apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

why not drill the holes in the cups and glue the cups? why the need for breathing in molten plastic?

thanks for this tutorial, they look fabulous.

followed the links and had fun investigating the realm of the sparkleball. pretty nifty! and there are folks using drills, staplers, glues, what have you.

thanks, again.

I made 4 of them for a friends party and they were the talk of the event. I of course used LED lights for their energy efficiency, deep color and no-heat output.

Another cool idea is to make them with the cups you used at the party. Reuse/recycle!

i think these look kind of....trashy.

Those are beyond tacky. Does she wear those crocheted hats made from flattened beer cans too?

I can't decide whether these are cool for a holiday party but not any other time, or whether they're not cool for any time at all.
But thanks for the post! Sometimes seeing things I don't like reinforces that I actually like the other stuff :).

What a stunning photo! I'd love to reproduce it on sparkleball.com and give you credit, with a link to this article. Did you use special cups? To the cynics, let me assure you that you can't judge a sparkleball by a photo or by the light. The magic of them is what happens in the dark. When you see one lit, you simply can't imagine what it is. The commercially made ones don't hold a candle to the homemade ones. And yes, you can make them with hot glue, staples, paper clips or even toothpicks (a testament to American ingenuity!) but the soldered ones are the strongest. Thank you so much for your article and help spreading something happy and homemade in this commercial, sometimes dark world.

Hey Alex! The photo is actually from Flickr user ellesu:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellessu/2065992084

I loved it too!

beer can hats are awesome!

I agree with everyone else, you really can't judge these by the picture.

Here are a few I made over the weekend, though the picture quality is kind of lousy.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/2097245868_02804965e7.jpg

I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE!! But I am eccentric. My Grandparents would love one of these for above their outdoor dining table on their 3rd storey verandah!! I think... i shall try this out... :D

Thanks, Dani! Ellessu was kind enough to let me post her photo on sparkleball.com. She also gave out her secret of using Chinet Crystal-Cut cups which make it even sparklier.