Skip to Content

Make Your Own Patriotic DIY Garden Ball

This shop/post has been compensated by Collective Bias, INC. and The Coca-Cola Company, all opinions are mine alone. #CokeDGSupportMilitary #CollectiveBias

Saying thank you is really important and showing your gratitude can be effective in many different ways. I wanted to show my support for our military by making a Patriotic DIY Garden Ball and I am excited to share how I did it so you can Make Your Own Flag Garden Ball, too!

Inspiration for Making a DIY Garden Ball

I was raised to say thank you whenever someone helps me out, does a favor for me, or just goes out of their way to make my life easier somehow. There is no need to try and remember to say thank you to people when they do something nice for me because it comes naturally, almost like a reflex.

A lot of people seem to feel the same way as I do about showing your appreciation with something as simple as a thank you. That is why I am so excited to share that everyone can go online and send a thank you to service members thanks to Coca-Cola supporting the USO!

Please join Dollar General, the USO, and Coca-Cola™  by helping them reach the goal of sending 25K messages of support and thanks to our nation’s service members and their families. The message you send will go directly to service members around the world a simple way to say ‘thanks’ to those who serve our country with dedication and honor each day.

I also like to show my support by purchasing products that support our military. I recently made a trip to Dollar General to pick up the exclusive 5-can limited edition series highlighting: Veteran, Service Member, Military Spouse, Military Mom, and Military Dad.

I love the new packaging highlighting different people connected to the military, I had to collect all 5!

My personal favorite can is the Veteran one because it reminds me of all of the people in my family that are veterans as well as one of my favorite people on this planet, Bob.

Make Your Own Patriotic Garden Ball

Bob served in the Army and occasionally tells me stories about his time in Vietnam as well as the other places he was stationed. It is a lot of fun learning about the history of our country from someone who actually live it. He is quite an amazing person and I like to do things to show him I am thankful for his friendship as well as his service.

Since Bob is a friend and lives nearby I can always have him over for dinner or swing by his house if he needed something so showing my appreciation is a little easier in this case.

Although as a nonservice member sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough to show my support so I like to get creative and say thank you by displaying patriotic crafts that I make in my yard.

My most recent project consists of repurposing a bowling bowl and turning it into a Patriotic DIY Garden Ball. So the first thing you need to do is acquire a bowling ball. This should not be hard as almost every thrift store and a garage sale is trying to get rid of them for a dollar.

The next step is to spray your bowling ball with a base coat.

Since I am creating a patriotic garden ball, my base coat is white.

I place the bowling ball on a pole for spraying, because it is round and you want to ensure good coverage if you don’t have a pole just put your ball in a ramekin to hold it while you paint.

The next step is adding the red stripes.

When painting the stripes you will most likely need to do several coats to let the true red shade come through so don’t sweat the first couple of stripes fading, you will be able to fill it in soon.

I began adding my stripes all around the ball to give me a good idea of where each one should line up and I didn’t get stuck on making the perfect lines just yet.

After your lines are all in place, go back over with a second coat to fill in any spots that need it.

Now it’s time to find the center of the garden ball so you can add blue stars in an area that will be the focal point. I added exactly 50 stars in a rectangle shaped pattern.

That is all it takes to make your own patriotic garden ball. Place it in a high traffic area to show your support for our military and decorate your garden at the same time!

I love simple ways to say thank you so the Dollar General, USO and Coca-Cola partnership is the perfect simple way to say ‘thanks’ to those who serve our country with dedication and honor each day. Don’t forget to send a message of support to the military!

About Thirty Something Super Mom

Melissa Dixon Thirty Something Super Mom
Thirty Something Super Mom | Website

My journey started after a Crohn's disease diagnosis, inspiring a commitment to well-being. This site shares my distinctive approach to healthy living with my collection of nutritious recipes that boast authentic flavors, mimicking the indulgence of traditional dishes. I love sharing guilt free recipes for low carb, keto, gluten-free, paleo, and the specific carbohydrate diet. I also share tips on natural living, including homemade cleaners and cleaning hacks. I also share my experience as a veterinary technician and pet groomer, to integrate pet health tips, homemade dog food recipes, and grooming insights to ensure your pets thrive.

Patty Asher

Tuesday 4th of July 2017

What a wonderful idea I had a couple of plastic popcorn tubs and a plastic cake plate with the dome and I made it into a birdbath painted it red white and blue for the 4th but I will keep it out to say thanks and will most likely make the garden ball but I don't have a bowling ball so I'm gonna try to use one of my grandsons bouncy balls I got at the dollar store.thank you for the idea..

Sally Booth

Tuesday 20th of June 2017

Great idea! I will be looking for a bowling ball tomorrow. I know others will want to do one too.

My Teen Guide

Monday 19th of June 2017

I would love to make a patriotic garden ball too. However, no one in the family has an old bowling ball I can use. :( Oh well, there is always a thrift store nearby. I hope I can find one. Thanks for being such a good friend to Bob. We must always remember these people who served and continuously serve to protect our freedom.

Amanda Love

Monday 19th of June 2017

What a beautiful way to honor veterans for their service and sacrifices. I think it's awesome that there's a project like this from Dollar General. You're such a good person for taking care of Bob!

Melissa Dixon

Monday 19th of June 2017

For the record, I don't take care of Bob. Bob takes care of Bob. He is very self-reliant and fully capable of doing more than most people half his age. He is a brilliant inventor and engineer as well as creative, not to mention, a really hard worker. This guy will put up a fence in the amount of time most people take to play with their fidget spinners, there are not many like him left and that is a shame. He is one of a kind and I am happy to call him my friend, if anything I may need him to take care of me :)

Rebecca Swenor

Sunday 18th of June 2017

I love the idea of supporting our service men and women . This patriotic garden ball is amazing and It is something I will have to make for sure. Kudos to Coke Cola and Dollar General for their campaign to help our service men and women. Thanks for sharing the information and this awesome garden ball. .