A while back I started collecting glass containers. Tall ones. Short ones. Fat ones. Curvy ones. Straight ones. I decided they were so versatile I could fill them up with various things depending on my mood/what holiday it was/whatever.
The problem is, aside from filling them with round Christmas ornaments during the holidays, they’ve been sitting empty! I soon realized that a lot of those things people normally fill them with are somewhat expensive. Plus, I’m the WORST at accessorizing. I’m the same way with outfits…I can put on a shirt and a pair of pants but necklaces? What? I wear the same pair of earrings almost every day (silver hoops).
But I’m determined to be more of a “it’s all in the details” kind of a girl and this is where I’m starting. My glass vases.
Here are some cute thumbtack vase filler balls I made this week. I’m quite pleased with them. Pleased as punch actually.
Here’s the what’s what on making them:
Get inexpensive thumbtacks from your junk drawer or nearby office supply store. Each ball took about 100-150 tacks depending on its size.
I started by creating a line of tacks around the center and then working my way up & down overlapping the tacks a best I could.
I also did a couple where I started at one end and worked my way down. Both ways turned out fab.
Worried about the color? Don’t be. After the ball was completely covered in tacks, I took it out and spray painted it! It was awesome. Totally customized to what colors I wanted and very easy to do. I did prime it first as well… I’m not sure if it was necessary but I felt better doing it. I also finished them with a nice coat of clear enamel spray paint for a shiny finish. That is entirely up to you, of course.
Now, if you do happen to get some metallic thumbtacks and want the silver or gold look then, by all means, do not paint!
Gorgeous, right? I loved them unpainted, but I had a colorful vision in mind so I had to proceed with the spray painting.
I think they’re great all together in one big vase. But I also like them mixed in with other decorative balls (which I will show you how I did next time).
Or maybe you want them in a bowl or basket?
I think they added some funkiness to my living room space which was lacking in the accessories department.
The only problem I’ve had so far is my kids won’t stop touching them! There’s something about that shiny smooth, yet bumpy texture they can’t leave alone. Plus they love that they are made out of thumbtacks. I guess we’ll see how durable they are!
Hey, check out THESE thumb tack decorative balls using silver thumb tacks and duct tape!
Here are the spraypaint colors I used:
Rustoleum:
Aqua
Eden
Lagoon
Summer Squash
Valspar: Everglade Glen
Krylon: Blue Ocean Breeze
*************EDIT on July 25, 2011************
I’ve had some people email me/leave a comment who have had some trouble creating these. Unfortunately their comments are not attached to their email so I can’t write them back!! So, I figured I’d address the issues here…
You: My thumbtacks are not staying in!
Me: I had no issues with the thumbtacks until I got to the very end. The last thumbtack always seemed to be loose since I was unable to push that one in as far as the other ones (it sat up on top of other thumbtacks all the way around). On the couple that happend, I simply dipped the point of the thumbtack into white glue and then put it in. Once it dried it was sturdy. They were also sured up quite a bit after a couple of coats of spray paint.
I have also been thinking that the styrofoam on these balls must vary quite a bit from brand to brand. Maybe mine were quite a bit denser than yours? Perhaps as a remedy you could do a quick coat of Mod Podge over your ball and allow it to dry first? That might make a sturdier surface for you to push in your pins.
You: My styrofoam is disintegrating when I spray paint it!
Me: Again, maybe it is the brand of the styrofoam ball? I had very little styrofoam even showing when I got to that point but what was showing had no problem with this. I’m guessing a quick coat of Mod Podge would help this as well…. yes, Mod Podge is the miracle crafting drug! 🙂
Other unsolicited tip from me: I didn’t mention above how I spray painted these bad-boys. I actually took inexpensive bamboo skewers from the grocery store and stuck them into one of the small places the styrofoam was showing. I then held on to that as I spray painted them, leaving them stuck upright in a bucket (sticking out the top) as they dried between coats. If you picked one up now and looked closely you can still see the small hole it made. But really, who is going to do that? No one, that’s who.
Please let me know if you have any other issues or if the Mod Podge helps! The world needs more thumbtack balls so let’s figure out all the problems, k? 🙂
How cool are those! And they kind of look like little rolled up armadillos 🙂
I love it! I will have to try it. Thanks for the tips.
I love this easy decor piece! I am going to try these this weekend for our new office area in our home. Thanks for posting!
That is brilliant!
