As part of my Halloween decor I have what I call my "communication center", you know, a Ouija board, magic mirror and so forth. But what good is a communication center without a crystal ball?! Nothing, I tell you, nothing! So I decided to remedy the problem by making my own, check it out:
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I started with this dollar store glass bowl and a couple bottles of acrylic paint in a shimmery gold and sparkly glitter.
Starting with the glitter, I poured in a heavy amount and dabbed it around with a sponge brush. I wanted the glitter to be on the outside so that the crystal ball would look sparkly. You can see that it worked for the iridescent sparkle, but was still pretty see through. I wanted the globe to be transparent enough to allow light through, but not so clear that the light box that I was going to add would be visible.
To make the ball a bit more cloudy, I came in with the metallic paint and dabbed it on top of the glitter.
At that point I felt that the ball needed more color. A bit of glitter in blue, purple and gold tossed in with the wet paint did the trick!
For the last detail I added foam star stickers. Once all of the paint is dry, simply stick them to the inside of the globe. My foam stars were yellow on both sides, so the side that showed through the globe was yellow. If you run into a set where the sticky side is a color that you don't like, just add a tiny bit of glue to the side with the color that you like and put them in.
Here is how the bowl looked at that point, really pretty but a crystal ball needs lighting!
To solve my lighting problem I picked up a set of LED Halloween skeleton lights and pulled off the heads. That left me with a small strand of white lights that could fit into my bowl.
I would the lights around their box, placed them on top of a small plate and then topped it off with the decorated bowl.
And there you have it, a proper crystal ball that lights up!
Here are links to more of my Halloween projects:
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I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer
© Studio 27 by Jennifer Adams 2025
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I am a total horror fan, so I love your communication centre! How fun. The crystal ball is the perfect finishing touch. I love what you did with the glitter it's so pretty, and it looks fab all lit up!
ReplyDeleteFeaturing you this week on #MMBC. 😉 🔮
I appreciate the feature so much, thanks Jayne!
DeleteOh that is so clever, I love the colours and the lights make it all so special.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne!
DeleteThat is such a cute idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joanne!
DeleteYour communication centre did make me chuckle. Love it! The crystal ball looks fab and looks so simple to make.
ReplyDeleteLol, thank you!
DeleteThis is so creative and well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a perfect companion piece to your communication centre! It really looks like you're staring into a galaxy!
ReplyDeleteI love how it turned out!
DeleteFABULOUSLY spooky and easy to make, Jennifer! Thanks for sharing and have a great week! Creatively, Beth
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth!
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