An artificial star basically reproduces the pinpoint nature of a star. You'll need some good distance between it and your scope, perhaps you can try it in your hallway or something.
Can be done outside too of course if you are willing to bring your gear down and setup outside.
Same concept as the ball bearing: just place it away from the scope: I would say at least 20m away. Point to it, find it in your eyepiece and you will then see the rings on each side of the focus and the airy disk if the conditions are right.
Just take your time in adjusting the collimation, not something to be rushed.
Here is a great article detailing the procedure:
http://www.astrophoto.fr/collim.html
Hope this helps!