Many decorative objects, such as large baskets, bowls and glass jars, come into their own when they are filled. However pretty a bowl may be, it looks empty, as if something is missing, when we place it on its own in the centre of the table, on the coffee table, and so on.
Decorative balls are a common solution to this problem! And the even better news is that from now on you can make decorative balls yourself!
What you will need:
A plastic ball, in the size you prefer.
Materials to wrap around your balls.
You can use twine, cotton rope or yarn in the colours you like, even with a touch of “shimmer” (like the one used by the creator of the project).
A glue gun to attach it to your balls.
How to make them:
1. Use the glue gun to stick the end of the yarn / rope / twine to one point on your plastic ball.
2. Using the glue gun, start winding the rope round and round, fixing it in place with the glue. Keep going until you reach the opposite end of the ball.
There isn’t even a third step! Your balls are ready to be put on display!
If, on the other hand, you envy the two-tone balls in the photo below and want to raise the difficulty level a little, try this:
Instead of using one rope, wind two ropes in different colours.
So instead of gluing down one end to get started, this time you glue the two ends together, then wind the two ropes round the ball as before, gluing them with the glue gun as if they were one. You just need to take a little care that the ropes don’t twist around each other.
Are you in the mood for another design?
We’ll raise the difficulty level a little more by winding braids of rope around our balls!
Start by gluing 3 separate pieces of rope to the top of your ball. Then braid them for as long as you need to cover its surface.
Then start winding the braid around the ball in exactly the same way as you did with the previous two versions of our decorative balls.
Alternatively, you could braid a little at a time, glue down the section you have made and then carry on braiding.
Did you think we had run out of options?
Not yet! Finally, you can make a two-tone ball with twisted ropes.
For this effect, simply twist two types of rope / yarn, etc. together and glue them down in exactly the same way as you did for the first two.
Source and photos: www.houseofhepworths.com
Text – Editing: Natasa Lianopoulou
