I originally planned on posting our DIY Princess Gumball Machine last week, but life got in the way along with a few other things. Don’t you just love it when you take your kids shopping and they want everything that they see? That’s the story of my life! I have a 4-year-old who watches more YouTube Kids videos than she should—a lot more than she does TV. I thought that when I downloaded YouTube Kids, it would be for educational videos, and that would save me from the “oooh, I want that” from those enticing commercials that they show for kids, really aimed at the parent’s wallet. Well, those videos are just as bad.
Recently we went into Home Goods to get supplies for my spring table, and she saw a gumball machine that she just had to have. To prevent a meltdown in the store, I told her that I’ll make her one, and she gave me that look. You know the look a kid gives you when you tell them the impossible, like “mom, you know you can’t make that!” So I had to prove her wrong. I had seen a few videos on YouTube, and they all did it the same way, you know, the making of a gumball machine red because it’s just supposed to be red. Well, I’m different, and I like to stand out, after all, who says your gumball machine has to be red? So I decided we were going to make a Princess Gumball Machine, and if I can do it, you can do it too!
DIY Princess Gumball Material
Project time: 2 hours, including drying
Materials Needed:
1 – 4″ Terracotta Clay Pot
2 – 6″ Terracotta Saucers
1 – 4″ Terracotta Saucers
Paint color of your choice
1 Decorative Drawer Knob
1 Wingnut
1 Fishbowl or Round Vase (make sure the bigger saucers will cover it)
Glue/Glue Gun (we used E6000)
*I purchased everything that I needed at my local Lowes except for the vase*
Directions:
*Note*: When spraying, make sure you’re in a ventilated area. I did mine outdoors and laid old paper to protect my deck and house.
Step 1: Start by painting your terracotta clay pot in your desired primary color. Madison loves pink, so we decided to paint her pot pink. This is the main body of your gumball machine. Most people paint theirs red, but since we were also going for a princess theme, pink was our color choice.
Step 2: Next, get one of your 6″ terracotta saucers and the 4″ saucer, and also paint them in your primary color.
Step 3: Your remaining 6″ terracotta saucer you’re going to paint in your secondary color. If you prefer, you can also paint them all in one color, but I personally loved the color combo.
Place all your painted pieces in the sun and let them dry. Since I used spray paint and the sun was shining down that day, I left them out for about an hour, although they were done after about 30 minutes. I also applied another coat of paint to cover up the bare spots that I could see.
Step 4: Attach some glue to the base of your terracotta clay pot and place your 6″ saucer painted in the secondary color on top of the base. If you decide that you want to make it look more like a real gumball machine, you can skip that and attach your vase or fishbowl to the terracotta pot. We placed the saucer for more stability and because it looked “cute.”
Step 5: Next, glue your fishbowl or vase to your saucer, which you just recently stuck on to your terracotta pot. If you forgo that step, then you would glue it onto your terracotta pot instead.
Step 6: Glue your smaller 4″ terracotta saucer onto your 6″ saucer, as shown below. This is your cover for your gumball machine, and the smaller cover helps it stay in place a lot better once you place it on your bowl or vase.
Step 7: Now, it’s time to put on your wingnut, drawer knob, and any other decorative pieces that you want to attach to it. For this step, I used my glue gun. For my “supposed” hole, I used a 1″ circle punch on white cardstock paper and attached the circle to the front of the gumball machine. To cover the hole of the wingnut, I added a gem to give it that extra “princessy” touch. I also had some gem mesh decorative ribbon that I used to wrap around my machine. I also did this to the top of the cover after attaching my drawer knob.
Now all you have to do is add your gumballs, and you’re good to go. This was a rather fun project to do, and Madison now has a Princess Gumball Machine like no other. While I’m all for spending the money, it was rather excellent spending time together, and she enjoyed doing the little things, like punching the hole and even adding the drawer knob to the top of the cover. Would I do something like this again? You bet I would.
Let’s discuss: What was the last thing you made with your own kids?
