DIY Hanging Christmas Light Sparkle Ball

You have probably seen them around Christmas time for many years. Giant light globes hanging from porch rafters or in windows. Some are simply white, while many others are brightly multicolored or monochromatic blues, greens and reds. They set off a holiday light display in a way that is not quite like anything else. Fortunately, these hanging light globes are simple and inexpensive to make and can be customized a bit for globes that are less like those commonly seen.

Materials
2 dozen 16oz* clear plastic drinking cups
1 strand LED Christmas lights with at least 24 lights**
Hot glue gun and glue rods
Screw hook
*Smaller glasses may be used, but will result in a differently shaped globe and require another dozen cups. Likewise, opaque glasses may be used, but this will completely alter the lighting affect created with the globe and result in a brighter light globe than will clear cups.
**Choose your light colors according to the color scheme of your other decorations. These light globes also work well with over-sized outdoor Christmas tree displays, as long as outdoor lights are used.

Unfurl the lights and place the end furthest from the outlet plug closest to you. Heat your glue gun without a rod and use it to melt small holes in the center of each cup bottom, just large enough for a light to poke through. Add a glue rod to the glue gun and allow it to get hot. Glue four of the cups together by placing each two cups side by side and placing glue and the top edge and the bottom edge, then repeating with the other two and gluing the pairs together. When you have glued a group of four, take the end light and push it through the hole of one cup, then the next light into the next cup and so on, until each of the four cups has a light. Continue gluing two cups to each side of the original square of four cups, adding lights as you go, until you have a globe shape with an opening large enough the put your hand inside (about the size of one cup). Stuff any remaining lights into the center of the globe, making sure to leave the plug outside the globe. Place the screw hook where ever you wish to hang the globe, using an extension cord if necessary.