I made one last year. I used copper colored Rustoleum hammered metal spray paint. It gives a textured effect to the surface without having to rub off paint. I used plastic lizards I bought at $ Tree and GE Silicone II to glue them to the BB. I painted the BB and the lizards separately. After I had attached the little critters I touched up the paint.
I made a frog ball too using green hammered finish spray paint, it turned out really cute. I had trouble with the frogs though, they're made of a softer plastic than were the lizards. The softer plastic reacted with the paint and the whole thing took weeks to dry completely. The paint dried just fine on the BB but the little froggies stayed sticky/tacky for quite awhile. Must be the type of plastic or maybe they're vinyl....I don't know.
Hope this helps, have fun!

Thanks nmgirl, I really want the shadowy look...kind of antiquey, so I need to be able to wipe some of the copper off. Hope someone else has an idea.

Did you post a pic? If so I must have missed it. Thanks again.

Duh...it is amazing when you spell something right, how many responses you get! I had used the search here at GW and ...nothing! I was putting two z's in lizard! That is why I love Google...they correct my spelling! Anyway, Google led me right back to GW and another site that I had never been to. That site has our original BB's done by Eileen! They are both on this posting....

Here is a link that might be useful: BB's

I have sprayed several things with the shiny copper spray paint. When dry, I mixed bronze or black paint with a glaze, painted it on and wiped it off where I wanted. It turned out great==hope this helps you.