What can I do with all these SuperBalls?
December 19, 2008 9:30 AM Subscribe
I need some ideas on how to creatively deal with a collection of superballs.
My boyfriend has a job cleaning the movie theater at night. You might guess that he finds all sorts of crap in the process. Apparently, and this is something I never knew, lots of people win superballs at those little machines and then proceed to leave them in the theater. So he finds all these superballs and is compelled to collect them. He does nothing with them except put them in a bag at his place. I would like to come up with a project that puts these to use because he doesn't want to throw them out.
Currently I have an idea of putting together some pictures that are something like a photo mosaic, except with superballs of various colors. I could also simply glue them to a board in no particular pattern and hang that on the wall, kind of like the tennis balls all over the wall at Essex in NYC. His walls are white and undecorated, so this would add some color to the place. Any other ideas?
My boyfriend has a job cleaning the movie theater at night. You might guess that he finds all sorts of crap in the process. Apparently, and this is something I never knew, lots of people win superballs at those little machines and then proceed to leave them in the theater. So he finds all these superballs and is compelled to collect them. He does nothing with them except put them in a bag at his place. I would like to come up with a project that puts these to use because he doesn't want to throw them out.
Currently I have an idea of putting together some pictures that are something like a photo mosaic, except with superballs of various colors. I could also simply glue them to a board in no particular pattern and hang that on the wall, kind of like the tennis balls all over the wall at Essex in NYC. His walls are white and undecorated, so this would add some color to the place. Any other ideas?
I saw a tv design show where they took superballs and put them under a plexi table top and lit them with flashing LEDs to get a sci-fi look. You could do the same with a shadow box and some cheap LED lights from IKEA or the hardware store. You wouldn't even have to glue them down if you filled them too full to shift once you hang it. Pretty and you could mix up the colors any way you want.
posted by CoralAmber at 9:39 AM on December 19, 2008
posted by CoralAmber at 9:39 AM on December 19, 2008
You know, like superball pachinko on your boyfriend's wall.
You'd need plexiglass and some sort of conveyor...
posted by notyou at 9:40 AM on December 19, 2008
You'd need plexiglass and some sort of conveyor...
posted by notyou at 9:40 AM on December 19, 2008
Response by poster: Ha, I thought of that Bravia commercial. Anyway, he doesn't have thousands of superballs... yet. Maybe between 100-200?
posted by wondermouse at 9:48 AM on December 19, 2008
posted by wondermouse at 9:48 AM on December 19, 2008
Create a magnificent work of art or make superball candles.
posted by terranova at 9:51 AM on December 19, 2008
posted by terranova at 9:51 AM on December 19, 2008
Glue them to the outside of a larger ball, completely covering it. The new ball-glob will bounce interestingly.
String them on strong cord (probably use a drill to make holes) and see what kind of jump rope that makes -- it will bounce oddly when it hits the ground.
Glue them to the bottoms of some shoes. Fun! Moderate danger!
Put loops into them and decorate a very special Christmas tree. or Easter tree.
Clean them thoroughly and donate them to a children's hospital.
Use them as counters to keep track of who's done what chore.
Earrings. Belt.
Put numbers on them and play bingo. Put something cool on them and play cool bingo.
And don't forget -- they probably float.
posted by amtho at 9:57 AM on December 19, 2008
String them on strong cord (probably use a drill to make holes) and see what kind of jump rope that makes -- it will bounce oddly when it hits the ground.
Glue them to the bottoms of some shoes. Fun! Moderate danger!
Put loops into them and decorate a very special Christmas tree. or Easter tree.
Clean them thoroughly and donate them to a children's hospital.
Use them as counters to keep track of who's done what chore.
Earrings. Belt.
Put numbers on them and play bingo. Put something cool on them and play cool bingo.
And don't forget -- they probably float.
posted by amtho at 9:57 AM on December 19, 2008
I don't think that candle contains actual superballs. Please don't get them near fire or heat -- they'd probably release toxic fumes if they got hot or burned.
posted by amtho at 9:58 AM on December 19, 2008
posted by amtho at 9:58 AM on December 19, 2008
Best answer: Round bouncy thing story time....take from it what you will:
When I was a senior in high school, I had just transferred from an urban mega-school complete with metal detectors and police to a top-ranked suburban college-prep school 1/15th the size. I was a frequent target for general fun poked because of the difficulty in changing gears, and one day some kid made an off-handed comment about me in AP Chem. that everyone thought was very funny. Nothing really mean, just insensitive and I was an easy target in an upper-middle class school district (they were the state math and golf champions, and that's about it). I simply pointed at him and said "You'll pay for that. You won't know when, but when it happens, you'll know who." I was, of course, promptly dismissed.
