New Years Eve Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Hello One Artsy Mama readers, I hope your holidays have been wonderful so far! As we speed through these last few days of December, it’s time to think about ringing in the new year! I don’t know about you but my little ones still have a very hard time understanding time and especially with the whole idea of a “countdown to midnight” and the annual televised ball drop, so I came up with a fun and interactive way for them to have their own little ball drop at home. 

New Years Eve Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Materials:

-Smooth Styrofoam Ball

-Wooden Dowel (I used a 3 footer, and cut it to size)

-Wood Base

-Drill with Bit Size to Match Dowel Width

-Krylon Glitter Blast Spray in Silver Flash

-Acrylic Metallic Paint in Silver

-Mod Podge

-GLITTER! (Large/Chunky Silver and Gold for the Ball, Fine Gold for the Numbers)

-Wooden Numbers

-Glue Dots/Hot Glue

-Decorative Ribbon (goes around the top of the pole)

-Permanent Black Marker

-Ribbon Cluster/Bow (for the base, found in the gift wrapping section of the store)

Step 1: Drill a hole in your base. Make sure the bit is the same size as the dowel so it can be nice and snug. The reason for drilling a hole? So it’s removable, packable, and can be reused each year.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 2: Cut Dowel. I used the Styrofoam ball to measure my spacing, as well as how much I needed for the base, before making the cut. The spacing for me was one ball length=1 hour of time, so your spacing depends on how big or small a ball you use, and what time you’d like to start “the drop”.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 3: Spray paint the base and ball.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 4: Paint the dowel and the wooden numbers with the silver metallic paint. I didn’t do glitter on the dowel, because I wanted the ball to travel over a smooth surface, plus I needed to write the time increments. And yes, I painted the dowel in my kitchen using the microwave as a brace. I was painting between fixing lunches for three kids, so I call this “multitasking”.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 5: Add glitter to all the things! (Large glitter on the ball, fine glitter on the numbers). When it comes to New Years Eve, glitter is definitely a must (see Amy, I do use it), and I knew the ball needed that extra “bling” that the glitter spray paint wasn’t providing for me. I would paint a section on the ball with Mod Podge, then shake glitter on it, and continued until the whole ball was done. I did the same for the numbers-paint with Mod Podge, sprinkle glitter, and let dry.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 6: Glue numbers to base. 

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 7: Arrange bow around the base. I actually didn’t have to glue the bow into place, it just kinda went where I directed it to go. Putting the ball on helped me visualize it too.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 8: Use a permanent marker to mark the hours. I did end up making the mark go all the way around the pole.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

Step 9: Attach a decorative ribbon at the top, as well as print and cut a “Happy New Year” sign to stick below the ribbon.

New Years Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball DropI took a picture of Prince C with the ball drop, so you could get an idea of how big this actually is. You can easily make it bigger or smaller to fit your needs. When I showed him out it worked (pushing the ball down every time the clock strikes a new hour), he was super excited!

New Years Mini Ball Drop

This was such a fun project, even if I’ll be cleaning glitter out of my ears for days, and it came together relatively quickly, so it would be perfect for your upcoming New Years celebration!

BallCloseupFinal

What are some fun ways you all bring in the New Year? Do your kids stay up, or is it an adult only affair? We would love to hear from you! Have a wonderful, safe, and happy New Year!

New Years Mini Ball Drop

New Years Mini Ball Drop

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