Sharing knowledge for the art of artificial craft pumpkins.
#95637
New From Funkins - Carvable - X-MAS Balls
These Are Really Nice, and Look Just Like a Real Christmas Ball !!


They Come in Red - White - or Green

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They Can ONLY be purchased on the Funkins Website
Price: $20.00 Each + Shipping


Weight 1 lbs
Size: ( I have One and it's about the Size of a 9" Pumpkin)


Description:

Fun-Kins foam Christmas ball ornaments have a smooth shiny glass like finish but they carve just like our pumpkins. They even come with a genuine metal clip for hanging. The bottom has a flat surface which allows the ornament to be used as a table top decoration. This special edition to the Fun-Kin line of carvables is very limited so get them while they last!



Click the Link Below to Order them, before their GONE !



http://store.funkins.com/shop/



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#95643
Thank you, St0ney! I was just on their site this weekend and only saw the green color -- I am heading back to buy the red. I hope people post pictures of their carves on these balls... I am really excited about them, and am so glad to hear they carve like the regular foam pumpkins.
#95656
pagemaster1993 wrote:These are pretty cool. At least they don't cost as much as one of those tombstones. :thumbsup:
But also keep in mind the sizes... these ornaments sell for $20 and are 9 inches in diameter. The tombstones are $60 but stand a whopping 3 feet tall.

I created a new circular pattern to carve into my round Fun-kins Christmas ornament. Here's how it turned out!

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#95664
I have a few questions about these:

Do they have a flat bottom? I really can't tell by the picture, but it doesn't seem so.,

How do you light them?, and lastly

Do they carve well?
#95667
Great questions, pagemaster. I should have provided more info about the experience...

They do have a flat bottom, although the flat spot is quite small. It's enough to stand it up to take a picture, but I don't think I'd trust it to stay put on a table or shelf that might be bumped. I'd recommend hanging it from the metal loop on top, or set it on curved dish or something so it can't roll away.

I actually cut a hole in the bottom, right where the flat spot is. Because this leads to your next question - how to light it. Since this is smaller than a pumpkin (9 inches) you might want to use a smaller battery powered LED light. I used the intelliFLAME Triple LED Submersible Lights, as mentioned in this thread. I cut a hole just to fit.

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Important tip: If you wedge a light into a hole that just fits, be careful you don't push it all the way in. Or you may not be able to fish it back out. I eventually wrapped a piece of clear tape around my light, looping over the top of it, and out the bottom, so the tape sticking out could serve as a pull-tab to pull the light out.

If you display one of these ornaments around Christmas lights, you can also stick a bit of the Christmas light string inside the hole.

Oh, and also because the ornament is smaller than a pumpkin, and I cut a small hole in the bottom, I had to give extra thought to how I was removing the cut pieces of the design. You won't be able to reach your whole hand inside. Small pieces that fall in should come out, but when you cut large pieces, you might want to pull them outward to remove, so they don't get stuck rattling around inside.

How well do they carve? Well if you've carved a Fun-kin recently, it's about on par with their pumpkins. Because it's a small sphere with a thick paint coating, it feels super solid. I was intimidated to cut into at at first. But once I started, I found that it carved just like any Fun-kin. The ornament is 1/4" thick. I cut it with the ZP Pro Carving Tool with the small blade.

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You may want to take some care when cutting, so you don't accidentally peel away the high gloss paint on the surface. It doesn't chip, but can peel back in narrow detail spots if you're not cautious.

Let me know if you have any other questions about my experience with it.
#95669
I wasn't sure where to put this - either carving photos or the Christmas balls, so Ryan feel free to move it.

I have to say I LOVED carving this Christmas ball. It was so easy, and needed very little "clean up" with the diamond bit. I echo Ryan's comments about the paint. I outlined with a fresh exacto first, and used a fresh, sharp bit for the project. I chose a straightforward cut-out (thanks, St0ney), and gave it my best shot. I am not big on shading foam, but I am sure the balls would be fine, if just a little smaller to work on.

I lit them with the same submersible lights Ryan used above (in Amber), although I find the battery life (supposedly 20 hours) is on the low side to be used night after night. I usually reserve those for Halloween night, and go back to tap lights for long-term displays.

The only caveat, is that the gloss finish is sooooo shiny, that I kept getting flares and reflections from my flash in the photos. I use a timer & tripod, but I clearly need to venture out of "auto" mode so I can skip the flash - at least with these shiny ornament balls.

Here's a pic of my 2015 Christmas line-up: Ryan's Rudolf, along with St0ney's Santa and the Bells. Santa and Rudolf on the smaller, Home Depot/Wal-mart (Home Accents?) foam 'kins.

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#95681
Cirrus - this topic fits either place, I guess it's good to share here, since we seem most interested in this new seasonal product at the moment. It's cool to hear about other people's experience with the ornaments.

Smart idea to outline the design with an X-acto blade first. I may have to try that next time. Makes sense. Create a separation in the paint so you're less likely to peel or chip along those lines.

The amber submersible LED lights look nice in the photo, very warm and cozy. I agree, those lights are great for photos and for short term display. But they can start to dim after being on several hours nonstop. If you want to display your holiday carvings all night, for many nights, something electric or with larger batteries is a good idea.

I also had to take extra care with my photo, due to the high gloss of the ornament. It reflects the whole room. Any direct lights will bounce back, so you have to be a little strategic with the lighting. Whatever you did, your photo came out great! You can clearly see the designs and the pumpkins/ornament. Well lit, nicely composed. You got it.

Pumpken - Ken, you have provided the perfect example of what is possible with these ornaments. You clearly have the experience and confidence to do something that detailed. I don't know if I'd be willing to attempt that. :lol: Bravo.