Spring Kissing Balls

Remember when I made my Crepe Paper Rose Wreath for Valentine's Day?

I loved it! I seriously contemplated leaving it hanging on my door all year because it was so cute! {I still might!}

So, I decided to make something very similar for Spring, but on a ball instead of a wreath.

And guess what? I love these too! And, yes, I might leave them sitting around all year long!

Wanna make your own? Here's what you'll need:

Styrofoam balls

Crepe Paper

Glue gun and LOTS of glue sticks

I got everything at Hobby Lobby.

My Styrofoam balls were 3 inches. I really wanted bigger ones, but I didn't want to pay twice as much for them, so I got the smaller ones

I'm really glad I went with the smaller ones after all, because they almost doubled in size once the rosettes were on.

So here's how to make the cute little things:

The first thing you do is make your rosettes.

I cut a whole bunch of crepe paper streamers in about 24 inch lengths.

Then all you do is wrap it around and around. I start it out wrapping around my thumb.

Start wrapping and twisting. Since the balls are pretty small, you want to wrap and twist pretty tight to get smaller rosettes.

It might take you a few tries to get the hang of it.

Once it's all wrapped,  just hot glue the tail down.

Keep going until you've got precisely a bajillion rosettes.

It's always good to have a cute little red-headed helper.

Once you've got all of your flowers ready, spread a whole grundle of hot glue on the back.

And stick your rosettes to your Styrofoam ball.

Keep gluing them on until the whole thing is full.

I don't like spaces between mine, so I squish them really tight together.

If your fingers look like this and are burned beyond feeling, then you're doing it right!

Just keep gluing them on until your ball is all covered and you're done!

It gets pretty tedious making all of the flowers, but I just did it while I watched the Biggest Loser, so it didn't seem like that long.

I made a few in different colors for Spring. And yes, I love them all.

I stuck them on a tray with some spring flowers, and it really brightens up my kitchen.

And yes, that is my thrift store tray. Hard to believe it used to have a picture of a snowman holding a flag, eh?

Come back on Thursday I'll show you how I arranged those spring flowers.

Here's the breakdown on how long this took and how much it cost:

Total time to make: About 1 1/2 hours.

Total cost: $5.39

Styrofoam balls: $4.77 (for 6. I only used 3, so $2.39 )

Crepe Paper: $3.00 for 3 rolls (I only used about 1/3 of each roll, but we'll still count it.)

Hot glue: Already had it, but it uses A LOT!

If you really do make these kissing balls {or anything from my blog}, please send me a picture! I love to see all of the things you gals are working on!

mycorduroydreams{at}gmail.com