Skip The Basic Garden Lights: Upcycle Pickle Balls For A Cool Look

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With pickleball being so popular, naturally, there are tons more pickleballs being produced, and also, tons more broken ones from play. Rather than toss these imperfect balls, however, upcycle them instead and keep them out of the landfill — one pickleball at a time. For example, Bradford Hermann over at YouTube has an idea for a good old-fashioned DIY: use cracked pickleballs to spruce up your basic garden lights.

If you play the game, chances are you have a few broken pickleballs you can use for a DIY. If not, you can visit local courts or rec centers and ask if they have any damaged pickleballs they would like to get rid of. For this DIY, you'll also want some string lights. The string lights should be for outdoor use, and also waterproof (an IP65 rating). To fit inside the pickleballs, you'll need lights with small bulbs.

Also, get something to stake the pickleball lights with, like these 6-inch garden stakes from Feed Garden at Amazon, so that they stay in place on the ground. Finally, have a pair of sharp scissors on hand to cut into the pickleball, so that the string can fit into the ball, too, for a tight, secure fit.

A pickleball should fit over the bulbs in a string of lights; the holes should be big enough. The bulb in a string of lights is 5 millimeters in diameter, or ~0.2 inches. The smallest pickleball hole, used for outdoor play, is 0.28 inches. Indoor pickleball holes are even larger at 0.43 inches in diameter, per pickleball paddle maker Paddletek. That said, to secure the string of lights, have it go through one pickleball hole and out another.

If your pickleball is already cracked, you might be able to just push the string and bulb through the connecting hole; if not, use your scissors to make a slice between two holes, then push the string into the ball. This way, it'll stay in place without the need for adhesive, tape, or twine. You also then can hang the pickleball lights up around your patio, deck, or gazebo. The pickleballs will look like little round lanterns. And that's it: a one-step DIY!

On that note, if you have Wiffle balls instead, there are DIYs for them, too, like this cutest fall décor that uses a Dollar Tree Wiffle ball. Or, yet another kind of ball you can upcycle into home and garden décor is a plastic pit ball, with ideas including garland, a chandelier, and ornaments.