Oh WOW...that's dynamite!! Love the BB, the candle holders and the pinwheels.

Those candle holders were a great find on SGW. And...what catalog did you get those awsome pinwheels from?

Did you plan all that snow so you'd have a backdrop for your bowling ball? Shame on you!!

It's all so pretty in the snow! The copper and black iron look great together!

~Sandy~

That is great!! I have done several BB's, but not one of those yet! Love it Kirkus!
Love the snow in the background....we haven't gotten what the rest of you have this year!

I love it! Great "BB holders" :) I made a penny one myself this past summer for my DH.

Wow Kirkus those are great! Love the snow, we don't see any of that down here in Florida. LOL
Donna

It looks fantastic, and I love the pinwheels! I made a penny ball this last summer, and I used nice, shiny pennies, then I used a clear spray sealer, and now they're all dull-looking! What did I do wrong?! I hope yours stays shiny, Kirk!

your penny bb is great!!! The candle holders are too!!! I see that snow....looks wayyyyyy to cold for me....brrrrrrr... Glad you are able to get in a creative mode with all that cold stuff there! I'm trying. Its been a hard month. I am so glad its February!!!!

great BB Kirk. Curious, did you do all heads or tails or mix them up. Just something I always wondered about those that have been made. You could make a head ball and a tail ball, lol. Yep been cooped up here too long.

I love the penny ball, Kirk! It's wonderful. Did you shine the pennys before putting them on? Does anyone know if you can seal them to keep them from turning dark? Thanks for the instructions too. For those of us that are newer here, it's always great to get instructions!

" A ~ ~ ~ P E N N Y ~~~ For Your Thoughts !!!!!"
COOL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Great SNOWY W EE K project !!!
You do Excellent work Teach !!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing
the Shinny Ideas!!!! U know... it is really cool
when you put 2 heads together...>!!!!!
Ho ho..... I meant yours and Sandy's....
But since there are Heads on the BBall.... it seems
funny.... Guess I've been laughing at
my own jokes toooooooooooo Long!!!!...
God Bless!
Thanks For the Pics!
SusieSunShine

Thanks for the nice complimants, everyone. If it weren't for this forum, I would never have known about Penny Bowling Balls and that I just had to make one! THANK YOU, EVERYONE! Twomonths, they're all heads up...there's that perfectionist in me coming out! LOL I tried to mix them heads up and tails up...I really tried! HA!

Daisy me, I did a search and came up with several ways to shine pennies. Here's the one I used with pretty good success:

SHINY PENNIES

Materials: old pennies, vinegar, salt, cup and spoon

Directions: Put 1/2 cup of vinegar in the cup. Add I TB salt and mix to dissolve. Drop the pennies in the cup and stir them around while you count to 25. Take the pennies out of the cup and rinse them off in water. Taaa Daaa! Shiny pennies just like magic!

Don't know if it will work on keeping the pennies shiny but I sprayed an outdoor, lacquer, gloss finish for metal on the ball... If it doesn't work, I'll still like it. There have been some penny BB's posted on the forum where people aged their penny BB's with neat results! Good luck, Daisyme, if you decide to make one. They're easy and FUN to make! Bear Hugs! Kirk

Sandy, I'll e-mail you the name of the catalogue where I bought my copper pinwheels. I really like the pinwheels; they look cool next to the copper, penny BB! Kirk

Great penny BB's Kirkus, you did a great job on using the candleholder as a stand also. It looks really nice.

Sal

Thanks for the shining instructions, Kirk. I've gotta try one! We're leaving for a month or more this week though, so it'll have to wait for awhile. Hoping to catch some sunshine in the South West!

Those are great,both the penny BB and the pin wheels,and that snow makes the perfect back drop for them.
Kathi

Everything looks wonderful even in the white "stuff." I like that you painted the bowling ball copper before putting the pennies on. It looks very pretty on those nice candleholders. Love the copper pinwheels! You'll have to let me know where you got them too! I was hoping that you weren't going to say you made those too because then I would have to hate you! lol! I'm glad you are able to do something other than shoveling :^)

What a great background to make your BB's show up really well. Those turned out great and I really like the holders you used too. I've love the penny BB's, but haven't made one for myself yet. I know that's on the "to do" list somewhere. ;o) Luvs

Good Job! And thanks for the tips on penny shining! I heard ketchup works good too, which has vinegar in it.

Beautiful! I am inspired, I have an ugly old black bowling ball that will be perfect!

Here is a link that might be useful: Grandma Rosie's Texas Home

I promised Carol, my wife, some foot rubs if she would call some bowling alleys for bowling balls! (She loves her foot rubs!) Luna, you made me LAUGH! :o) I'll e-mail the name of the company where I got those pinwheels. Grandma Rosie, I LOVED your blog! Kirk

This is an interesting "stand" that I found in the Walmart gardening center last year. It has three places to put flower pots, seemed just perfect for my bowling balls. I bring them in for the fall/winter as we get sooooooo much rain out here, and often a titch of snow.

