Those are great, I'm in. I am also a follower. :)

southerninspiration said...

I saw those, too, and started to get them! I'd love to WIN them! Cute post, and I'm already a follower, so all I gotta do now is blog about it right......? I'm in!

suzanne

Ruth Ann said...

Very cute! I would love some of these! I would even like to make them myself! Thank you so much for the idea!
-Ruth Ann

Courtney said...

Great giveaway! I'm a follower, and I blogged about this! :)

Debilou ~ Mississippi Mama said...

I havent seen any of those around but I'm always up for a give-a-way.. and I'd like to try and make some, I'll let you know if i do. Thanks

Debbie

Bonnie said...

Thanks for the idea! I just ordered mine on Coldwater Creek. I have a large glass container that I have been trying to fill and this is perfect. By the way, if you enter WKH1945 in the coupon code area of your order, they will give you 25% off of the sale price when you check out. I got a large and small set and the total was $16.75 with shipping included.

ABCD Diaries said...

What a neat idea!! Thanks for an awesome giveaway!!
christinbanda@yahoo.com

arkie said...

Those are so cute! If you needed the weight, the ceramic ones may be better, but the ping pong ones were just so cute!

victoria.lynam@state.de.us said...

I always, always wanted to these!
I have the perfect chippy white paint bowl for them. I always sigh
a deep sigh when I see them in the
Ballard catalog. Trust me..I'm a follower. It's heart breaking to me
the parade of homes is over!

Georgia Girl said...

WOW...Love this idea...I know I can handle making this with no problem if I don't win....but let's keep my fingers crossed and hope you pull my name.

I will be a follower also...your already on my favorites and have been for a good time.

Thanks for sharing and having a giveaway!

Cassie said...

Hey, count me in! I love these number/letter spheres! You're mentioned on my blog and I'm a follower! Thanks for the tip about the ping pong balls!

Mandi @ Sweetly Home said...

You are so wonderful! I am in love with these! Please sign me up!

Cecelia---Sis---Mom said...

OMGOSH, you have no idea how long I have been searching for these things. Also count me in as a follower.... I am really enjoying your blog.

Cece

Full House said...

Oh that turned out great. What a great idea.

I actually do have the letter balls. They are so fun to display.

Barking Dogs Flea Market Style said...

Just found your through Junk Fest. Thanks so much for tutorial...Seeing this idea makes me think I should have used some of my rub-ons for Easter eggs this year!

Mrs Anne said...

Yay for a fabulous giveaway idea, and look at YOU making up an alternative and creative way to make them! :)

I'm here via Cassie at JUNKFEST!

Count me in!

AND right after i click to publish this I'll become your newest follower!

:) happy blogging~

Mindy said...

I just found you via Junk Fest. Love what I see! I'm now an official follower and I look forward to reading through your blog. And of course, I want to win! ~Mindy

Unknown said...

SO COOL!!! Great giveaway, I hope I win!

Unknown said...

I'm a follower! A loyal one, at that. :)

Jenny said...

Oh oh oh cute, cute cute! I love these. I have an obsession with spherical objects and I've never seen these before. I read about your site on Junk-fest and I'm going to look around. It looks neat! And please enter me in this giveaway.

The Whistle Stop said...

What is it about letters and numbers!? Just love them.
Please enter me in the contest!
Laurie
The Whistle Stop
P.S. I will add you to my list!

susan said...

very, very cute. does having you in my blog feeder count as a follower?

Missy said...

I'm having a "ball" too just checking out your blog! Those cuties are just sweet so please count me in on the giveaway....and I'll click "follow" in just a minute.

gina said...

I remeber seeing those too! Love them- tres chic!

gina said...

I follow, I twittered, and I posted

http://unpinklife.blogspot.com/2009/04/holly-has-your-design-number-giveaway.html

about this giveaway.

I also ordered a set of small and large for myself - to split and gift half of them. but I'd love to win another- kill all of my mother's day shopping with one sphere (set). so to speak. :)

Holly said...

What a cute idea. I have not seen these. (But then again, I don't get out much.) I just stumbled onto your blog today by chance. I think I'll come back again!

hzgrace said...

wonderful idea... if I don't win I will have to try my hand at making them
Love your blog and have it on my feed list
Blessings

Katie said...

Love the tutorial!

Amber said...

I love type and numbers. Am even thinking about doing my house numbers on my front door, which I have never seen but I think would be sort of cool. And letters or numbers on my bar stools. This could get out of hand I think. Count me in. And I follow but anonymously. I love the tutorial. Thanks.

Stacey said...

I found you on oneprettything. I love these and have checked them out at pottery barn. Way too much for me to spend right now, but I love your tutorial and may have to make some if I don't win! Thanks for the chance.

LindaSonia said...

Loe these spheres a lot! Count me in for your very generous giveaway!! LindaSonia

Loki21202 said...

what a great idea! how fun! (and simple)

Anonymous said...

I can't believe how wonderful these are. I have a collection of old pool balls. These would go fantastic with them. They are no longer available at Coldwater. I hope that you will pick me. I love these.
Thank you for the chance.
Shelley

Anonymous said...

gimme, gimme!
found you through OPT.

maplesfamily@hotmail.com

nkh said...

These are fun! I'm a follower.

Unknown said...

FANTASTIC giveaway! Fantastic blog! Glad to discover your blog! I would love a chance to win!!!

Lamp Tramp said...

What a great idea and fun project.

Anonymous said...

These are so neat and I love your idea and instructions on making them! Really helpful post, thanks!

Abbreviated said...

Would love some spheres !

Thanks !!

Jenny said...

I enjoy your writing. Your parade of homes was very interesting to me.

The Wilson's said...

Wow - these are awesome! I just started following your blog and invited some of my friends to, too :)

jessie.wilson@cox.net

Traci said...

You're right there is just something about type! I love it!

joyr said...

What a great idea and I almost missed the deadline. Just found your site and having a grand time reading your blog.

Mandi @ Sweetly Home said...

I'm not sure if it's too late...but I blogged about it. I saw the lettered balls at Pottery Barn on Wednesday.