LANDEE! seriously…I need to hack into your creative brain! I love this so.
What is that turquoisey blue color you have there (the darker one?)
Landee! You are such an inspiration! This is my new project =)
These are too cool! Love the texture!
Stopping by from Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrapup Party. TFS!!! These are great!! Great project!! I am a new follower of yours too.
Please stop by when you have a moment:
http://craftybrooklynarmywife.blogspot.com
Clever, clever idea. Love them all. I can’t decide which color I love more.
I’ve had the same problem with expensive vase fillers. This is a great idea! They look great in your living room!
I’m visiting from Tatertots and Jello!
This idea is genius! And I really was thinking “Where did she find such pretty colored thumbtacks?” right as you said not to worry about the color. They are so cool and I’m really looking forward to seeing how you made the other balls also!
That is such a unique and GREAT idea! I love it! Thank you… I just went onto Amazon to buy me some thumbtacks 🙂 Woooowee!
You would! I’m a fan of everything. Every single thing!
Such a great idea! So creative, I SO want to do this. Thanks for the inspiration!
So cool! I love the metallic ones but the colors are super fun too. Great idea!
I love the way these looks, and your color choices look great! I’m featuring these as a favorite find for the week! Hope you’ll stop by my blog and check it out, and grab a featured button if you’d like! Thanks for the inspiration!
http://copy-cat-crafter.blogspot.com/2011/05/five-favorite-finds_06.html
This is too cool!! how awesome is that! you are so creative!! Love these! I will add this to crafts to try list on pinterest 😉
Seriously love this idea!
Such a cute idea
Aren’t you clever, love this idea!
I love these! So classy looking! I love the silver and gold look too!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Oooooh. Love these! What a clever idea. Can’t decide which color I like better
I’m typically not into the whole decorative ball thing, but these came out so cute, and I’m sure they were cheap as all get out to make. Plus they look like they’re covered in wee little fish scales. 😀 Love ’em!
I love these! What a stinkin’ cute idea. Now off to dig in my junk drawer…..
Oh my cuteness!! Adding to my project list….love!
TFS! I was just looking at some decorative balls last night at the store and thought my kids would do damage with them, but these are fabulous! I think you are on to something. I have to try this.
These are stunning. Love the colors and fabric you chose to go with them. I’ve seen one other ball like this but it wasn’t spray painted. I LOVE yours! I will feature this Sunday at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Grab my “featured” button.
of COURSE this is a landee project! i LOOOVE it!!
really really cute – such a clever way to do that!
That is sooooo cool! Just this morning I was looking at an empty glass bowl in my living room thinking “oh yeah, I never found anything to fill it with.” Love the color combo you chose as well!
What a great Idea! I love your new take on decorative balls, so simple and genius. Visiting from I Heart Naptime!
Okay! this is an awesome idea, so clever and inexpensive.
I LOVE this idea! How genius! Totally gonna copy that one! Thanks for sharing, I’d love for you to stop by my blog sometime, http://www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com
I L.O.V.E. this idea!! I am so tired of seeing tacky decorating ideas – and so I think it is hilarious that something made out of tacks could turn out to be awesome! I loved the way the spray painting made the colors exactly coordinated your decor AND how the paint probably keeps the tacks all stuck there (which matters when there are little people around).
Thanks!
Mary
http://makingfamilylifefun.blogspot.com
What a great idea – can’t wait to make my own!! Stopped by from Flamingo Toes 🙂 New follower!
Keri
shakentogether.blogspot.com
Wow. This looks great. You really took my idea to the next level!
http://craftycpa.blogspot.com/2011/04/return-on-creativity-thumbtack-home.html
I’d love it if you would share it in my flickr group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/thecraftycpa_projects/
those are so creative!!
You just made my day! I’m doing this first thing in the morning!
Such an awesome idea!! Super impressed with your crafty imagination!!
-Newest follower!
-Lindsay
Delighted Momma
wow. i love this. how creative, cute and simple!
I love these! And the color is perfect for my house. I’ll be by around 5 to pick them up….mmmkay? =) So glad I found your blog. Can’t wait to see what else you are making.
This is SUCH a fun, unique idea! Love it!
These are so clever! What a great way to add some color.
How fun! Love it! You know what else is pretty and it doesn’t have to be for Christmas is get the small stick pins, small styrofoam balls, put a seed bead then a sequin and cover the whole thing. I did these one Christmas as gifts, everyone loved them!