{{gwi:131069}}

Kirk - I love your penny bb also! Great job! And the pinwheels with it! That will look nice outside even when the weather warms up. I haven't tried a bb yet...but have a black one outside frozen to the ground by the garden shed. Was thinking of covering it in "rope" to put with the nautical-type stuff in the pool garden.

Keep up the good work and hope you get back to school soon...I know how my teacher kids hate the "make-up snow days!" Jeanne S. p.s. My son teaches 3rd grade and a daughter 2nd grade.

Very nice! How many pennies did you use? Are they all American or did you stick in a Canadian one just for fun?

Kirk, they loook wonderful. Makes me want to redo mine. It was the first one I did..before I knew about GEII!! The pennies have fallen off one by one. It's such a pretty picture with the snow and all.

Linda your bb's are fantastic! I don't remember seeing them before.

Hi Bright....

I'm a newbie here, and still winging my way around these boards.

Kirkus I apologize for intruding on your thread. I just wanted to show that there are many things that we can use as stands for these balls, but I have to admit that yours are perfect.

Love your penny ball and pinwheels....I am a sucker for anything copper! I think candle holders are my favorite BB stands. They are usually pretty strong and just the right size!

Great Job, Kirk. Must take a lot of patience to do tho.
Something I sadly lack.
Justlinda, I really like the Walmart plant stand to hold several balls. And you did a wonderful job on them! I have 2 bowling balls but yet to decide what I want to do.
Anyway, welcome Linda, I've been missing from here lately but think you are new. Hope to see more photos from you.
Enjoy our Junk Pile.
hugs, Karen

WOW!!!!!!!!! Justlinda, I love your bowling balls and the coooool stand! Just beautiful! (Don't apologize for bumping into the post! That's what we're all about, hearing everyone's GREAT ideas! Glad you're on the forum!!!!!) Nmgirl, I used about $5 worth of pennies and included some Canadian pennies! Our 7 year-old loves looking for the Canadian pennies on the BB. She helped me glue them on! Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments! Can't wait for spring to come (and all of the snow to melt away!) so I can place my penny BB in our gardens! Bear Hugs! Kirk

Hi Kirkus, Great job on your penny bowling ball. Thanks for the great cleaning tip also. I have used Coke to clean them or Brasso. I like your tip much better and will try it. Here is a picture of one I did several years ago, although, I grouted mine with copper colored grout and sealed it with masonary sealant. It has held up very well, but some of the coins are turning dark again.

Becky
{{gwi:131064}}

WOW!! I really love it! I will have to try this!
I'm a newbie to this site and would love to find
the directions on this and the ones with the grout.
And what is the real name of GEII??

Welcome Beecharmer2! This is such a fun forum with the nicest of people! If you look on the GardenJunk homepage, you'll see "FAQ" at the top of the page. It tells how to make some of the cool projects you see on the forum. There's one for marbles on bowling balls...same idea as pennies. I'll post the link below. I haven't grouted mine but I bet someone else will speak to that. This was my first bowling ball. So easy and FUN! When you do a bowling ball, have a container you can sit it in. I used an old heavy pan. The GEII is a silicone sealant. I found mine in the glue department at Lowe's. Have fun! Post a picture if you create a Bowling Ball masterpiece!!! Kirk

Here is a link that might be useful: Bowling Ball Creation

Welcome to the junkyard Beecharmer2...Yep It's GE SILICONE II GLUE get the clear for doors and windows. You find it at the lowes, home depot, and I've gotten small tubes at Walmart. There are two sizes. A small tube that you use by hand and a big tube that goes in a caulking gun. I usually have both on hand. Watch the date because you can get a bad tube. If it's exposed to extreme heat or cold the glue will not cure. I have taken some back to lowes because it was not good. We use it for everything around the Junk Yard!! Have fun and remember to post lots of pictures.

Lovely. Made mine several years ago and have made several since for friends. If you want the verdigris patina, spray it with a strong solution of Peters Plant food and let it stay inside for two weeks. After that you can put it outside and the patina stays in place.

{{gwi:131071}}

Wow, I love these, I get a lot of wind, so how do you stake it and how deep, etc?

Hiliary, on mine I left the thumb hole open when I was putting the pennies on and found a solid rod at a local home improvement store that would fit snugly into the hole. The rod was sunk deep enough into the ground that I didn't have to worry about the wind blowing it over. You could always cement a pole in the ground if you are that concerned with the wind.

I've been doing searches for bowling ball info -- why didn't this one come up on GW? I found it using Google!

I finally got hold of some old bowling balls and want to do them -- one or two for some upcoming auctions. I saw another penny BB somewhere that had two layers of pennies so none of the ball showed through. That raised more questions about what kind of adhesive would hold the pennies to the BB and then pennies to pennies. I thought the penny ball would be a good quick starter, but nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

One of my balls is pumpkin pie custard color -- I'm thinking of using it with or without grout and going back to the idea of a single layer of pennies. Thanks!