Emily's Tidbits: 2010

Well yesterday I had the great ambitious idea to make one of those midwest crafts that are so tacky! The infamous solo-cup-christmas-light-orb. There was a white elephant gift exchange and I was so excited with this idea that I definitely lost perspective :/ Once I realized I needed a power drill I should have given up. But no, instead I ran to Home Depot and got zip ties (100), and Kmart for the 100 mini lights, 50 cups, clothespins and hole punch. The online instructions made it look so easy. But, as I soon realized, I bought the wrong type of cup. Luckily I used some we had around the house- crisis averted. I called a friend for his help- thinking this would improve the chances of this orb getting completed in time for the gift swap. But, as we realized, this added effort only pushed us at a faster speed towards destruction. The thing completely fell apart. The pictures here are of the "half orb" that we were going to try to salvage and call it a wreath. When we held it up after the photo- it all came apart. So, we arrived with only a string of cups connected by zip ties, and a wad of lights jammed in some of them. My poor friend Guy was the unfortunate soul to get the monstrosity. In a last ditch effort to make this thing have some sort of appeal- I suggested that Guy plug it in! You know, to get the full effect. And, as you all can probably guess--the damn lights didn't work.

Classic fail.

Here are the pics of what it SHOULD look like, with instructions--and then the pics of what we had pre-complete destruction.

How to Make a Basic NO-MELT Sparkleball
(13" diameter)

project time - approx 1.5 hours

What you'll need:

Printable Instructions

50 9-oz SOFT "tumbler-style" cups (How to Buy the Right Cup)	100 mini-lights	clothespins(optional)	A hanger your choice: s-hooks, wire, chain, fishing line, coat-hanger, shower curtain ring. . .
industrial PLIER stapler andheavy-duty staples	OR	200 zip-tie fastenersor pre-cut lengths of 20# coated copper wire	Power Drill Scissors Hole Puncher
See completed sparkleballs made with variations of these methods below.

1		TO BEGIN Drill a hole (approx 1/4-1/2" wide) in the bottom of all 50 cups. You can stack and do several at a time. Test to make sure 2 lights will fit through hole. Snug is good. Divide cups into two groups of 25. Each group makes half a ball.
2		If using zip-ties, punch 4 holes in tops of 25 cups (just under the raised lip) with equal distance between holes. Each hole has a hole opposite it. Just eyeball placement of the holes. They don't have to be perfect. If stapling, skip this step.
3		Arrange 12 cups in a circle. If 12 cups does not make a circle, your cups aren't the right size. (Confused? Here's the right 9 oz. cup.) Clothespins hold the cups in place while you work but they're optional.
4		Fasten each cup to its neighbor, by inserting a zip-tie through two holes. Pull the zip-tie closed but DO NOT TIGHTEN IT ALL THE WAY. (see photo at left.) When all cups are connected, cinch zip-ties tight, one by one, making sure that the cups stay flat in a circle. Trim zip-ties. If stapling, staple each cup to its neighbors using two staples, top and bottom. This is Layer One.
5		Layer Two has 9 cups. Lay a cup on top of Layer One. Line up the holes and zip-tie it to the bottom cup. DO NOT PULL TIGHT. Go all around the circle, adding one cup at a time and zip-tying it to the cup it sits on. When all 9 cups are in place, then attach each cup to the one next to it. Every cup in the second layer will be attached at three points (to cup below and cup on either side.) Keep the hole punch handy: you may need to repunch if holes don't line up.When Layer Two is set, cinch zip-ties tight and trim. If stapling, staple cups of Layer Two to each other and to Layer One.
6		Fit last 4 cups into the space open at the top of dome, then join them to neighboring cups. Each cup will be attached at four points to adjoining cups. Do not tighten the zip-ties all the way until all of them are in place. Then cinch tight and trim. If stapling, staple each cup in place at top and bottom. This is Layer Three.
7		Half the ball is done! Now you're ready to start threading lights.
8	NOTE: Once lights are in, some people hotglue them into the cups so they won't slip out.	IMPORTANT! TEST LIGHTS BEFORE YOU INSERT THEM. To insert lights: Start at prong end of the cord. Insert the two lights closest to prong into a cup in Layer One. (The prong will then hang out when you put the two halves together.) Put two lights in each cup. Work your way around the ball-half, zigzaging from outer cups to inner cups and back. You want to end up on Layer One, at the cup next to one you started with. Work slowly, careful not to skip a cup or miss a light. If you crack a cup, that's ok.
9		Set aside the completed half. Build the second half just like you did the first. (Steps 2- 7)
10		On the second half, insert lights starting from the opposite end of the cord (the plug end.) Start with any cup but make sure you finish on Layer One. (If you plan to hang several balls together, make sure the plug end hangs out between the cups, as well.) Have clothespins ready to clips halves together once lights are in place.
11		Press the two halves together, making them fit snugly. Line up holes and attach with zip-ties. Pull tight and trim. Or staple. ( Photograph does not show clothespins, but they make this step much easier by showing clearly where halves need to be joined.)
12		I make a hanger for my sparkleballs with a bit of chain and two "s" hooks. Choose the top of your sparkleball. Melt a hole between two well-connected cups. Insert one "s" hook into the hole and close. Add chain and second "s" hook.You can also use clear fishing line, ribbon, wire coat hangers to hang sparkleballs. Plug in and enjoy!
		Thanks to Erika for teaching me the no-melt method. She adds colorful plastic beads onto coated-wire twists.
		This no-melt solar sparkleball was made by Macky (10), Fritz (9), and Blythe (6). They used twisties from bread bags and left them free-form.
		With spray adhesive, James adds glitter to the cups. You can just barely see the white zipties.
		Annette uses multi-color zipties.
		I left the zipties untrimmed when I joined the halves and ended up with a Sputnik Sparkleball.
		One of my all-time favorite sparkleballs. Tom inserted smaller blue cups inside the standard 9 oz tumblers and joined the cups with pretty yellow coated-wire lengths.

US:

Well, that's how I am twisting the story.

Let me explain.

Thursday-Wednesday are officially finals days. But, because of the large class sizes, two of my professors decided to have papers due Monday. Once I got those 20 pagers in (after completion in 4 days! Yikes!), I had to switch gears Tuesday and Wednesday to prep for another final which I am taking next week, but the bulk of my study group took today. So, as you can see, with taking Thursday off for a sanity break, there was "just enough time" to take the Humanitarian Action take home final. The professor has said it was approximately 6 hours so that is what I allotted for it; assuming that it was a timed take home as all other take homes are (and it was last year). So, there I was at 10am with a cup of coffee opening up my instructions when I see across the top "You have 5 days to complete this exam". Just about spit the coffee all over the screen. I emailed the TA and friends in the class to see what the heck was up. Turns out the prof did say that it was a 6 hour test- but he meant that as a "suggestion". Oh. So, people had 5 days to work on the exam that was due at midnight Friday. So it was a scramble. And I got that sucker in at 12:17 AM. Then, the group in the library went to the bar! Them celebrating 4 days of work (or at least stress) and me and my day.

Driving home I thought hey--this is the stuff I can tell me kids one day. "One day, your mom once pulled together a final exam, in grad school, (and the details above begin . . . )"

Story for future kids aside-- I am heading home first thing Wed. morning. Just a few pieces to complete and a final on Tuesday and then it is off to Omaha. Can't wait!