Wow, they are great! They look like fun to make. Very clever.
How creative! Great job! 🙂
I love how that turned out. I have the same problem accessorizing. thank you for sharing.
Holy Cow! These are soooo awesome! I just got a bowl that I need some decor for…I might be trying my hand at these! Great great idea!
I host a weekly Friday link party I would love you to join if you are interested.
Ashley
http://www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com
Wonderful! I just might have to try this…
Such a fun idea!! Thanks for sharing! I am visiting from The Girl Creative and I am your newest follower!
Have a great day!
Michelle
http://www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com
ohmygosh this is total genius. I love all the different styles and colors. How beautiful!!!
These Are So Cute….The Best Vase Fillers Idea I Have Seen To Date !!!
Genius! You picked the perfect colors, they go so well together. I love this and am sharing on my blog’s facebook and twitter page. Thanks for the idea!
I LOVE this idea – I really want to try this so bad but I have nowhere to spray paint!
~Jessa
http://www.jessajill.blogspot.com
i love this idea. I have been wanting to do something like this for awhile, but wasn’t sure what to do! I will be adding this to my list of things!!
everythingnice2.blogspot.com
this is an awesome idea! I will definitely have to try it. really neat.
Im a new follower!
kathryn
http://www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com
Simple and adorable! I love it!
Aw, I love these! They remind me of little ornaments my grandma used to make (except I don’t think she used thumbtacks XD) I might have to try this out sometime, it’s a very creative storage idea and it gives me the fuzzies! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Following your blog…..’cuz you’re pretty much awesome! Love your ideas, and yes, I may steal a few 😉
What a great idea!!
Amazing! I’m featuring you as a Friday Fav at naptimecrafters.blogspot.com
See you at the party on Friday:)
Wanted to let you know I featured these on my site on Monday! Adorable!
http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/05/whats-in-gunny-sack_09.html
wow those are so adorable!! i have a basket that needs a little filler in it, this would be great!!
These are gorgeous! What fun pops of color–and the texture is so perfect too! Thank you for this tutorial. I shared it on my Friday Favorites post (posted today/Tuesday due to Blogger issues last week). Have a great day!
What an awesome and simple idea!!
these are great! so fun and different! 🙂
amy
Oh wow, those look amazing. Definately keeping this in the back of my mind for someday.
Seriously?!? I love it! Love it! Love it! Love it! I will definitely try this project out. I have added this to my linky laundry list post this week. You can check it out here – http://literallyinspired.blogspot.com/2011/05/linky-laundry-list-3.html
Oh my gosh, so clever!!
Great!! looks like armadillos!!
totally LOVE these! Can’t wait to do some myself!
These are aLL OVER pinterest! Congrats! They are gorgeous.
These are adorable! So glad I stumbled across your darling blog. Loved these so much we posted a link: http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/2011/05/thumbtack-balls-vase-filler.html
Thanks for sharing!
Missy & Kimi
if I could…
LOVE this so much!!! malia
Great project! I just wanted to let you know that we featured this project on our Facebook page with almost 12,000 fans. We’d love it if you’d use our Featured Blogger button, available at: http://www.dailycraft.com/thank-you-for-crafting/. Our audience loved the project and we look forward to sharing more from you. Please let us know if you have any questions or projects you’d love us to feature! Thanks!
SO excited to do this! What a fun idea;)
WHat color spray paint did you use? Those would go perfect in my house.
They looks so good, and so much fun to make. Thanks for sharing.
Hi there. I love these! I tried to make them last night, but my thumb tacks seem to be much smaller than the ones you used. However, I cannot seem to find bigger ones. Where did you get yours?
Thanks for sharing your creativity. I love to duplicate other people’s genius.
Thanks for posting this! However, I tried making these tonight and when I put the spray paint on, the styrofoam that was visible seemed to fall apart and the tacks started sliding out. Any advice?
The same thing happened to me! The styrofoam seemed to shrink and disintegrate! My tacks fell out too 🙁 And I bought Krylon indoor/outdoor Sun Yellow paint and it didn’t seem to cover the best. Not sure how many coats I would need (but I didn’t prime either — maybe that’s key). Advice would be helpful!
I tried to address some of the issues above by adding in an EDIT at the bottom of the original post. I hope it helps!
Awesome project – I have been recreating this weekend and instead of regular styrofoam balls I found “smooth foam” Crafter’s Foam balls at Michaels (cheaper than the styrofoam ones!) and these have worked out great.
