Decorative Orb DIY

You can make this faux metal decorative orb!

I love how a simple little chotchkie can add an ever so perfect decorative finishing touch to your vignettes. Orbs of all sorts have been popular for a while. I have a large wire vase that is filled with wooden, and twig orbs. Some orbs can be very detailed and beautifully painted. 

The more open weave metal orbs are popping up everywhere. I’ve seen some tutorials on how to create them out of metal, but that’s way too much work! Here’s the easiest way to create a faux metal orb:

Materials:

2 sets- Embroidery Hoops (these come two hoops per package- one outer, one inner)- I used 8″ and 4″

Thumb tacks (I used a pair of pliers to help insert the tacks)

Spray Paint

Spray Sealer

Assembly:

Separate the embroidery hoops. It will take two sets to make one orb.

Take the two larger hoops that have the screw connectors. I kept the screw looser on the outer hoop and tightened after it was all assembled. Insert one hoop into the other until you create a bit of an “X.”

Place a thumbtack in the area where the two hoops intersect. You can press it in with your thumb, but pliers make it much easier.

Follow those same steps with the smaller hoops. Next it’s time to put the two sets together. Now this is a bit of a challenge because it’s a tight fit! The thumbtack allows you to be able to adjust the “Xs.” The important thing is to get them together.

Now, I’m not sure what is easier as far as the order in which you paint your hoops. I painted mine after having assembled them. This made painting the inside of the hoops a bit of a challenge, but it was doable. Some people just use a wood stain before joining the hoops and gives a beautiful effect. If you paint them before assembly, I could see that you might scrape off some of the paint as you insert the smaller hoops because of the tight fit.

I made two sizes- 4″ and 8.” The 4″ hoops were very tight when assembling. But, in all honesty, I had these orbs assembled and ready to paint in less than 15 minutes.

We painted ours with a metallic paint and went over them with a glitter spray paint. There are some really great metallic spray paints out there that give an honest-to-goodness look of metal.

This is the perfect beginner craft project. Give it a try!