We're using our magical, mystical, fortune-telling powers, and no doubt we'll see some spooky Halloween decorations in your future -- like this DIY glowing crystal ball and christmas snowglobe lantern. Made from an acrylic globe lamp shade, it can even display phantoms. A ghost is a sign that your Halloween haunt or haunted mansion will be popular.
This Halloween prop is easy to make with some basic supplies you can buy at your local craft store.
Things you'll need
10 inch Clear acrylic globe
Clear cellophane packaging
Packed in colored cellophane
LED Fairy string lights
An image printed on transparent film
scissors
vase
Black fabric
Materials needed for DIY Crystal Ball
Choose a transparent globe
The 10 inch clear acrylic orb for light fixtures is the perfect DIY crystal ball. You can find them at lighting supply stores or online stores like Amazon. If possible, choose a sphere with a neck shaped like a snow globe, making the sphere slightly raised. Globes also come in a variety of diameters, so find the right size for your DIY decorating scheme.
Clear globe
Fill it with cellophane
Place three sheets of clear cellophane wrapping paper (each about 12 "x 30") into the globe, rubbing the paper towel together as you insert. Party supplies and craft stores offer cellophane packaging.
Cellophane was stuffed inside the sphere
Add colored cellophane
Cut three or four smaller pieces of colored cellophane (about 6 "x 12") and insert them into the sphere, placing them between the clear cellophane. This example uses red cellophane, but you can use any color you want. The colored cellophane looked like smoke wafting across the earth.
Colored cellophane stuffed with globes
Insert a fairy lamp
Insert a string of battery-powered LED fairy lights into the sphere and slide the wiring harness between the layers of cellophane to distribute the lights evenly. Turn on fairy lights so you can see them as you place them.
A string of about 30 lights is enough to light a globe, and you can purchase these lights at craft stores. For these DIY crafts, I prefer fairy lights to traditional strings of lights because the lights are connected by a thin, barely visible thread. Just avoid incandescent strings, as they generate heat.
The fairy lamp inside the ball
Print the image on transparent film
For a truly spooky crystal ball, we need a ghost visitor floating around the Earth. To achieve this illusion, find a photo of a scary face and take the photo (or image file) to a copy shop to print it on printable transparent film. If you have clear paper, you can even print it out at home. Cut out the image with scissors.
A skull printed on transparent film
Slide the image into the glass sphere
Lean the image against the inside surface of the globe and let the crumpled cellophane hold it in place. Because the image is on transparent film, it looks like it's floating and you can see through it. Ghostly!
Spectral image of the Earth's interior
Add more cellophane
Now that the fairy lights and spectral images are in place, stuff more colored cellophane into the DIY Halloween globe to keep everything from moving. A piece of paper about 12 inches by 30 inches will suffice.
More colored cellophane was added to the earth.
Display glass balls on a vase
Find a vase or flowerpot with a base the same size as the acrylic sphere base. Turn the vase upside down and display the crystal ball at your next Halloween party or haunted house.
DIY crystal ball stands on a vase
Wrap black fabric around the vase to hide the battery pack of the fairy lights. A combination of cellophane and fairy lights causes the crystal ball to glow like magic when the lights in the room dim. Ghostly apparitions greet those who dare to test their fortune-telling abilities and gaze into crystal balls.