What a creative decor idea… very lovely…I found you via pinterest and glad to come here… I ll difinatly try one with my matching colour…
If you interested in 500 years old History than please peek a little at
http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
Love
Farah
wow, I really like those. You did an awesome job…
queen4 @SD
Had to share on my FB page! Love it!
Loved these, and they look much nicer than the ones in the link…great idea, thanks x
They do look lovely and I like it that you can make them whatever colour! I have this linked to my decorative balls post too today, nice job!
Thanks for the tutorial. I made them (okay, one) and am featuring it on my blog on 9/27. I referenced your blog.
Cool balls! And these are just made from putting a pin in a ball. I am amazed by your creativity. They are awesome.
I attempted to make these and got all of the tacks on just fine, but when I went to spray paint them, all of the tacks fell out and the foam sphere disintegrated! Needless to say, frustrated, especially after all the tacking. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, what did you do? I really don’t want to waste the time and the tack covered spheres! Help!
You might try covering the balls in Mod Podge( a cheaper version is half white glue and half water mixed together, works same as Mod Podge) and let dry.
What a great idea. Thanks for the tutorial.
These are so clever, and the colours you’ve chosen are fabulous! I’ve featured these in a round-up of great DIY vase fillers. 🙂 http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2012/02/five-great-diy-vase-fillers.html
Great idea, thanks for sharing!
Hello. i was wondering what color of primer to use prior to spray painting? does it matter?
Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks,
Mistie
mistielscott@yahoo.com
I love those thumbtack fillers!! The texture is great! I featured this on my blog: http://www.vixenmade.com/2012/04/10-creative-diy-projects.html
Those thumbtack balls are the coolest. I love the texture and the colors you used. We had a 2000 mile trip for spring break, so this was a perfect project. I also bought the “smooth foam balls at Michaels and had no promblems. The dollar store I bought my thumbtacks at had 300 in a pkg. I ran out of thumbtacks and after going into, I don’t know how many $ stores looking for the 300 pkg., my husband went to staple, yikes to expensive, but kind of done with looking he gladly paid. The tacks their were bigger, I liked working with the smaller ones. Off to buy spray paint.
I’ve made a few of these and the smooth foam balls work best. They are denser and hold the thumbtacks better.
I love these, I found them on Pinterest so I will be featuring them on my blog. My Year in Pins.
Attractive decorative vase groupings can be stunning in built-in bookcases and in cube-like room dividers.
I found a picture of these on Pinterest. They look so cool–I’m really looking forward to trying them out. Thanks for the tutorial!
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I have been looking for colorful spheres to go in my red bread basket for months and haven’t been able to find anything… until now. This is so awesome. I am your newest follower too! 😉
xoxo,
Kristin
Have you ever added a small hook or loop to make it a hanging ornament? I might try that for my kids’ teacher gifts. ddilliplane2@gmail.com
Love this! Tip for disentigrating styrofoam ball after spray paint: I was warned by a Michael’s employee so I used saran wrap to cover the ball first. Didn’t know about the mod podge suggestion but this worked for me!
Great idea for Christmas ornaments!! I did some ornaments years ago with styrofoam balls, sequins, and straight pins (you pin the sequin in the ball – looks kind of like a disco ball)
Wow! This is super cool! I have been looking into decorative vases and how to make mine more fun and this is sure a great way! can you tell me where to find more options like this? I think it is super helpful for my creative juices!
Hi, so I just found your idea recently and have decided to try it out for myself, because I needed something to fill an empty vase. I didn’t realize it took SO many thumb tacks to cover the balls (I bought the 2″ balls, 24 of them).
I bought them in 100-packs (3 of them) from Hobby Lobby (arts & crafts specialty store) for $1.99 each and I was only able to complete 3 balls, plus half of a 1.5″ ball. Any ideas as to where I can get thumb tacks in bulk, for a decent price?
I just love this idea! They are simply stunning in the metallic and I love how you created these out of simple materials! I was so inspired, that I recently created a new series on my blog called “Sweetest Pin.” You are my first pin inspiration! Thank you, Kari
http://thesweetestmemoryblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/sweetest-pin-metallic-vase-fillers-easy.html
I love this! I have the perfect vase that needs to be filled. Pinning to remember! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kristy @ 3 Peppers Recipes – Crafts, Cooking & Color