Diy Megatree Ornaments

[Flanigan 2]

Attemped making the chickenwire ornaments, and just couldn't get anything close to what I liked. So being the nut I am, went this route. This way the ornament is much less likely to be bent/flattened while in storage.

 

Snagged 50 12" beachballs via Amazon @50 cents each and 20 cans of foam from wallyworld @ $3ea.  Spraying the foam into the ball is fairly easy, just don't try to fill the ball all at once! The foam will expand over an hour or two to fill about 2/3 the volume if you only fill the ball about 1/4 of the way. To 'top off' the ball, make certain to squeeze out any air first, and leave the fill open so any excess foam can leak out rather than rupture the ball. Do not at any point plug the hole since if the ambient temperature drops, the ball will contract and end up looking more like a pear (as seen in right hand corner of pic).

 

Once the ball has been comepletely filled out, paint with white plastic-friendly paint, then tie-wrap the end of a light string to the fill point and wrap away.

 

Edited September 28, 2013 by Flanigan

[DSE 4]

Very clever

Good idea and should be good in bad weather....

[Colorado Christmas 0]

Very cool idea. Do you happen to have any pictures of a completed ornament?

[RAB 48]

Great idea, how much do you estimate it cost? I know that's an irrelevant question in this hobby but I'd like to give it a try.

[Flanigan 2]

Great idea, how much do you estimate it cost? I know that's an irrelevant question in this hobby but I'd like to give it a try.

The balls came out to 50 cents each after shipping, and about $2 worth of foam. Would have been more foam, but learned a trick. Fill the ball half full, then shake the ball to coat the inside. Then take a syringe and inject about a tablespoon of water to speed up the foam curing process.  Right now, I'm in danger of getting buried every time I place a finished ball on the pile (on #41 of 50 right now).

[Flanigan 2]

Here are some pics. As you can see,  just one string doesn't work well, TWO strings is juuuuust right.

 

[Tom Fleming 0]

Where do you hang these?  From a regulat tree or your mega tree?  If the mega tree, where do you hang it from?  i love the idea and want to try it.  I onl;y have a 10 foot mega tree so i can do too many but i think it would look cool.

[Flanigan 2]

I'm going a bit overboard with these. Have two 20' megas that will have 8-10 on each, then 3 maple trees that the remainder will be hung in, along with a few dozen light strings. Hanging them is easy-peasy. See that cylinder in the lower left corner? That is what I've dubbed a "coaxial air cannon".Nice and compact as the air reservoir is around the barrel rather than being an external tank hanging out to dry. Will launch a golf ball/pull line 120-ish feet vertically, so pulling up the balls and light strings are fairly easy. "just point and click".

 

[Dave H 10]

and will they come down as easy as they go up???

[Flanigan 2]

and will they come down as easy as they go up???

Yup! Just untie the string used to pull it up there. If it doesn't come loose - there's always the 12ga.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Flanigan

[johneguns 0]

I wonder if it would be cheaper to buy the Styrofoam balls like you would find in a craft store, defiantly less work. and could easily glue in a cup hook or eye bolt.

very cool ideal   

[Flanigan 2]

Could not find styrofoam balls locally that were 1' dia. Online sales of them wanted 15$+ for them.

[Billings North Pole 0]

Great idea they are going to look awesome in your display!