It so happens that my grandmother lived in a "hollow" out in the middle of nowhere, and that many years ago they put a country club up on the hill behind her property. I made a killing when I was younger hunting balls in the woods and selling them at flea markets, but by the time I was a senior, I had other things on my mind. Still, I had about 1,000 range balls lying around and no where to sell them. The idea bulb goes off in my head. I proceeded to build a box out of scrap cardboard that fit inside a 6 foot school locker, the kind that kids had to leave unlocked because theft was low and they liked to check them randomly for contraband.
I can tell you that it isn't easy fitting 1,000 golf balls into a box and getting that into another student's locker unseen, but I did. When the bell rang to change classes, I hung loose in the hallway, waiting for this kid to get his books. When he opened his locker, he was showered with an unholy barrage of golf balls that (because the floor was waxed tile) bounced everywhere causing complete pandamonium. The look on his face, and the "holy fuck!" he yelled felt pretty good. In retrospect, what I did was incredibly unsafe (imagine hundreds of balls pouring down the hall and stairs under people's feet). But at the time, I stood there, 20ft away, as student golfer's scrambled to fill their pockets and bags with contraband, when he looked around and saw me with my finger pointed at him, mouthing the word "you."
There was an investigation, a promise of expulsion if they ever found the culprit, and a lot of anxiety on my part, but no one ever turned me in. The balls were completely gone within 5 minutes. People still thought i was a tool, but they respected me as a cleverly vengeful tool.
posted by mrmojoflying at 11:05 AM on December 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
When I was a senior in high school, I had just transferred from an urban mega-school complete with metal detectors and police to a top-ranked suburban college-prep school 1/15th the size. I was a frequent target for general fun poked because of the difficulty in changing gears, and one day some kid made an off-handed comment about me in AP Chem. that everyone thought was very funny. Nothing really mean, just insensitive and I was an easy target in an upper-middle class school district (they were the state math and golf champions, and that's about it). I simply pointed at him and said "You'll pay for that. You won't know when, but when it happens, you'll know who." I was, of course, promptly dismissed.
It so happens that my grandmother lived in a "hollow" out in the middle of nowhere, and that many years ago they put a country club up on the hill behind her property. I made a killing when I was younger hunting balls in the woods and selling them at flea markets, but by the time I was a senior, I had other things on my mind. Still, I had about 1,000 range balls lying around and no where to sell them. The idea bulb goes off in my head. I proceeded to build a box out of scrap cardboard that fit inside a 6 foot school locker, the kind that kids had to leave unlocked because theft was low and they liked to check them randomly for contraband.
I can tell you that it isn't easy fitting 1,000 golf balls into a box and getting that into another student's locker unseen, but I did. When the bell rang to change classes, I hung loose in the hallway, waiting for this kid to get his books. When he opened his locker, he was showered with an unholy barrage of golf balls that (because the floor was waxed tile) bounced everywhere causing complete pandamonium. The look on his face, and the "holy fuck!" he yelled felt pretty good. In retrospect, what I did was incredibly unsafe (imagine hundreds of balls pouring down the hall and stairs under people's feet). But at the time, I stood there, 20ft away, as student golfer's scrambled to fill their pockets and bags with contraband, when he looked around and saw me with my finger pointed at him, mouthing the word "you."
There was an investigation, a promise of expulsion if they ever found the culprit, and a lot of anxiety on my part, but no one ever turned me in. The balls were completely gone within 5 minutes. People still thought i was a tool, but they respected me as a cleverly vengeful tool.
posted by mrmojoflying at 11:05 AM on December 19, 2008 [6 favorites]
AI am imagining a clear tube filled with them hung up. Maybe where ever you get the tube to use as a beer funnel??
posted by beccaj at 6:12 PM on December 19, 2008
posted by beccaj at 6:12 PM on December 19, 2008
Roof test.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:37 AM on December 20, 2008
posted by zengargoyle at 3:37 AM on December 20, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
How many balls in your BF's collection?
posted by notyou at 9:35 AM on December 19, 2008