How to make a GIANT sparkleball

You'll need:

1. Approx. 100 - 500   10 oz. or 16 oz. plastic cups. ( in other words: alot) The shapes of plastic cups vary widely, so buy more cups than you need so you don't have to run back to the store in the middle of all this.

2. 400+ clothespins or strong clips

3. Soldering iron, good ventilation, big workspace OR plier stapler

4. At least 300 lights.

5. More patience than I'll ever have

I've never made a giant sparkleball, but I can offer you two experts. Terry Kull posted an excellent how-to on Instructables.com. You can see a photo of Terry's 400-cup "Godzilla" below. To follow here, is the excellent advice of Don Bales, one of the master sparkleballers of North Yale Avenue, Fullerton CA. Don uses several hundred 10 oz cups and 600 synchronized chasing lights for his giant sparkleballs. That's way ambitious. But here's what he told me about the process. (Make sure you understand how a basic sparkleball is made, or Don's instructions won't make sense.)

"Giant sparkleballs are built just like the regular ones: in two halves made up of layers. Start with the first layer and arrange cups until they make a circle. Use clothespins to hold them together. When you think you've got a circle, measure the diameter (across the cups) in two directions to make sure the circle is round."

"When you've got the first layer, then start adding cups to the second layer. Add as many cups as it takes to make the second layer, using clothespins to hold them in place. The second layer will have fewer cups. Add a third and fourth layer; even a fifth layer if you need to. Take notes as you add the cups, so you'll know how many go in each layer when you build the second half."

"You may even want to build the second half with clothespins before you solder the thing together, just to make sure it'll make a nice-shaped ball. Your choice. But once you've got it where you want it, then solder the whole thing together. I probably would put the holes into the bottom before I started building the thing."

So that's it. Oh, except you'll need to add the lights into the halves. And solder the two giant halves together. AND make a hanger that runs through the sparkleball, in order to support all that weight. Terry Kull uses four different wires running through his "Godzilla," which weighs 25 lbs.

For lights, Don uses 4 sets of clear 150 chasing lights (600 total lights) that he synchronizes to blink together. But then he's a Sparkleball Master. Thanks, Don, for the instructions!

Terry Kull's "Godzilla" has 400 10oz cups, 500 lights and weighs 25 lbs. It has four cable wires to support it. For how-to, see Instructables.com