Make your very own “Crystal” ball

EDT’s Countdown to Halloween!

This week Heather Lynn maker of the adorable Pushing Daisies collection highlighted in her etsy shop coffincritters brings us the perfect décor item for those mystical fall nights that lay ahead of us.

Make your very own “Crystal” ball with stand for around $5.00

This is a really fun, easy project that is great for kids also! It won't break the bank either. :) Try using these as centerpieces for receptions and parties, or add them to your Halloween decor. Or do what I do...leave yours out all the time to enjoy!

Difficulty level: 2 (1 being least difficult, 5 being most difficult)

Time: Really depends on how involved you want to get with this. Can take 1/2 hour, or many hours. Dry time is up to a week.

Materials needed:

*Clear glass Christmas Ornament Ball, approx. $.50
*Taper candle stick, can be as simple or elaborate as you want. Dollar Stores usually have plenty of them, and they work just fine.
*Transparent glass paint, (like Delta) approx. $2.50. Your choice of color, but my personal preference is a white shimmer.
*Embellishments (optional) such as beads, findings, tags, trims, natural materials, glue

1) Carefully remove the metal base from the glass ball. You will not need it for this project, so you may recycle it for another project! :)

2) Very cautiously, squirt small amounts of paint into the hole at the base of the glass. As you do this, shake, rotate and swirl the glass orb until you have a THIN, fairly even coat. Does not have to be perfectly even.

3) Place the glass orb with the hole towards the top (so air can get to it to dry the paint) on a safe surface, or in your candle stick. At least twice a day, shake and rotate the orb to ensure even paint coverage. You may add small amounts of paint if needed. This may take a few days to a week or so, depending on the brand of paint and the thickness of the coat, but you will want to continue to do this until the paint is dry.

4) While waiting for your glass orb to become dry and coated evenly, you may opt to decorate the candlestick, as this will be the base of your crystal ball.

5) Once glass orb is dry and base is to your liking, insert the orb into the base with the hole facing downward. Voila! You made a lifelike "crystal" ball!


Be it humorous or romantic, cute or creepy, Heather Lynn uses many types of media to try to illuminate the beauty and magic that can be found in darkness. Pretty faeries, cute zombies, and the horror of the undead all live harmoniously in her world of creation. She uses a variety of media such as: oil paint, clay, paper, digital, colored pencil and more.

For more of coffincritters on the web you can find her at …
Website: http://www.faerydustpixy.etsy.com
Website: http://www.coffincritters.etsy.com
Blog: http://faerydustpixy.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=177873799537#!/pages/GossamerHollow/177873799537