String Ball Pt 2

Hello!!

Sorry this post is late, but it is better late than never!

So, as promised, here is the how-to for my string ball!

You Will Need:

Mod Podge

Aleene’s Tacky Glue (or some other clear-drying liquid glue)

Yarn

A balloon

Scissors

1. Start by blowing up the balloon to the size you want your ball to be. Tie it.

2. Wrap the yarn around the balloon’s tail 3 to 4 times, leaving about 2in. of yarn. When you start wrapping the yarn around the balloon, make sure you catch the end of the yarn (sorry this is a bit confusing. This photo should help you.)

3. Now take the ball of yarn with one hand and pour some glue onto your other hand.

4. Pull the string of yarn through the glue in your hand and wrap it around the ball. Try to get lots of glue on the yarn without covering the yarn in glue. You want to be able to see the color of the yarn!

Do not get too close to the tie of the balloon. You want there to be an empty space there. That will become an extra-big hole that you can use to put lights inside.

Keep wrapping the yarn around the balloon. Try to be as random as possible.

5. When you have finished wrapping the yarn around the ball, cut off the yarn ball and secure the end of the yarn with some more glue. Let it dry, mine took about 30 minutes.

6. Once it is mostly dry, cover the whole thing in Mod Podge. Try to focus on the places with the most yarn. Let it dry, about 30 minutes to an hour.

7. When is has dried, unwrap the yarn you wrapped around the balloon. This is the loop you can use to hang the ball.

8. Now make a small nick in the top of the balloon, just below the tie. DO NOT pop the balloon all the way. The ball will not survive.

When the ball starts to sound like popcorn, don’t fret! That is just the glue releasing. Slowly help the balloon disconnect from the ball and pull it out the hole in the top.

9. If your ball starts collapsing or ends up looking something like this, don’t freak out! Just gently pull the collapsed bit out. If you put enough glue on the yarn it should hold it’s shape.

And there you go! If you want your ball to have two colors like my first one, do everything up to step 5. Before you let the ball sit and dry, continue wrapping it in a different color. You do not have to wrap the end of the yarn around the ball like with the first color, just glue down the end and start wrapping like normal!

I hope you give this a try. I know this was a long and slightly confusing post, so if you have any questions please ask them!! I will answer them as best I can. Enjoy!