Sparkle Ball Lights

A friend of mine discovered these Sparkle balls made out of plastic cups and mini lights.

I made a few in three different colors for outdoor Halloween decorations now that Target has both orange and purple mini lights. 

They take about 3 hours a piece to make, so if you have the patience and want a new holiday lighting look, give them a try.  I varied the directions a bit as follows.

MATERIALS:

50 - 9 oz plastic cups (with slanted sides)

      (buy the soft ones; not the hard firm plastic - as you need to drill a hole in the bottom)

1 strand 100-bulb mini lights

12 clips (clothes pins or small binder clips)

80 1-inch brads (Staples sell 100 box called "fasteners")

Exacto knife

Glue Gun or drill with 1/2" bit

1(a)  With either a hot glue gun tip or drill, make a hole in the bottom middle of the cup.  If using a hot glue gun to burn through, use only outside in a well-ventilated area (toxic fumes).  You may need to cut off a few rough edges, but the holes only have to be big enough for two (2) mini lights to push through each cup.

2(a)  You make one half sphere at a time and then connect the two spheres together after each has been filled with lights. 

(b)Each half uses 25 cups; 12 for first layer; 9 for second layer & 4 for top layer. 

3(a)  Beginning with the bottom layer, start with 12 cups.  It's important to work on a flat surface so the initial layer will lay flat and be a proper foundation for the sphere.  Clip the lip of cups #1 & #2 together, and repeat through cup #12.  (Note: if you are using the plastic cups that have a lip, stagger the cups over and under the lip, as you do not need to perfectly align the lips.  It's a flat bottom ring that is important.

(b)  Once you have all 12 cups clipped together, now you can start fastening each cup together.  With your Exacto knife, make a slit into both cup where they almost touch each other.  Make the cut perpendicular to the lip, so that the fasteners will open parallel to the lip.  Insert the brad into one cup through the next cup.  Since the 12 cups do not connect one they are all tightly next to each other, you will need to bend the brads half way about 1/2", in order for the cups to slightly pull apart from each other and begin to close the arc of the circle they will make.

(c)  Once you connect all 12 cups, and the brads are fastened midway down the brad's length allowing a gap between each, you should just be able to connect cup #12 to cup #1 to complete the base circle.  It's OK if there is a larger gap on this last connection, as that will be filled in later by another layer and it all works without being perfect (trust me, it does!).

4(a)  Now you begin the second layer, which is made up of 9 cups.  Start with one cup layered on top and in between any two cups on the first layer.  Clip this cup #13 to both cups, as this gives you your starting point.  It's important to lay out all 9 cups first and clip into position prior to cutting and fastening.  You need to play around with some of the spacing to complete this second layer's circle.  Expect to have larger gaps on this layer. 

(b)  Once you are happy with the layout, begin cutting your two slits in cup #13 into the two cups beneath.  One brad will connect to cup #1 and a second brad will connect cup #13 to cup #2.  From cup #14 through cup #21 all other cups but one will most likely only connect to one cup on the first layer. In staggering these, there seems to be only one other cup that is close enough to cut another two slits in it in order to fasten to two cups beneath (usually either cup #17 or #18, but fasten where it will make each cup secure).

5(a)  Finally you have 4 cups left for the top and final layer to complete the first half of the sphere shape. Clip these across from each other so all four cups bottom tips touch.  Once these are in position, on this top layer of 4 cups, you will need to cut your slits closer to the bottom of the cups where the 4 top cups (#22 to #24) are actually close enough to connect and be fastened together. 

(b)  Start working around to connect the second layer to the top four cups so that every cup is connect to two other cups.  Some cups will have only 2 brads to hold securely within the half sphere, while other cups have 3 and a few rare ones have 4 brads, in order to have each cup secure to it's neighboring cup.

6 Once this half sphere is secure, complete the same thing to create the second half of the sphere. 

7(a)  Taking only one half sphere, you can now begin to insert the lights from the underneath side where all cup bottoms connect.  Starting with the pronged plug end of the cord, make sure to have the tail of this electrical cord remain outside the sphere at all times.

(b)  Beginning with a cup on the first layer (12-cup ring), insert the first two mini lights into the cup's bottom hole.  Proceed from cup to cup inserting the next two lights into each until all 25 cups have lights inserted.  I recommend a lighting sequence from outer to inner cups then back out again with the main goal to have your #49 and #50 lights finish in a cup on the outer first layer (this allows for easy connecting of the light cord to the second half sphere - but NOT YET!).

8(a)  Take the second half of the cup sphere and using the OPPOSITE END of the mini light cord, begin the same sequence on this half sphere starting with light #100 and #99. 

(b) Continue the sequence of outer to inner cups from this opposite end.  When you start at this end first, you will finish your lighting sequence with lights #52 and #51, back in the middle of the cord and also ending in a cup on the outer first layer.  That will make these two spheres now connect together in the lighting sequence.

9(a)  As you hold the two spheres together, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE LEFT THE PRONGED END OF THE CORD PLUG OUTSIDE THE SPHERE BEFORE CONNECTING BOTH HALVES.

(b)  Clip the first layered cups of each sphere together, and these connecting cups can be staggered.  Depending on how flat these spheres stayed to their original shape, your connecting slits/brads may be both near the cup lip or down lower in the cup.  Just connect cup ends where they best fit and continue through these 12 cups (or most of them) until you feel the full orb shape is secure.

10  Find a fun place to hang these that is safe and enjoy the ambiance!