Making an Acrylic Mirror Ball

I was recently surprised when my daughter asked if I could help her make a mirror ball for her bedroom.  To many of us, a mirror ball takes us back to the Disco’s of the 70’s and the fashion that went with it (not a good thought!), so I was quite surprised to learn that they are now back in fashion and that “every girl must have one”!As we were attempting to make this mirror ball ourselves, glass mirror was not an option.  Far too fragile and dangerous, the thought of letting a 9 year old lose with pieces of glass is not something I would consider.Acrylic mirror on the other hand, is perfect!  Lightweight, shatterproof and easy to cut into the small squares we need, it is the idea material for our job at hand.To make your own acrylic mirror ball you will need the following items:

• 1 foam ball (football size or larger)
• Mosaic Grout – if you are not using pre-mixed grout, then prepare yours to quite a thick consistency.
• Acrylic mirror squares – in your desired size, we used 1.5cm squares.
• A screw-in hook

Step 1:Lightly brush the surface of your foam ball with a wire brush, “roughing up” the surface will help the grout and acrylic tiles stick better.Step 2:Screw the hanging hook into position on the top of the ball, leaving a good 1” gap between the ball and the rounded part of the hook.Step 3:Place your ball on top of a vase (used as a stand) and spread an even layer of Grout, approximately half an inch thick over the surface of the ball.  We will come back to the part sitting over the vase later.Step 4:Press the mirrored acrylic tiles into the grout so that they sit about half way in, cover the entire surface available and then leave for at least 20 minutes.Step 5:Coat the surface of the ball with a layer of grout to fill in any gaps between the tiles, and then wipe with a damp cloth to clean the mirror surface and allow to dry overnight.Step 6:Once the grout is completely dry, turn the ball over and fill in the part that was sitting over the vase, as you did the rest of the ball – leave overnight once more and your ball will be ready to hang the next day.It really was as simple as that, and the result is impressive!