16 Clever Ways To Repurpose Ping Pong Balls Around The House

If you own a ping pong table, it's likely there's a bucket of ping pong balls lying in wait for a bash. Even if your racket sport days are behind you, you can get those balls in motion again with some creativity (if you've never played table tennis, ping pong balls are sold for cheap at dollar stores and other discount retailers). There are plenty of clever ways to repurpose ping pong balls around the house, from creating a custom lamp to upgrading your pre-lit Christmas tree.

Like the game, there are a couple of rules to keep in mind when repurposing these small, plastic playthings. Any logos and other writing on your ping pong balls can be removed with sandpaper, although many of these upcycles involve painting the balls instead. If some of your ping pong balls are dented or crushed, don't worry — they're still usable. To restore their shape, immerse the balls in a pot of hot water or pour boiling water over them. The indentations should pop right out.

Finally, one note of caution for projects that upgrade ordinary string lights by placing ping pong balls over the LED bulbs: In 2023, the government recalled LED string lights from the brands Bunkhouse and Lotsa LIGHTS! due to overheating. Although LED lights are generally considered safe, faulty wiring or components can cause fires. Turn off these lights when not in use, and check them periodically to see if the bulbs are warm to the touch.

Although rubber bands can be stored in bags and boxes, turning them into a ball is not only space efficient but also super fun. Using a ping pong ball as the base, stretch rubber bands across it to build it up in size. As you go, turn the ball with each new rubber band. With enough rubber bands, the ball can get quite large. Display it somewhere in the house, and remove rubber bands as you need them. Rubber band balls can bounce, so you can even use it to entertain the kids on a rainy day.

This upcycle is pretty fun, and it's a helpful hack for when you have an open bag that needs securing but no chip clips. Cut open a ping pong ball halfway. The cut should resemble a mouth. Guess what you have to do next? Draw a face. You can get super fancy with this, or you can just use a marker to draw eyes, a nose, and lips. To use the clip, apply pressure to both corners of the mouth, insert it over the top of a bag, and release. The ping pong ball clip will hold the bag closed.

There are several methods you can use to create a lamp with ping pong balls. One of the easiest is making a bubble lamp. At the start of the project, drill a hole into each ball and insert an LED bulb from a string of fairy lights. Then, you can create a series of loops out of these balls and stack them on top of one another. Form each loop by placing the balls along the circular perimeter of, for example, a food storage container lid and gluing them together. Once assembled with lights in place, simply turn the lamp over and plug it in.

Fish need stimulation to reduce stress and to live longer, healthier lives, according to tropical fish experts. While there's a market out there for fish enrichment toys, one of the simplest ways to entertain them inside your at-home aquarium is to simply place a ping pong ball in the water. Some fish will learn to push it back and forth across the tank in a sort of mini solo game of football. Try cutting holes in the ball first to help it float more freely around the tank.

Ping pong balls aren't just for small crafts. You can also use them to decorate the frame of a mirror. You might want to upcycle a mirror you already have or purchase one from a thrift shop, garage sale, or dollar store. Decide on a color for the frame, then paint the balls in that color, either with liquid or spray paint. Once the balls are dry, use a hot glue gun to attach them to the frame. The balls can extend past the frame for a more dramatic effect. If the base of the frame is thick enough, you can even glue balls around the edges to create a three-dimensional effect.

Space-age sputniks are usually found in ceiling-hanging lights, either as original mid-century modern fixtures or fashioned new in that same vintage style. Ping pong balls can create the same look as wall fixtures using a Styrofoam half-round, skewers, and paint. Cut a hole in each ball and push a skewer through it. The skewers can then be arranged by sticking them in the half-ball, which is usually used for faux flowers. Spray paint the entire piece gold for an authentic look, then simply hang it on the wall.

With a bit of effort, you can easily transform ping pong balls into fairy lights. (But first, a heads-up: If you want to use them outdoors, opt for outdoor string lights for this makeover.) Cut a small hole into each ball and place it over a bulb. Use a hot glue gun to hold the balls in place. Opt for waterproof glue, as some melted sticks may not hold up to continuous moisture exposure. Multicolored string lights give the balls color, as does painting them. Alternatively, leave the balls white and consider drawing on them with permanent markers to make custom designs, like a baseball.

