For years, I've tried to add a crystal ball to my Halloween decor. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, but everything I found at a store or online looked really cheap and fake. There are, of course, real ones, but they get expensive quick and are pretty small. I wanted a statement piece with spooky, Disney-Haunted-Mansion vibes! So I thrifted it.
When I was purchasing a couple planters off Facebook Marketplace, the seller threw in an old garden orb for free. The perfect crystal ball!
I just needed to find a base. There were quite a few I passed on because this project wasn't in the front of my mind until September, but I'm so glad I did because this brass one I found just the other week is absolutely perfect!
I really liked the rosy hue of the ball with the gold base, but it was looking pretty sorry so I needed to redo it in some way.
I tried to remove the coating with nail polish remover which did work, but was going to take way too long and make the ball extremely reflective after. I was going for something a little more mystical so I grabbed a can of mirror paint I had from another project. (Wasn't positive how it was going to look, because to get the mirror effect, you're supposed to paint the back side of a glass surface.)
When it was dry, it kind of looked like a moon which was pretty cool, but it also looked a little sloppy so I went over it lightly and from far away with a hammered copper spray and then again lightly with more mirror spray. I was hoping the copper would add a little warmth back into it to coordinate better with the base. I ended up with a very light champagne which I really like.
I think this crystal ball fits well with the rest of my home which is something I like to do when it comes to decorating for holidays. I want my fun, seasonal touches to blend with the rest of my space and look almost natural as if they could belong there all year.
