How to Make Mosaic Balls

Draw out a plan of what you want your gazing ball to look like. Work will go easier if you have a basic blueprint of what colors and shapes you want to highlight.

Put the gloves and goggles on, then wrap three or four tiles in the heavy towel. Place it on a flat, hard surface, then smack the tiles several times with the hammer to break them into small pieces. If you know the amounts of different colors you will use, keep the small broken pieces separated by color. Continue smashing tiles of different colors until you have separate piles of all you will use. If you need more later as you are working, keep the towel and tiles handy so you can smash a few more as you go.

Set the jar lid upside down on a flat, stable surface, then use it as a stand to hold the Styrofoam ball. Use the tile adhesive to glue the glass beads and crystal pieces into place before you put any tile pieces in. Rotate the ball as you go and use the beads and crystal to, in essence, outline the design you have for the overall look of the ball. Think of the beads and crystals as the lines of the design and the tiles as the paint you will use later to fill in those lines.

Start placing tile pieces after you have finished gluing the beads and crystal into place. Leave one-sixteenth inch between each piece of tile. Work one section of the ball at a time, thus "painting" each section with tile pieces before rotating the ball to move to another section. Let the ball sit in the jar lid stand overnight for the adhesive to firmly set.

Mix grout using the spatula according to manufacturer's directions the next day. After you have finished, let it sit for 15 minutes to thicken before you use it. It needs the extra thickness to work well on the round surface of the ball.

Spoon the grout mixture into the cake decorating tube. Gently squeeze the mixture out to fill the spaces between the mosaic tiles as you rotate the ball. Continue until all the spaces have been filled with grout.

Wet the sponge and wipe gently all around the ball to remove excess grout. Continue to rinse the sponge and wipe until the entire ball is smooth. Let the ball sit for an hour, then wipe it again and use the toothbrush to scrape any excess grout pieces from the grooves between tiles.

Leave the ball to dry for a full 48 hours before you give it a final wipe with a damp cloth and place it on a stand in your garden.