Hanging Book Paper Spheres
I first saw these Paper Spheres on Acaseofthemundays blog and loved them! Her tutorial is great, but she uses styrofoam balls for the base. And large styrofoam balls are expensive. So I began experimenting with different items to create the sphere shape. First I tried a paper mache balloon, cheap option- but it took for-e-v-e-r! There needs to be at least 3 layers of paper and it was messy.
There had to be something better to use. I searched the dollar store, wally world, and every discount store I could think of. No luck….until I found this for one dollar:
Bet you didn’t guess there is an orange plastic pumpkin hiding under those beautiful paper spheres. Unfortunately these pumpkins are seasonal, but when October comes around just stock up on them.
First put the pumpkin down on some cardboard (a cereal box works great), and draw around the bottom. Now do it again. Turn the cardboard over to the unmarked side and glue book pages to it. Flip the cardboard back to the drawn circle side and cut out the circle. Repeat for the second piece. Put these aside for a while.
Next I covered the pumpkin sides with newspaper. You don’t have to be precise. Just glue and fold, and glue some more with a cool temp hot glue gun.
Fold the paper to the inside and glue at the open end, and flap over the bottom edge just a little and glue down.
Glue one of the cardboard circles to the bottom letting the book print side show. Drill a hole in the center of the circle through the pumpkin. I used my Dremel to drill the hole, but you might be able to use an icepick (do people still have those in their kitchens?).
Thread a 6 foot piece of jute through the hole and tie a knot on the inside of the pumpkin. Secure the knot with a dollop of hot glue. Wind up the cord and place a rubber band around it just to keep it out of the way. I forgot to take a picture at this point, but the picture below will show the cord placement. Just pretend you don’t see the book page half circles.
Next hot glue the remaining cardboard circle to the open side of the pumpkin.
Punch a bunch of 4″ circles from book pages, and cut the circles in half.
Place the pumpkin in a bowl with the jute string side down. Start gluing the half circles.
Alternating and overlapping slightly until you reach half way down the pumpkin.
Turn the pumpkin over and place on top of a sturdy cup or glass that will fit in the center.
Continue gluing on the book page half circles until you reach the top center.
The pumpkins create a rounded sphere, and the balloons are cone shaped.
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