Friends, meet my new little pretties:
If you’ve been around pinterest much lately, you’ve probably seen this glittery snowball tutorial by Martha Stewart. I thought it looked like a friendly enough little project, until I checked out the comments. Everyone says stay far away from this project! It doesn’t work! The balloons will stick! The balls will collapse, bringing your sanity and self-esteem crashing down upon you!
So I thought: that looks like something I should try.
Since the tutorial doesn’t offer any pictures, I took some along the way to show you how it worked for me. Here’s what I used:
- Small package of water balloons
- Tacky glue
- Plain white string
- Glitter
- Ornament Hooks
- Water
Partial cast of characters:
Step 1: Pour a little tacky glue in a bowl and water it down.
Here’s my bowl with just glue, then with water too so you can get an idea of proportions. I ended up using lots more water as the project progressed… mostly because I was running out of glue… but it worked both ways.
Step 2: Blow up your water balloons
Not too big, and don’t leave your pack of water balloons laying out on the living room floor so your 21-month-old finds them, then later you think you MIGHT have seen him swallow something, so you rush to the emergency room and spend 2.5 hours there until midnight last night getting his chest x-rayed because you thought you heard a weird cough coming out of him. Wait, did this just turn personal? Yes, I’d like to erase last night. Hide your water balloons. 
Step 3: Wrap with string
Tie the end of the string onto the end of your balloon, and just start going wild. We are going WILD in this craft time. 
Step 4: Glue.
I dunked the balloon in my glue bowl and rolled it around until it was covered. I didn’t even attach the end of the string to the balloon in any way – just used the glue to hold it on. This step is gonna get messy and gluey. RELISH it. 
Step 5: Add glitter
This is where you’re getting your money’s worth with this post: add the glitter right now, before you hang it to try. Don’t listen to Martha, bless her little heart. Just pour the glitter on your balloon over a bowl until it’s covered in shiny Christmasy delight.
Step 6: Dry
I attached a little twist tie to the end of my balloon, then hung the twist tie from a piece of string on a dowel. Martha recommends using a clothespin “threaded on a dowel that you’ve suspended from two points.” You can try that too. But this way, you can use your shower rod or whatev.
Now DON’T TOUCH IT for at least 24 hours. I waited longer than that because I’m an incredibly, patient diligent crafter I got really busy, then procrastinated. Update: based on a recent comment, leaving them up to 48 hours might be the key to making them dry correctly and not stick. So I recommend procrastination.
Step 7: Remove the balloon and hang.
I’m so excited for you when you get to this step! It’s intensely satisfying. You stick a pair of tweezers in a hole and pop the balloon, then it makes this amazing crinkly sound while it slowly pulls away from the sides of the string and withers into a sad little balloon mess in the middle of your snowball. Fantastic.
(Quick tip: Try this with one or two snowballs before you dive into making a hundred. Some people said their string stuck to their balloon, but spraying it with Pam helped fix the problem. That didn’t happen to me, and hopefully it won’t to you either.)
Remove the balloon pieces with a pair of tweezers and try not to jump up and down with excitement. Insert an ornament hook on one of the string pieces to hang.
I brought in some branches from the yard, displayed them in a vase and hung my snowy balls from the branches. I think they’d also look amazing on a Christmas tree.
P.S.: Check out these other holiday decorating ideas!
Let's connect
|
Sharing is what friends do:
|
|
|
|
|
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Beautiful! I love that they are glittery.. very festive!
Your little branch/glitter corner is adorable!! I try to avoid glue. I’m dangerous with glue. Spray paint is my craft weapon of choice lately!
You can’t be any more dangerous with glue than I am with glitter. Yesterday Weston had glitter all over his face and I couldn’t get it off. I see this as the beginning of a lifetime of my offspring suffering as a result of my crafting.
So cute! My friend and I saw some of these at a craft fair and I so wanted to make them! Now I know how! I wonder if you could use modpodge instead of glue (since that’s what i have around)?
Worth a try! Let me know how it goes!
I am your newest follower and I am extrememly proud of myself! I love the glitter snowballs….but I love how you displayed them even more! Thanks for the tutorial and have a very blessed day!
Yay, thanks for following!
These are so so beautiful and I bet they are just as easy as you say they are!
I’m taking it that W didn’t actually swallow a balloon? EIther way – I’m glad he is ok! How scary!
No balloons swallowed, thankfully! We were all up late in the ER
last night, but I’m glad it was just a cold after all. Hope you had a
great weekend!
This looks awesome! I wish I had more space in my apartment and I would SO do this.
Love this! I can do this with all the kids, Thanks Kelly!
If you try it, let me know how it goes! Miss yall!
Wow! You are a Christmas crafting genius! So glad I found your project via Centsational Girl.
