I Love to Create: Eco-Friendly Ping Pong Ball Necklace

Today on I Love to Create we are going to be talking a little table tennis. Playing with ping pong balls, just without the paddles. Instead of bouncing across a table these ping pong balls are going to be used to create a jumbo necklace. Sounds crazy right? Trust me, the necklace is cute. I used to make and sell them on Fred Flare.

As you know I like my jewelry big, I mean really big. Beads just don’t come in a size big enough for my taste so I had to improvise and create my own, hence the ping pong balls. For this I Love to Create project I cross bred my Ping Pong Ball Necklace with the Shredded Junk Mail Necklace in The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry. If you want to learn how to create your own Eco-Friendly Ping Pong Ball Necklace and win a copy of my book keep right on reading!

SUPPLIES
Collage Pauge Instant Decoupage (Sparkle)
Aleene’s Paper Glaze
Junk Mail or Old Magazines
Paper Shredder
7 Ping Pong Balls
Dremel Drill (with small bit)
7 long gold eye pins
8 large gold jump rings
Flat nosed pliers
Wire clippers
Round nosed pliers
Length of chain

Shredding
Choosing the right paper to shred for this project is crucial. You want to use colorful slick paper that is why junk mail and old magazines are perfect!

Covering Ping Pong Balls
Since I used confetti style ping pong balls I had a little more give with my coverage. Using sparkly Collage Pauge coat your ping pong balls with your shredded paper. Apply collage pauge to your balls, add paper, add more collage pauge. There is no right or wrong way to do this, the more random the strips are applied the better. Allow to dry thoroughly.

Top Coat
Once your balls have dried completely cover with Aleene’s Paper Glaze to seal and protect. Allow to dry.

Drilling
Using a small drill with a small bit drill two holes in each ball on opposite sides. I just eyeballed this step, but you could get technical and measure if you wanted to.

Wire Wrapping
Insert your long eye pins through your holes and using your pliers wire wrap so that there is a loop on either side.

Connecting
Using your jump rings connect the balls to make a chain.

Wearing
Using another large jump ring attach a length of chain in any color or material you choose to the last two balls. Make the necklace as long or as short as you like. Wear out on the town and let the compliments come rolling in!

I loved all the comments we got on the Fabric Scrap Bracelet about what Eco-Crafts people enjoy making. Today I’m hoping you will fill me in on where you get your ideas for these crafts from. Do they come to you naturally? Do you have a favorite blog? Do you have all the back issues of Scrap Craft Magazine? Eco-Crafts are such a hot topic I’m curious where your inspiration comes from. Leave me a comment and you could win a free copy of The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.

More Decoupage Jewelry
DIY Network – Check out the charm necklace and bracelet I made on a holiday special.
Show Pony – Using some Decopatch I whipped up a show pony necklace!
Michaels – Make the Sparkle Charm Bracelet I made for a Michaels ad.
Recycled Fabric Bangle – Another fantabulous eco-friendly I Love to Create project.
Flickr – Take a stroll through some of my past decopauge creations.
Cupcake Topper Necklaces – Use them on top of a cupcake or make them into a necklace!

28 Responses to “I Love to Create: Eco-Friendly Ping Pong Ball Necklace”

  1. Bonney

    OMG! I’m leaving for the drug store right now to deplete their supply of ping pong balls. This idea is fabulous!!

    Reply
  2. WireMySoul

    I’ve never heard of confetti balls, but they look almost good enough to use without decoupaging them! YUM! I make bead jewelery and often, I’m inspired by the beads themselves; they tell me what they’re to become. Increasingly though, I’ve been very inspired by blogs like yours and Vicky Howell’s, Dollar Store Crafts and the like (and have subsequently become a blog-addict). Up-cycling recyclable

    Reply
  3. lovejustice

    When it comes to ideas I’ve tried to stray from the blogs and magazines route, lately. My newest source of ideas has come from a lack of budget. While cleaning out the craft area, I’ve created several different bags and containers filled with seemingly random groups of items. I challenge myself to use as many of the items in a bag for one project as possible. Not only is it saving me cash, but

    Reply
  4. Jennifer Perkins - Naughty Secretary Club

    Wire My Soul – I too love Dollar Store Crafts there are so many fun things to be found there! I love using recycled and unlikely materials in my jewelry.

