Tutorial: How to make a bowling ball trophy

When I planned the centerpieces for my daughters’ bowling party, the dining table still felt a little empty. I needed another idea, and immediately thought about these marbled bowling ball cupcake toppers from Handmade Charlotte. I decided to upsize the bowling balls and make bowling ball trophies!

This project was really easy and also inexpensive. You just have to work fast on the marbelizing.

Bowling Ball Trophy Supplies

• 2.5 inch smooth foam balls – Amazon
• 5 inch party trophies – Amazon
• White paint
• Another color of paint
• Toothpicks
• Disposable plastic tub
• Foam block
• Water
• Newspaper to protect your work surface
• Cardstock – I choose white
• Circle punch or scissors or Silhouette Cameo
• Aleene’s Thick Tacky Glue

Bowling Ball Trophy Instructions

1 – Your plastic tub should be something you don’t mind tossing at the end of this project. Pick a size that’s just wide enough and deep enough to fully submerge your foam ball. The smaller your container, the less paint you’ll need to use. Fill the container with enough water to cover your foam ball.

2 – Insert a toothpick firmly into your foam ball.

3 – I used spray paint, but you also can use acrylic craft paint for this project. Spray the surface of the water with the colored paint. Don’t move the spray paint back and forth. Just spray a steady circle of paint until you have a large, solid area. The paint will sit on top of the water.

4 – Repeat the process by spraying a smaller circle of white paint into your circle of colored paint. My paint doesn’t look like a circle because the spray paint separates, but if you are using acrylic paint, it should look more like a circle.

5 – Repeat the process by spraying a smaller circle of colored paint into your circle of white paint for a total of three layers of paint.

6 – Gently drag your toothpick through the paint circles. Move the toothpick in a couple different directions until the surface looks like marble. Don’t overmix.

7 – Holding the foam ball by the toothpick, dip the ball into the paint, twirl once or twice to fully coat the ball, then quickly remove it from the paint. You’ll see dots of water sitting on top of the paint coating the ball.

8 – Insert the toothpick into the foam block to allow the foam ball to dry.

9 – Every other ball or so, you may need to add more paint and re-stir it with a clean toothpick. Each ball will look a little different — just like no two natural marble patterns are the same.

10 – When the foam balls are dry, heat up your hot glue gun. Run a bead of glue around the open edge of your trophy. Immediately place a foam ball on the glue and press to hold.

11 – Cut or punch out small circles of cardstock to represent the three finger holes in a bowling ball. Adhere the circles to the foam ball using Aleene’s Thick Tacky Glue.

I made seven trophies to scatter among the vintage bowling awards and floral arrangements. They also could be fun to award to the guests at your party with silly prize names like “best strike” or “heaviest ball.”

If you have any questions about making these bowling ball trophies, just ask in the comments below.