Please stop by for a visit to my blog. I am currently in the midst of a Gifts to Make series.
Be Merry and Bright!
Julie said that letting them dry longer than just 24 hours helped her’s not stick. The first one collapsed after just 24 hours. She gave the other one 48 and it turned out perfect! Love the tutorial!
Thanks! I updated the tutorial. to include that info.
These are so pretty! The more glitter this time of year, the better! And I reeeeallly hope that Weston is okay (I’m assuming he is?).
Yes he is! Thanks for checking.
Those are so cute and your description of the journey was hilarious! I pinned it so I could find the tutorial easily for the humor! Good job. Will be checking in on your blog often!
Ok, love the snowballs, totally going to try those next year (I’ve totally ran out of gas this year) but LOVE your commentary even more
You are hilarious! I can completely relate to the kiddo freak out – I just did one similar where I thought mine had gotten into my asthma inhaler, but I wasn’t positive. Ugh.
Glad to know I’m not alone on the parenthood freak-outs.
So far we’ve been to the emergency room twice – once for what turned out to be a cold, and once for what turned out to be a diaper rash. Our insurance company probably LOVES us right now.
You know, I used to make those as a kid but I’d forgotten about them. Thanks for reminding me! These would make an excellent craft to do with my kids!
Seriously awesome. I’m doing it!! They remind me of tiny versions of the twine light fixture I made last year. I was just about to comment and had to backtrack because I noticed the fabric on your chair. I just pinned that yesterday…love it!
You make me laugh!
Sigh. I love these so much
They’re great! Could you put them over christmas lights…putting one light in each ornament? Know what I mean?
Whoa – I love that idea! I definitely think you could do it and it would be beautiful. If you try it, let me know how it goes! Maybe I’ll try to find an extra strand of lights and try it myself sometime soon.
Gorgeous. I love that they looks so light and glittery. I’m done making things this year, but they are a must-do next year.
Your ornaments turned out so beautifully!!
I made these this year too, they were so much fun
These ornaments are so beautifully done. I have been wanting to attempt a light fixture with a similar tutorial (big project). You have done these perfectly and they are so effective and so festive.
SO cute! I was so excited to see you on CG and had to come over and tell you congrats:)
I’m all set to go, water and glue mixed…and I can’t blow up the stinkin’ water balloons! Did you use a pump or something? Maybe my lungs are just weak!
These are adorable!
I just found your blog yesterday and I love it! Definitely a new follower. These snowballs will be so perfect with my Christmas decor this year and I can’t wait to make them. I’m just wondering how they lasted being stored all year? I keep my holiday decorations in an outside storage closet and I’m afraid the summer heat might make them collapse. When you get them out this year, I would love to know if they survived!
I made these with large balloons to hang outside on our regular trees. Im leave a hole large enough to insert a battery led tea light. So far the project is going well. I just need to adf the glitter. Modg podge will work but for larger balloons it can be costly. Dollar store is the key…$5 for 24 large string ornaments! Oh and flour water works also, but can stain the string a brown color.
Oh my goodness, I love these little ball decorations.. the DIY, the glitter, love it all. Thank you for sharing on the Winter Holiday Hop today!
One of my favorite techniques! Looks fabulous!
Oh! I love these!!! I can’t wait to try them as I have lots of balloons and string galore:) Thanks so much for sharing. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I am so impressed! I seen these and read the comments also, so glad you proved it could be done.
Thanks for sharing in the hop and all the tips.
A couple of questions:
- Do you think I could use Elmer’s white glue or is tacky glue a little stronger?
- Where did you get your tiny balloons?
- Why did you fill the balloons with water instead of air?
- Do you think I should use cotton yarn or is acrylic ok?
Planning on making these for an ornament party I’m having!
- Do you think I could use Elmer’s white glue or is tacky glue a little stronger? Not sure, but my guess would be that Elmer’s glue would work.
- Where did you get your tiny balloons? They are made to be water balloons, so they come a little smaller than “regular” balloons.
- Why did you fill the balloons with water instead of air? I didn’t; I filled them with air.
- Do you think I should use cotton yarn or is acrylic ok? I’m not sure, I would test it first and see if the acrylic will accept the glue as well as the cotton would.
Good luck!
Love those Kelly! I was thinking about making the styrofoam balls for a display but I may have to try these instead. OH and your story about the balloon reminded me of when my then 6 yr old daughter stuck a sticker (about the size of a quarter) onto my pants leg…which my then 8 mo old son promptly crawled over and stuck in his mouth before I could stop him. Gagging and an ambulance call later….nothing was found. They thought he swallowed it or it dissolved. All I could think was, it’s in his throat and is gonna choke him later…I’ll never sleep tonight! They left, we gave him a bunch of water and he coughed up the sticker, fully intact! I have NEVER been so relieved!