How to Make a Floating Ball Fountain

Ball Preparation

• 1

  Drill a 1/2-inch hole all the way through the center of a 12-inch styrofoam ball, using your drill and the 13-inch-long drill bit. Rough up the surface of a smooth ball with 60-grit sandpaper.

• 2

  Place the colored tile or old ceramic plates and bowls in an old pillowcase. Twist the open end closed and hit the pieces with a rubber mallet. Open the pillowcase periodically to check the size of the tile and ceramic pieces.

• 3

  Pour the broken ceramic pieces into a low, flat box. Coat the back of the each piece with waterproof glue. Press the pieces onto the surface of the styrofoam ball. Don't glue anything over the 1/2-inch holes.

• 4

  Let the glue dry for 24 hours. Apply grout between the ceramic pieces, following the package directions.

Assembly

• 5

  Measure the depth of the ceramic pot and add 12 inches, the diameter of the styrofoam ball. Purchase a fountain pump that can pump water vertically the total number of inches or higher. Fountain pumps are rated by how high they can pump a column of water vertically.

• 6

  Check the hole in the bottom of the ceramic pot to see if the plug on the fountain's electrical cord will pass through it. Enlarge the hole if it's too small, or cut a hole to size if the pot doesn't have one, using a diamond-tip hole saw on your electric drill.

• 7

  Thread the fountain cord through the hole. Insert a fountain plug into the hole in the pot to keep water from seeping out of the bottom of the pot.

• 8

  Attach 1/2-inch flexible tubing to the the pump. Hold the hose vertically while filling the pot with decorative gravel.

• 9

  Thread the flexible hose through the mosaic ball. Set the ball on the gravel. Cut the plastic hose flush with the top of the mosaic ball. Add water to the ceramic pot and plug in the pump.