Happy Valentine’s Day!  Today I am going to share a tutorial for a DIY crepe paper flower kissing ball.  What an appropriate name for Valentine’s day, huh?  Lol.  When I made these balls for my Valentine’s Day mantel, I wasn’t planning on making a tutorial for them because I have seen plenty of tutorials done before.  However, when I was looking for instructions on how to make them, it was very confusing at first, the instructions were not very clear and one video I watched did not fully show how to make the roses well.  So I thought I would do my best to come up with a thorough tutorial.  We will see how it turns out.  😉

These balls go by several names, I have seen them called kissing balls, pomander balls, and just flower balls.  They are so cute and could be used for many things besides on my mantel!  I think they would be great to use for wedding centerpieces/decor, baby shower decorations, decorations for a little girl’s room or party just to name a few.

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For this project you will need:

• Streamers (crepe paper) – I used about 1.5 per ball
• 6” styrofoam ball
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• Measuring device
• Scissors
• Candlesticks (optional)

I cut my streamers into strips about 22” long.  Mr. Wonderful measured out 22” on the table and put a piece of tape on the table to make it easier for me to measure each time.  I was just using my measuring tape each time.  He is so smart!  That’s why I keep him around.  😉  You can cut a bunch ahead of time, but I just cut them as I went along.

Take a strip and fold it about ⅓ of the way down on the long side.  This will help to keep the “stem” of the rose a little smaller and also give the flower a more dimensional look when the roses are made.  If the streamer feels really stiff, you can crumple it up first then smooth it out again before folding it down.  One roll that I used seemed stiffer than the other ones so I did that on some of my roses.  

The trickiest part of making these flower balls is figuring out how to make the roses. I will do my best to explain it to you but the easiest way to figure out how to do it will be to look at the pictures, watch the video and play with a couple of strips yourself to get it down.  My first several roses did not turn out so great.  I was making them a little small as well.  You will get the hang of it more as you go along.

First, roll up the end of the strip about ⅓ of the length of it to make a spiral.  You will now start to twist the strip away from you while wrapping it around the spiral.  Grab the strip about an inch away from the rose and twist it just behind the previous row.  Try to keep the twists towards the top of the rose.  It is a little hard to get it started but after you get past the first couple of twists it goes along really easy. Just continue to twist and turn, twist and turn.  If it starts to slip down, just push the rose all back up to the top.  You want to hold on to the stem and pinch it together while you are twisting.

As you get towards the end of the strip, start making your twists under the previous ones (closer to the stem) so it gives your rose the appearance of layers.  This will also keep the rose from getting too big and spread out.  I did not use any hot glue as I went along, I just put a dab of hot glue on at the end of each strip. I tried to keep my fingers out of the way to keep them from getting burned.  Just use the end of your hot glue gun to press the strip down.  Lastly, fold over the stem and glue that down.  Here is a sped up video to show you how to make the roses.  You will get a good idea from this on how to make them.

 

When gluing the roses onto the ball, I first placed them in a straight line, then nestled the next row into the previous one.  The roses have some corners and straight edges so it is easy to fit them together, kinda like a puzzle.  🙂  Continue this until you the ball is completely covered.  The last couple of roses you may need to make a little smaller depending on the size of the space left.  When I got to this point, Mr. Wonderful saw it and said it looked like Frenchie from Grease and proceeded to sing “Beauty School Dropout”.  Lol.

I put mine on some wooden candlesticks but you could also use them on their own or even add some ribbon and hang them.  They were fun to make and really cute!  It is a great way to add some color to a room and streamers come in many colors and are very inexpensive!

These are perfect to make while watching your favorite TV shows.  I am a multitasker, lol.  I like knowing that my time spent on things like watching TV can be productive as well.  That is how I am able to get a lot of things done.  🙂  I hope this tutorial helps to make these flower balls less confusing and easier to make for you.  Have a great day!  Spend it with someone you love.