Sparkleball Mania and Christmas Spirit

A sparkleball begins with dozens of plastic drinking cups, a soldering iron, and a string of Christmas lights.

Until yesterday, I had only a shady idea of what a soldering iron was. You don't use them much in the fiber arts, you know? But a compelling desire to make a sparkleball of my very own inspired me to go all out for this project. That's me, looking up with mild annoyance as Mom interrupts my strategic plastic-cup-sculptery.

The assembly is fun.

And - the finished object: behold the sparkle.

For more information on the magic of sparkleballs, check out Sparkleball.com .