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Surprise Ball Christmas Ornaments
Published 12.09.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (18)
Surprise Ball Christmas Ornaments
By Cindy HopperThese little surprise balls add to the wonder and excitement of Christmas while also making an ornament for the tree!
Gather fun trinkets, the smaller, the flatter ---the better! (tattoos, stickers, etc)
Begin by cutting about a dozen strips of crepe paper 36" long each. In the beginning fold crepe paper in half and wrap around the first object.
Wrap the crepe paper around a few times and then add in another surprise. As the ball gets bigger it will become unnecessary to fold the crepe paper.
When the crepe paper runs out, simply start with another piece.
Make sure trinkets are covered before adding another. Wrap tightly and sometimes it might be necessary to slightly twist the crepe paper to get it to cover the ball nicely.
Continue wrapping and adding treats!
Once the ball is the desired size, tape the end to finish off.
For final layer, cut about 2 yards of crepe paper in color you want the finished ornament. Fold crepe paper in half as it tightly wraps around the ball. Some surprise balls use a sheet of tissue paper to wrap around the ball for the final layer.
Bring a ribbon up around surprise ball on four sides and tie a bow.
Add a wire hook or piece of ribbon for hanging.
Hang on the tree. It would be a nice advent activity to allow the children to unwrap a surprise ball before Christmas arrives. These would also make fun gifts for extended family at large family gatherings. How exciting to unwrap a ball and find so many treats hidden inside!
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About this column
This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!
We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.
This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!
About our Craft Contributors
Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.
Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.
Cindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.
Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (18):
Ashley, with CWDkids said:
This is such a fun idea!
Thank you.
Ashley, with CWDkids
www.kidbits.cwdkids.com
Posted on December 10, 2009 08:43
biancifiore said:
you're a genius
Posted on December 10, 2009 17:23
Kate said:
Wow, what a great Christmas idea! I'll have to give this a try while remembering to place it out of reach of tiny hands and/or paws, LOL.
Posted on December 11, 2009 10:28
The Domestic Contessa said:
What a GREAT idea! These could also make fun gifts for a toddler's birthday. I've linked to you over at my blog. Thanks for sharing!
Posted on December 11, 2009 10:38
Brandy Rucker said:
Love this idea! I think it would be fun for advent.
Posted on December 11, 2009 10:40
Corinna Lyons-Revello said:
Well, that is just the cutest thing ever! What a cool idea!
Corinna
Posted on December 11, 2009 10:51
derya said:
superrrrr...
Posted on December 11, 2009 11:19
Kristin said:
AWESOME!
Posted on December 11, 2009 12:02
Susan said:
This reminds me of a game we played when we lived in England, Pass the parcel. How fun to make a "decoration" out of it.
Posted on December 11, 2009 12:41
Laura said:
What a great idea- especially the advent one. You could have just one small tree for advent. I love it!
Posted on December 11, 2009 13:24
Allyson said:
Such a fun idea for the kids! I think I will do a few of these for the days that the kids are out of school and we are waiting for Christmas to come. The treats will keep them entertained (read: out of my hair) and will build even more excitement. Love this.
Posted on December 11, 2009 14:31
Rose said:
What a great idea!! Thanks for sharing! I think I'll hit the dollar store up for some fun little things to pop inside those!
Posted on December 11, 2009 15:24
Heather Katsoulis said:
so. totally. awesome. my daughter is going to love these. thanks!
Posted on December 11, 2009 16:55
Lenetta @ Nettacow said:
What a great idea! I linked to this on my weekly roundup - the post is under my name. Thanks so much!
Posted on December 12, 2009 22:43
grace said:
this is the same craft as in www.notmartha.org website from 2006 i believe
________________
Editor: Here's NotMartha's version: http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/surpriseballs/ It's pretty fab!
Also, surprise balls are available for sale here: http://www.rshcatalog.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CK201902
Posted on December 13, 2009 22:26
Monica said:
Found this GREAT idea on the "Teach Preschool" page on Facebook. Glad you shared... I'm going to try this with goodies for adults, also!
Posted on December 14, 2009 10:24
Old Father Christmas said:
Super fun. This was pointed out on an all-year Christmas newsletter I'm on. Thank for sharing the idea, they are really cute.
Posted on February 1, 2010 16:36
Kalee said:
These would be so wonderful for birthday party favors! I'm thinking they will be great to use as part of kids advent or stocking stuffers!
Posted on February 10, 2010 11:13