String Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Hello All - I know I know I have been away from the computer forever!  It seems like a million years ago that I last posted.  Lots has been going on here emptying the house and reorganizing everything so that the house can go on the market.  Its been going slower than I had planned, but I am still good time wise.  Anyway I had enough time the last two days to put together this tutorial.  A thread on SCS inspired me.  So here is my crack at it.

These String balls are super simple to make and you can even get the kids involved.

You start by getting some string, good craft glue (Elmers school glue works great too), a plastic cup, and a balloon blown to the size ornament you want to make, and some pam or other non stick cooking spray (if you don't have any spray just rub with oil or butter).  I tend to do balls in various sizes so that I can put them in a glass bowl on a table for decoration.  This time I did something a little different.  But more on that at the end. 

 

 

 

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Once you have it all together, dump the glue into the plastic cup and cut a very long length of string and add it into the cup and work the glue into the string.  Spray the balloon with Pam and then begin wrapping the balloon with the string.  Make sure to leave holes or you won't be able to get the balloon out in the end.  You can decide on how much or little you want to fill in the balloon with the string.  Once the balloon is covered, dump the excess glue and set the cup aside.

 

  

At this point what I did is optional...While my glue was still wet I doused the string and balloon with gold glitter and then set it on top of the plastic cup to dry.  I let my balloon dry overnight.

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  Once my balloon was dry I pricked the balloon with a needle and let the air out.  Spraying the balloon with pam helped to release it from the string.  Gently pull the balloon out via one of the holes within the string.  If the balloon is stuck anywhere gently push on the balloon area from outside the balloon rather than pulling on the balloon.  It causes less damage to the string.

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For this string ornament I decided to attach it to a light string.  This would have worked better had I had my icicle strings but I just used a regular strand of mini lights.  But I hope this pic gives you some inspiration.  Put a whole small string in it, put a small ornament over each light.  Do different colors of glitter.  There are many options.

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1So here is my end result

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Comments

[Mandy Cheshire]

This is fantastic! I was totally needing some ideas like this one for a church event coming up! THANKS! :)

[Kristine]

Wow!
This tutorial is awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Hugs from Kristine in Norway;)

[Darlene (SCS:akronstamperdpk)]

Wow ... awesome, thanks for sharing!!!

[Lisa Trombitas]

Thanks for your visit and nice comments! LOVE this ball idea and I'll have to try it with my 7 YO DD. So pretty and fun!

[Jackie Zepeda]

Thank you so much for the tutorial. I will have to try it! Glad to see that you are back!