Make Your Own Holiday GloPop!

GloPops make a wonderful Christmas gift or New Year's Eve ornament for your home, garden, patio or place of business and can be used inside as well as outside. The approximately 15" diameter GloPops can be used to provide just the right amount of ambient lighting for your 2013 New Year's Eve Bash, Christmas party, evening wedding, or add that finishing touch to just about any festive occasion.

Homemade GloPop
Light Ball Instructions

Materials List
(for each Glopop):

50 - 9 oz. Clear hard plastic cups
1 - String of 100 ct. mini Christmas lights
(or 2 - 50 ct. strings)
Soldering iron
Proper ventilation (preferably outside)
Clean rag
Brick, ceramic plate or other heat safe surface

Directions:

[Click image to view slides]

Use the base of the soldiering iron as well

After you have gathered the supplies mentioned above, the first step to making your Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball is to preheat the soldering iron.

While waiting for the soldering iron to heat up, count out 50-cups, turn them upside down on a flat surface that has been covered with newspaper or craft paper. Once the iron is hot, melt a hole in the bottom of each cup, being careful to get as close to the center as possible.

Note: You can melt holes in several cups at once to save time, however, you will end up with strings of plastic that have to be removed. Using my soldering iron, I use not only the tip but a portion of the iron itself, in order to create the right size hole. If the hole is too small you run the risk of cracking the cup when adding the lights, if it is too large, the lights will fall out of the hole.

The second step to creating your Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball is to lay out a circle of cups on your work space. Place 12-cups on their sides, edges touching. Use the soldering iron to melt the sides of each cup to its neighbor. I like to make really sturdy balls that last a long time, so I melt them in two spots, using the soldering iron at an angle, to cover the most area. Keeping the bases together should create a perfect circle base to complete one-half of a Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball.

The next layer of your Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball consists of nine cups arranged and melted together exactly as you did when creating your Homemade GloPop Christmas Ball base. Place the second layer on top of the base and melt each cup to the cup beneath the other.

The third layer of your Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball is a bit different. Stand one cup up straight and melt the remaining three cups approximately ½" down from the rim of your center cup. These four cups are then fitted into the central hole of your Homemade Christmas GloPop Light ball and fused to the second layer.

Using one string of 100 indoor/outdoor mini Christmas lights (or 2-50 ct. strings), insert two lights into each cup.

At this point you have half a Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball completed, which is ideal for hanging on the wall, from your balcony or on the side of your entrance way. (Note: Using fluted cups creates a very beautiful half-moon wallhanging.) To create a full Homemade Christmas GloPop Light Ball, simply make another half and melt the two halves together, being sure to leave the plug hanging out and that all your cords are tucked neatly inside.

Additional Uses and Ideas:

A GloPop lollipop is easy to convert from a hanging light to a lollipop. If you want to go all out for New Years, these lollipops are just the ticket. Bright and cheerful GloPop lollipops will adorn your yard and add a magical touch to compliment any New Year's theme.

To achieve this effect, simply position your GloPop over a piece of white PVC (be sure to get PVC big enough to fit the plug through), slip the extension cord down the center and mount on stakes in your yard. For an extra special touch, wrap the PVC pipe with a wide red ribbon or a color to match your lollipop. The possiblities are endless.

Note: By arranging the last four cups properly, you can create a hole in the GloPop that is the perfect size for the PVC pipe to fit into. Alternatively, you can melt the bottom out of one of the cups, which will function as a sleeve to hold the PVC pipe.

GloPops lollipops can be displayed alone, connected with plastic chain links or as a lollipop bouquet, depending on the desired effect.

GloPops make a treasured Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for someone in your life. They can be draped with netting or lace to make an elegant centerpiece or focal-point in any room.

These beautiful handcrafted light spheres are durable and with care will last for many years to come. Make your Christmas display the talk of your neighborhood.

GloPops can be used to create a festive atmosphere for most any function:

Christmas - Red, Blue, Green or Purple
New Year's — Clear, Blue or Red
Halloween — Green, Orange or Purple
Valentine's Day — Red or Purple
St. Patrick's Day — Green
Any Occasion

Parental Caution:

While many parents may want to involve the children, please be aware that the fumes from melting plastic are not pleasant, in fact they are toxic. I normally work outside and wear a paper mask when fusing the cups together. Please do not allow your children to make GloPops unsupervised, melting plastic and the soldering iron can create nasty burns.

More Holiday Light Ball Ideas

There are many ways to get the same beautiful effect. Check out these sites:

Storage Issues?

Storage Tip -- I've found the best way to store my GloPops is in a tall kitchen garbage bag with ties. Add one GloPop per garbage bag and hang from the ceiling in the garage or basement in an out-of-the-way spot. They will be clean and ready to use again next year.