Googly Eyes - where can I get big ones?

August 29, 2024 8:08 AM

Because I am a grown-ass adult that wants the two trees flanking my house to have googly eyes, where can I find VERY large ones?

Amazon.ca only has them up to 7 inches, same for Michael's.

Where, IN CANADA, can I get very large googly eyes? Barring that, how do I DIY it to withstand a Canadian winter?

posted by Kitteh to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

How about using thrift store clocks?
posted by olopua at 8:40 AM on August 29 [7 favorites]

If you're not handy yourself, find someone to cut large circles, then paint them yourself. They won't be googly, since trees don't dance around much, but the idea will get across.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:55 AM on August 29 [1 favorite]

White acrylic sheet, clear acrylic sheet, black acrylic sheet, some appropriate glue, and a jig saw or router with a stick on (using temporary doublesided woodworking tape) circle cutting jig would allow you to go up to 48".

Mark your circles out - two large (white and clear) and a smaller black one. To save money you can make a multi piece edge spacer by cutting segments out of the corner waste pieces of the white or clear sheet. Cut the edge spacers first using the circle cutting jig. Then your three main circles. Assemble with the acrylic glue.

If you want them to move make sure your black sheet is thinner than your edge pieces. If not glue the black circle to the white circle so you can pose them at an angle other than looking straight down.
posted by Mitheral at 9:28 AM on August 29 [1 favorite]

How big? Creatology makes them in 6" diameter, and they're available at Michaels.

PS I love this idea!

PPS ETA I am not sure about how they'd weather the weather...
posted by feistycakes at 11:29 AM on August 29

One year, before the pandemic I game them out as fun presents. They were 6-8” in diameter. Fun to set up in unexpected places. They are out there. Likely Amazon, but I also shop Archie McPhee and some sort of science surplus that this tribe tipped me off to. Like anything that gets exposed to the sun, these will shift unless you find something designed for outdoors. Still worth it. Enjoy!
posted by childofTethys at 12:19 PM on August 29

This may be foolish, but did you search "huge googly eyes" or similar? I've searched "googly eyes" on Amazon (US site) many times and never seen anything bigger than 20mm. I just searched "googly eyes huge" and got 7.5 INCH googly eyes. That still may not be as big as you want, but that suggests that adding a modifier will change what you see.
posted by epj at 12:44 PM on August 29

aaaaaand I reread and saw you already found 7" ones. Sorry!
posted by epj at 12:45 PM on August 29

My mind was a little blown when I found out how low tech Cookie Monster's googley eyes are. I would think cutting out two circles of plastic and sticking them together with a nail or something similar would mean you could go to any size you want.
posted by Silentgoldfish at 2:31 PM on August 29 [2 favorites]

If you DIY and want a weather-resistant dome on the face, maybe start with an outdoor thermometer (amazon.ca examples)? Otherwise, seal your project with some type of clear, weather-resistant spray. (If you wrap canvas around wire frames: Scotchguard water shield spray for fabrics.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:37 PM on August 29 [1 favorite]

18" inflatable glowing googly eyes
posted by calgirl at 4:05 PM on August 29 [3 favorites]

I think a lot of the giant tree ones that you see pics of online are actually either painted or made-that-way beach balls or kid bouncy balls, not actual googly eyes.
posted by stormyteal at 1:01 PM on August 31