There are so many seasons and occasions that you can announce with a wreath on your front door, and ping pong balls make it easy. In the simplest version of this craft project, poke holes through opposite ends of each ball and string them on 16-gauge aluminum utility wire. Once full, connect the wire at both ends to form a wreath of ping pong balls. Paint the wreath the color of your choice, and use a hot glue gun to adorn it with faux flowers, foliage, ribbons, and other decorations.

With a bit of imagination, it's easy to create wondrous sculptures using ping pong balls. This craft is recommended for children, but don't worry — you, too, can create a fun sculpture to display in your home. Place the balls in any configuration you like, mixing them with slightly larger balls meant for ball pits, and use a hot glue gun to affix them together. Decorate with tempera paint. For an adult knockoff of a high-end decorative sculpture, use an L-shaped ruler to glue balls together in perfectly straight lines, forming a square. Then create more squares in the same formation, stack them, glue them together, and spray paint.

This ping pong ball rainbow will look good just about anywhere in your house, including a children's space, the front door, or the living room. First, choose a color palette for the rainbow, then paint the balls in primary colors, pastels, or some other combination. Cut holes through each ball and string them onto wire in what will become each band of the rainbow. Once you join these "bands" together with the wire, tie tassels at the bottom using natural cotton rope to mimic clouds. Then, simply hang the rainbow on your wall of choice.

To repurpose ping pong balls into salt and pepper shakers, you can either paint them, otherwise decorate them, or leave them exactly as they are. First, find cork stoppers. You can purchase cork stoppers in bulk from Amazon for about $10, though you'll probably get way more than you need. Alternatively, you can carve stoppers from wine bottle corks or purchase a shaker set at a thrift store and use the stoppers for your project. Cut out a hole the size of the stopper, then pierce small holes at the top of each shaker. The ping pong balls give the shaker set an unconventional shape.

Here's another ping pong upcycle that can be a fun, rainy-day project for children. Just make a hole in a ping pong ball, then slip it over a battery-operated tea light, and you've transformed the two objects into a nightlight. Decorate the ball with permanent markers, creating designs like planet Earth or a ladybug. If you're willing to get messy, fill a paint tray with acrylic paints of different colors and have the kids roll a ball around in it. Once dry, the nightlight tops look like miniature planets.

Here's a great craft for those with pre-lit Christmas trees (or any Christmas trees, for that matter). Put ping pong balls over your string lights for an unusual but still-festive look. Cut a criss-cross shape into each ball with a tool like an X-Acto knife. The light bulbs will fit easily into the holes. This is another project that works well with white or multicolored lights, as well as those that flash. Of course, you can also decorate the balls with designs or use other crafting supplies like sparkles.

Some gardeners like to use ping pong balls as filler for large, outdoor flower pots. Because ping pong balls are so light, they won't make the pots any heavier (and therefore more difficult to move). In fact, the balls take up room inside the pot, meaning you won't need as much soil, which is good, as excess soil will only increase the pot's overall weight. Plus, the ping pong balls aid in drainage when the pot doesn't have a designated hole. Worth noting, however, is that ping pong balls aren't very effective at protecting roots from getting waterlogged, which may be just as well since many gardeners prefer more natural, biodegradable options.

For those rainy days when you have nothing else to do, why not use ping pong balls to craft a fun spinner for the kids? It's easy to make a spinner using a plastic water or soda bottle: Just cut off the top of the bottle, leaving the cap twisted on. Glue one ball to the bottom of the cut-off portion of the bottle neck. Hot glue three ping pong balls around the sides of the bottle top. Once dry, spin the toy using the bottle top as the handle.

For this helpful craft, you'll need six popsicle sticks. These will form a type of easel for your mobile phone stand. Take three and glue them into a triangle. Placing the triangle flat on a surface, glue another stick at a right angle atop one of them (make sure it's attached lengthwise, as this will be what your phone sits on). Cut a ping pong ball in half, rubbing the cut edge on some sandpaper. Holding the triangle upright, glue one half of the ball against the back of the triangle's bottom. Take the final stick and glue it in two places: at the peak of the triangle and against the back of the ball.