Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, following all your instructions:
So, the other day I got it into my head that I was gonna make a soccer ball, like the ones they used in the 2018 World Cup. I’d seen some videos, figured, “How hard could it be?” Famous last words, right?
First thing, I grabbed some thick paper. Figured I’d start with a prototype. I spent, I kid you not, like two hours just trying to cut out perfect pentagons and hexagons. My scissors were NOT cooperating. My hands were cramping. It was a mess.
The Great Paper Mache Debacle
Then, I thought, “Okay, paper mache! That’s how you make a sphere, right?” I remembered doing this in, like, third grade. So I whipped up a batch of flour and water paste – way too watery at first, then I dumped in way too much flour, it was like cement. Finally got it to a somewhat usable consistency.
I started slapping this goopy mess onto my paper shapes, which, by the way, were already starting to curl up from the moisture. I was trying to stick them together, forming some kind of ball-like shape, but it just looked like a lumpy, soggy… thing.
- Flour and water mixture: FAIL
- Paper shapes: Double FAIL
- My sanity: Questionable
Rethinking My Life Choices…and Materials
After that disaster, I decided to scrap the paper mache idea. It was just too… primitive. I needed something more durable, something that wouldn’t dissolve at the first sign of moisture. My child has an old soccer ball, and I inflated it with a pump, hoping that it could help me to hold shape.
Then I tried using a glue gun, slowely gluing the pattern together, I finally made it! I feel great!
So, yeah, that’s my “soccer ball 2018” adventure. I’ve included some picture, and It’s not perfect, but hey, I made it. And I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes, things are way harder than they look on YouTube.
