I've been making kissing balls a few years now, and I'm always looking for different things to make them with. I started making them for Christmas time, and made them out of mini ornaments, bells, holly, and poinsettias. I have hung them in doorways, on trees, in bowls, and this year I even put them along my garland above my door. I got so many compliments!!!
With Valentine's Day soon approaching, I wanted to make some with that theme in mind. What more appropriate time to have "kissing" balls then on Valentine's Day!
Here is a little tutorial for you to use if you want to try to make them yourself! Or, they will also be available for purchase in my Etsy Shop!
First, you will need some supplies...
Styrofoam ball
paint
paintbrush
gluegun
gluesticks
crazy yarn (optional)
I like to paint the styrofoam balls before covering them because sometimes you can see the white underneath. It just gives it a cleaner look! So, there is step one.
1) Paint styrofoam ball a similar color as the balls/toppings you are going to cover it with.
I found these foam balls in packs of 6 on sale at Michaels for cheaper than one true styrofoam ball at Wal-Mart! They come in a few different sizes. They have one little hole in them that work great for sticking the end of a paint brush in to let them dry.
2) Start glueing your "toppings" on the styrofoam ball. I got these mini colored styrofoam balls at Ben Franklin in Hawaii months ago. They weigh absolutely NOTHING. Be creative, you can use almost ANYTHING on these.
I like to start near the top and work my way around and down. Don't worry if you aren't covering every little inch of the foam ball, if you painted first, you won't even know when you are done. And, if you finish with yarn, it covers it up even more. (read on)
*Side note: If you are snacking on popcorn while crafting, make sure you are eating out of the right bowl. And just to be clear, I never ate the mini styro balls, but will admit, I came close a time or two!
3) Once the glue has cooled and dried, you can stop here... OR, you can continue to embellish the kissing ball with crazy yarn.
Stick a little dab of glue and string the beginning of your yarn in it to anchor it. Then wrap it between the mini styro balls until you feel you've reached your look!
Here is what they look like after the yarn. Two different sizes. From here, you can stop... and throw them in a bowl, basket, vase, whatever. OR... you can continue on and add other embellishments and a loop of ribbon to hang them!
Here are some examples of other kissing balls I have made.
I used medium sized round styrofoal balls, a bundle of colored twine from Dollar Tree, and cut up cinnamon sticks, along with a glue gun.
And just kept going all around the ball until I got to the top...
Now to be honest, I originally thought I was going to do apples.... BUT... a little light bulb went off above my head as I got to the top and I decided to do pears instead... So as I completed the ball, I started making a swirl on top of my first layer and went out far enough to start a pear shape, then went back on top of THAT layer.... so this would be a third layer of twine (are you with me?)
I just went back and forth, making each layer a little smaller until I got the desired height and shape of a pear! Then I stuck a piece of cinnamon stick on the top!
I started by mixing up my paints to get 3 different shades of orange... and throwing on a coat. You can do more than one coat if you want a more solid color... I kind of liked the thin coat look...
Let paint dry. Then take your floral wire and wrap around a pencil of your paint brush for the curly vines on top of your pumpkin...
Glue, or stab, your fake leaf to the bottom of your cork...
Then glue the cork to the top of your can/pumpkin along with the curled wire...
I finished them off with a few rounds of raffia and am pretty happy with how they turned out!
I am 35 weeks pregnant as of today and I had a friend of mine take some maternity pictures of me. I've seen some really cute photos with mommies-to-be holding wooden blocks with "BABY" or the baby's name in the photos. But instead of buying a whole set of alphabet blocks, I thought I'd try to make my own!
Next, I painted the blocks with black paint
Then I slathered on a layer of Mod Podge on one side of each block...
as well as the backside of the scrapbook paper and then centered the paper on the block.
I had some stencils that fit perfectly inside the paper, so I used a small round sponge brush to dab a little paint over the stencil.
Allow the paint to dry completely.
I put a layer of Mod Podge over the stenciled letters for a glossy finish.
And Voila!
I didn't have the magnetic sheets like in the tutorial, instead, I used a stack of business card magnets and just decreased the font size to 200 before printing. They fit perfectly then.
