By Liesl Clark
We cleared out an old bin of outside toys near the garage and found 2 beach balls that needed some help. One had been bitten into several times, likely by a raccoon or 2. The other has a slow leak and so we found the spot where it leaks and fixed it, just like a bike tube tire or Thermarest for camping. But the one with multiple ‘coon-bite holes was too colorful to throw into the landfill so we transformed it into a beach tote to carry our belongings down to the shore for the 1/4 mile walk to our nearest swimming spot.
The kids have been taking part in a sewing camp, so hand-sewing the ball into something useful made lots of sense. The following is a simple tutorial for turning your defunct beach ball into a nice waterproof tote for your or the kids to throw your swimming stuff into:
STEP 1: Get out the scissors, some scrap rope, and a sewing kit.
A beach ball with too many bite marks is too hard to repair. Get out the scissors and transform it into something useful.
STEP 2: Cut the ball with an opening the size you’d like for your beach or pool goodies. Leave room for a hem and stitching. (I don’t have a sewing machine)
Cut a large hole in the top of the beach ball, taking out the inflator valve
STEP 3: Turn the ball inside out, fold down a 1″ hem and stitch the ball. Use a straight stitch or your sewing machine if you’re so inclined. But a 6-year-old can enjoy the task, too. You need room for a rope or string to be threaded as a cinch-tie. Leave a 1″ hole in the side for the rope to thread through.
Turn the ball inside-out and straight stitch a hem into it with 1 inch of leeway for a rope or cord to be strung through.
STEP 4: Thread the rope through using a large safety pin as your thread-head.
Thread a scrap piece of rope through. Photo: Liesl Clark
STEP 5: Enjoy!
If you’re looking for some more easy trash hacks, visit our Trash Backwards app for ideas:
Click Through For More Trash Hacks at Trash Backwards
Have you found a good reuse for deflated beach balls or another type of play or sport ball? We’d love to hear about it via the comments area below or on our Facebook page.
wow this is awesome!
Thanks! We’re just waiting for some hot weather where we are to test ours out – If you make one and take it to the beach, please let us know how it goes!
You could probably do something like that with a deflated soccer ball or the like and have it hold golf balls to store on a golf course or something….
Great idea, Lori! If anyone makes one, please let us know – We’d love to hear about it and see a photo!