Inspired by "Not Martha's" surprise ball project,
available through her site, here.
My directions were written when her project pages were taken down temporarily,
but I worked hard on them, so read mine too!
I've made several surprise balls. They are fun to make
and even more fun to unravel (I hear... I've never actually gotten one myself).
You can get very creative with the contents and finishing touches, like the
ones pictured here
or here,
or keep them simple. They make great "get well" gifts, party favors,
or just "thinking of you" gifts. I've actually only given one or 2
balls to children -- most went to adults! But when I gave them to kids, they
went with a note telling them that they had to pick up the mess when they were
done. This could be a fun way to give a cash gift -- fold the bills in half
the long way, and lay them down while you're wrapping the crepe.
You need:
- Package(s) of folded, flat crepe paper, in desired colors
(you can cut a roll of crepe streamers down the center, but this
is faster, I promise).
- Scissors & Tape
- Roundish toy or surprise for center of ball. This
could be something simple, like a small bottle of bubbles,
or fancy, like a bracelet or a ring. An idea is to have the center be a plain
charm bracelet, and the items throughout the ball be the charms for the bracelet.
- Dozen or two small items for inside the ball: charms,
stickers, tatoos, toe rings, balloons, candy, buttons, etc. Use your imagination
- if it is basically flat and can be concealed under a wrap or two of crepe
paper, it will work.
- Ribbon, charms, stickers, tags, etc. to finish.
- Square box or gift bag to package it in (optional).
To make the ball:
- Leave the crepe paper folded, and cut several strips
about 1" to 1½" wide. Try to keep it uniform, but it's a
present, so don't hurt yourself.
- Take the item that is to be the center of the ball and
start wrapping it with the crepe "ribbon."
- Every few turns, insert one of the small objects and
continue wrapping.
- When you reach the end of one piece, simply tape the
next one onto it. You can alternate colors, or use one color for the entire
ball.
- Continue wrapping until you run out of toys or your
ball is the desired size. Use a sticker to mark the end of the strips.
- To finish, you can run a piece of string under the sticker
and attach a tag that says "pull here." You can also wrap a ribbon
around the ball and tie a bow. Be as creative as you like. For the Halloween
ball I made, I got a little more elaborate: I took 2 "bone" drink
stirrers and crossed them, then made the ball around them so the "bones"
were sticking out.
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