DIY Fishbowl Lanterns

Fishbowl Lantern DIY Tutorial
What You’ll Need:

~ Decorative Aquarium Stones

~ Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks or E-6000 ~ Glass Fish Bowl

~ Plaster of Paris

~ Disposable container to mix the plaster

~ Rubber gloves

~ Several sponges and a brillo pad

~ Outdoor workspace
How to Make:

1~ Pick out your colors. Michales has a pretty good selection for colors.
2~ Lay out a pattern. You want to know what you’re gonna put on the bowl before you start glueing away. I had about 5 rows planned out before I started glueing
3~ Hot glue the first row of glass pieces in the pattern you layed out. Continue on to row 2, 3, and so on.
Note ~

If you’re using E 6000 Turn the bowl upside down. You want gravity to work with you, not against you. Let the firt row dry for about 5-10 minutes before you add the second row. The first row is the hardest.
4~ Once you have completed decorating your bowl, mix up a batch of Plaster of Paris. Make about one cup and if you need more you can always make some more later.
5~ Put on your rubber gloves, scoop out some plaster, and start filling in the spaces between the chips. Smooth out with your finger and make sure to get in between every glass piece
Note ~

Try not to completely cover the grass pieces, or you’re going to be wet sanding for hours!
6~ once you’ve filled in all the gaps, go over the bowl with a damp sponge wiping away any extra grout and smoothing it out at the same time.
7~ Rinse out the sponge and repeat until the grout is smooth. You may need to use a few sponges.
8~ Let dry for about 8 hours
9~ Once dry, take a damp sponge with a brillo pad and in a circular motion scrub away any extra Plaster (depending on how much plaster you have covering your beads this could take a while, or no time at all).
10~ Put a tealight in it and take it outside.

I made the mistake of plastering all three at the same time. I ended up having to wet sand one of them for hours in order to see the glass stones. If this happens to you its OK, It can be saved!
1~ Get a bowl of warm/hot water and a brillo pad
2~ In a circular motion apply pressure in areas with extra plaster. This may take a while, but it works. Keep going until you get the desired look. This also works to smooth out any rough patches.

This same technique can be used on ceramic planters.