    Lovejustice that sounds like if I took a jar of my Crafty Curios and went to town. I took have put my foot down on letting myself by new craft supplies for the most part. I have rediscovered so many things in my own studio that I

    Reply
  5. Traci Bautista

    YOU ROCK mamacita!! LOVE the project as always. That would make a fun binding for one of my journals too 🙂 thanks for the creative INSPIRATION!! hugs lady… xo~Traci

    Reply
  6. alana

    I’ve used ping pong balls for odd things before, like in making Navy ship models, but I never thought to use them as beads (I think that’s the dorkiest sentence I’ve ever typed lol). I seriously love this though.

    Most of my inspiration comes from the internet (blogs and magazine websites, though blogs are my favorite since they are generally more realistic). I just put “crafts” in my

    Reply
  7. Bea

    Very cool and would make great funky Christmas balls too. This is something my granddaughter and I can have fun doing together. :)Bea

    Reply
  8. Krissi

    WOW! And, umm…. WOW!!!!

    This project really caught my eye and will probably be the one to convince me to save and upcycle junque mail instead of shredding and recycling it!

    My “ideas” are usually more like happy accidents. I will start off with a vague idea based on a challenge (my mixed-media group has them on a monthly basis). I’ll immediately start breaking the rules

    Reply
  9. Casey

    Although I love the necklace, I would be tempted to make a bazillion of these and fill up a bowl in the living room with them, just because they look so kewl. I love to upcycle crafts, and have some on my blog this week, but what inspires me most right now are my vintage table cloths. I have at least half a dozen that don’t fit our tables, so I’m always looking for ways to use them – totes,

    Reply
  10. Condo Blues

    First of all I LOVE this project because all I do now with my junk mail is shred it and then compost it. I never thought of wearing it 🙂

    My biggest blog influence is Craftster, even though it isnt’ a really a blog but I find it’s a great resource to learn about different types of crafts that I’m interested in before I dive in and buy a lot fo stuff to do it. At home my biggest craft

    Reply
  11. Jennie C.

    I notice everything. And if I like it, I examine it closely. I accost people and ask to examine their jewelry, purse, shirt, etc. Then I recreate them. I’m kinda a pirate that way. But what I create usually ends up quite different from the original. I admire people that can imagine art in their head and then just make it. I have to play with the supplies and see what happens. It’s a

    Reply
  12. alana

    They were used to represent some style of guns or satellites that are round. I would build them with my uncle who was in the Navy (he adopted me when I was young) so it’s not as random of a hobby as I’m sure it sounds. lol

    Reply
  13. Heather

    I usually get my recycled/repurposed crafting ideas from blogs. I love that these are ping pong balls. It looks like the necklace might be heavy with those big balls, but ping pongs… too clever.

    Reply
  14. Corvus

    I get a lot of inspiration from blogs and other bits of the internet craft community. When it comes to upcycling things, though, my inspiration comes from walking around the thrift store on a Saturday morning thinking “Hmm, what can I do with this? And this? What about this?” It’s fun.

    corvus.melloriATgmailDOTcom

    Reply
  15. Kate Wallis drew.kate@bigpond.com

    Hey chickie!
    LOVE your work!
    I get my inspiration from everywhere, internet, outdoors, tv, conversations, everywhere!
    Would absolutely TREASURE a copy of your book! 😉
    Kate

    Reply
  16. generic viagra

    Although I love the necklace, I would be tempted to make a bazillion of these and fill up a bowl in the living room with them, just because they look so kewl. I love to upcycle crafts, and have some on my blog this week, but what inspires me most right now are my vintage table cloths.

    Reply
  17. pandora canada

    This is a good subject to talk about. Sometimes I fav stuff like this on Redit. This article probably won’t do well with that crowd. I will be sure to submit something else though.

    Reply

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