diy: coffee table accessory

on a recent search for coffee table styling inspiration, i came across a very interesting trend. everyone seems to be enamored with the gold spikey ball thing (for lack of a better description). above, at shea mcgee design, was my first glimpse of this. more followed quickly:

 

pieces inc.

 

alexandra kaehler

wishbones and wanderlust

evidence suggests that this, whatever it is, is the new must have accessory. in fact, this evidence was corroborated the next morning, when i saw the williams-sonoma home catalogue:

i've decided i like them. what's not to like about a gold spikey ball thing? however, i was not about to go spend money on something that would impale my two-year old within minutes of his entering a room, and would therefore be relegated to the mantle immediately after the photo-op. so i made one. for free.

i had all the supplies around the house:

wood skewers
air dry clay
garden shears
elmer's glue
gold spray paint

first, snip the skewers in half. i didn't keep track of how many i used so you'll have to eyeball it. but i will warn you, don't use too many or your clay ball will fall apart.

as you can see, i switched to garden shears as it was pretty difficult to cut the skewers with scissors.

start poking the skewer halves into the ball, adding sticks opposite each other to create a spherical shape.

keep going until you have a uniform sphrere. then, fill in with more skewers. you can vary the lengths if you would like. once you have a good shape, you don't need to worry about placing new pieces exactly opposite anymore. just fill the space.

that is all you have to do- your finished ball will look something like this:

the clay will need several days to dry. it has been my experience with this type of clay that, once it dries, it doesn't hold very tightly to things pressed into it. sure enough, some spikes fell out, so i glued them in with elmers. i also dripped a little glue into and around the other holes to avoid future losses.

once that was dry, i gave it a few coats of gold spraypaint. and that was it- all done and very easy!

here's how it looked on my coffee table:

i think it turned out pretty cute. and like mirrors, and chocolates, and heavy blunt shell-shaped objects, this will also look beautiful on the mantle. away from chubby, adorable, destructive, two-year-old mitts.