Power Ball!! (sans monetary gain)

A while back when Traci and I were picking up some household items at Bed Bath & Beyond, I saw a deal I couldn't pass up:

You read that right, power zoomers, $2.49 for the power to make my own bouncy balls!?  I'm there, dude.

So that box has been sitting in our hall closet for a while and Traci handed it to me this past weekend while rearranging said closet.  I had no particular plans that day and bought this thing with blog intent so I decided to fulfill my life long dream of making balls.

The hardest part of the whole thing was getting all those little packets of crystals separated from the heavy packing tape some genius in China used to secure them together.  I had to cut them apart to avoid ripping the packages.  Those two little plastic bits to the left are the molds.  One is round and one is funky shaped.  I decided to go with only the round ball shaped mold since a funky shaped one seemed unlikely to bounce.

The kit is super simple to use.  You just plan out what you want your ball to look like, snap the mold together and pour in the crystals to create your design.  Then you put it in a cup and fill the cup with water up to the bottom of the funnel portion of the mold.

Let that sit for 10 minutes during which time it expands slightly and the media sticks together.

Wait another ten minutes and pop open the mold to reveal your ball.

This was a fun little weekend afternoon project that didn't take too much time and produced a physical result which is nice. The ball isn't terribly stable and doesn't bounce very high, but what do you expect for $2.49!?  I tried to make a second ball that same day, but apparently some of the starchy stuff from the first ball had clogged up the holes that let the water in and the second ball failed and crumbled apart.  I washed the mold and saved everything so I'll try it again soon.  Don't expect a new post on it though I think I've stretched this to about as much blogging as is humanly possible.  BALLS!