I have not done them but I have seen them and have the directions. My friend spray paints them and then glues half marbles on them so they are like a suncatcher in the garden.She brings them in in the winter as it becomes very cold here-haven't heard taht she has had any trouble with cracking .

I have made several of the bowling balls covered with the half marbles and have not had any to break and I leave them out year round and you do not have to paint before gluing the marbles on.

I'm in Iowa where the winters get really cold.....I've had one out there for three years and no trouble with it

patti

There was a similar post on the Garden Junk forum at Garden Web. Usually the BB's are just fine but if you get a really cold winter, you may want to bring them in.

I have two and the one hasn't been a problem but the other one, I've had to re-do twice now. I think I'm just painting it this time and skipping the half marbles and grout!

Hey, even if it splits in half, you still have the half rounds to place on the ground for a beautiful accent! The first one I did just 'lost all it's marbles'. That was because I didin't use the correct silicone.
GE Silicone II for windows and doors
it the 'glue' of choice for the 2 garden junk sites I go to. Some have found other brands they like, but most use this one. I buy evey BB I find, which means that I have over 20. since I had one crack, I leave them out for a full season, before I glue anything to one. If it cracks here it is usually in the hot summer, not the winter. Out of all the ones I have only 3 have cracks. One was sort of transluscent lavendar and it cracked, one was a 'ball and chain' someone had already made and it has a small crack. and one of the halves that we CUT in half to make ladybugs has a small crack. If it cracks before you do something to it, it can be filled with putty or caulk and you can still use it. Since I have had most of mine over 2 years now, and they have been out 2 summers and 2 winters, and through 2 major hurricanes and several tropical storms, and the feeder band of 2 other major hurricanes, I don't think they are going to crack anymore. Because of the 2004 and 2005 disasters,plus DH having 2 major surgeries and radiation, I have not had the time or inclination to 'fancy' them up yet. They are withstanding the test of time, before I touch them. 2 of them were spray painted with a metalic paint and that has continued to look good. The older black ones seem to do the best. Also one of mine has been drilled to become a bubbler fountain. Now that I have written a 'book' if you have any more questions, I will try to answer them also. The things that did hold up with marbles on them were the plastic baseballs and softballs (4 to a pack) from $ Tree. I used the GE silicone on them and they still have their marbles.

I painted a bowling ball last summer and left it out all winter.. I live in Upstate NY.. It came thru the winter just fine. I washed it and used Krylon plastic spray paint on it to paint it white and then used "plastic paint' from the craft store to paint a pretty scene on it.

It also may have something to do with if the ball is rubber or plastic.

I did 7 of them and we will see how they do. I went to a Church Sale last Saturday and they had bowling balls everywhere. I picked up 5 $1.00 each.
Wanted to tell everyone Thank You for all the responses.

I have a question on the bowling balls, do you have to grout them? and if so what type of grout do you use? I have started one using clear liquid nails to glue on the glass beds, should I use somehting else to glue these on and does it have to be clear?
Thanks for your help,
I'm glad I found this site
DaNita

Hi DaNita, I'm usually hanging out in the "Garden Junk" (GJ)forum but like to check in on this one also. Nothing says you have to grout your BB, that's up to you. There are a lot of folks in the GJ forum who do mosaics and they prepare their own grout by mixing it. For the styrofoam ball I did with the half-marbles, I did grout it using a premixed grout I got at Home Depot. It was $7 something for a small purchase but since it was my first project using the grout and didn't really know what to expect, I went with the premixed stuff. I used the clear liquid nails also. In the GJ forum, a lot use GE Silicone Glue II as a glue. I bought some of that also and it is fantastic. I've read the liquid nails doesn't hold up to the elements but mine did just fine this past late summer/early autumn. Mine isn't sealed yet (it will crackle) so I did bring it in during nasty weather because my porch does not have a roof. I also read in the GJ forum that after grouting the BB, they seal it with grout sealer. Check Home Depot or similar store for that stuff also. Go to a hardware store or just call them and ask what to use, I'm sure they'll be very helpful. As for your question - does the glue have to be clear, that's up to you. I used clear because I didn't want a white spot to show up through the clear glass half-marbles I used. My project was with teal (???) marbles (if that's the color you want to call it) but you can see through them so that's what I meant by "clear glass..." Those who mosaic in GJ forum do color their grout when mixing it up by adding acrylic paint to it. I guess it all depends on how you want your project to look. Check out the GJ forum, I'm sure you'll love it, and do a search for "bowling balls." You'll get a ton of posts picked out for your by the website. Pic of my project attached, I used the base of a lamp for the holder. I thought the white looked good on the teal color.

Sal

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:139755}}

Where do you get the half marbles? I bought a lady bug one and now I want to try a marble one. Thanks