{twine and rag ball ornaments}

You've probably seen darling twine and  rag ball ornaments around, and probably even fallen in love with them like I have.  I'm an old-fashioned girl, and I adore the way they look, and think they will be perfect on my tree!  If you love them too, today is your lucky day, because I'm going to show you how to make your own--and save a bundle in the process. They are simple, adorable, cost-effective, and make really fun gifts. 

The foundation for these ornaments is 3 inch balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam, which work really well for this project.  They are light, but sturdy, and will allow for several different ways of adhering items to them.

So let's get to it!

ITEMS YOU NEED

• 3 or 4 inch balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam--as many as you like!
• twine 
• hot glue gun
• cotton fabric (I used red ticking)
• silver pins

DIRECTIONS

{RAG BALL ORNAMENTS}

1.  Cut a piece of twine for the loop of your ornament--as long as you would like it.  Hot glue it onto your ball of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam. 

2. Tear your fabric into strips, approximately an inch wide.  You don't want them too thick, or they won't lay flat. Just make a scissor cut every inch on your fabric, then tear--it will be perfect, every time!  Make sure you are using a cotton fabric though.

3.  Grab your silver pins and your first strip of fabric, and lay it across the glued ends of your twine.

Wrap it around the ball of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam, making sure to follow its contours so it will lay flat.  Use a couple of silver pins to secure the fabric.

Continue with your next strip, making sure to start where you ended, and cover the two pins you just put in place, then wrapping it around the area near it and securing as above.  Repeat the process until there is no STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam showing.

I'm totally in love with red ticking, so of course I had to use it--aren't the darling?!

 I also made some with a plain muslin, using the ticking as the loop instead of twine, and then used a foam stamp and some craft paint to monogram them.  

{LOVE} it. Wouldn't those make the most darling gifts? What about a hostess or teacher gift?  Neighbors, friends, family...anyone!

{TWINE BALLS}

1.  For the loop, you can choose to use a piece of twine, or a piece of coordinating fabric, which I chose to do with the red ticking.  If you use twine, you can follow the same directions as above.  If you use fabric, cut a piece about 1 inch wide, and as long as you want the loop to be. Fold it in half, then use the silver pins to secure it to the top of the ball of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam.

 2.  Start wrapping your twine, making sure to constantly alternate direction to avoid too much buildup in one area (and lack of coverage in other areas).  If you mess up, just unravel, then begin again.  It only takes a few minutes, to you don't lose a lot of time if you have to start over. Keep wrapping until the whole thing is covered, and you can't see any of the ball of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam.

3. When you're finished, tie the end piece of twine onto the bottom of the ornament--on to a piece that's going the opposite direction.  Trim the ends.

  Secure the loop again with pins once you're finished, like this:

And you're done!  You can also tie on an additional piece of fabric around the loop for extra decoration if you like--I did!

These are just so fun, and you can make them your own by using different fabrics to match your own Christmas decor.  I love them so much, I can even continue to display them in this rod iron basket in my kitchen...where they are right now, in fact!

*Disclosure:  I was not remunerated for this post, however, I did receive free
STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam for this project.  All opinions are 100% mine, and mine alone.