Guess what?
I just found a cheap, simple, and thoroughly cute craft for any occasion. Found, I say, not invented. My mom introduced me to it over Thanksgiving, but our original source is my friend Renee Shafer (A Beautiful Captivation), and her sister Andrea Graybill.
Renee made these for a bachelorette party two years ago already, so … let’s just say it takes some of us a while to catch on. She and her sis also made them in fall colors this year. My mom, organizing a family craft, chose Christmas colors to match the season.
I think they’re darling.
You will need:
Balloons – any color
Yarn – any color
Mod Podge
Styrofoam plate
Latex gloves (optional)*
Battery-operated tea light
Blow up a balloon. Cover your workspace with newspaper or something disposable to catch drips. Pour some Mod Podge onto a Styrofoam plate and dip your yarn in it to soak, wrapping and crisscrossing it around the balloon. Hang up to fully dry. Pop balloon. Insert a battery-operated tea light into the yarn globe and hang somewhere pretty.
*(We did ours barehanded, but we were sick of Mod Podge by the time we were done, and picked shreds of it off our hands for the rest of the day…)
Now I think that’s a pretty awesome craft, and customizable for any size and season. Thanks again to my mom and Renee Shafer!
*****
Posted with permission.
If you want some inspirational words for moms in the thick of it, don’t miss this beautiful post of Renee’s: “Why NOW is the Time to Speak.”
Do you make your own Mod Podge or can you buy it somewhere?
Thanks for asking! I inserted a link in the post above to make it clearer. This was my first experience with Mod Podge, and we bought it. I think it’s available at Joann’s or other craft stores. Also on amazon.com–see link above.
Thank you very much! I used it once at a girls camp but couldn’t remember exactly how it was made although I thought it was quite simple. I think buying it sounds like a better option. 🙂
We made almost the exact same craft almost 50 yrs ago when I was in 4th grade!! Wonder what we used for mod podge then? We inserted artificial flowers and made them for Easter. It was public school. Now I want to do that again with my grand children!
Mary yoder
Mod podge is also available at Wal-Mart and fyi, you should mix 2/3 mod podge to 1/3 water.
We did these in art class at FBCS about 20 yrs ago….only I used sugar water instead of mod podge or glue. It worked great and wasn’t nearly the mess since it was much thinner in consistency. I don’t remember the sugar to water ratio anymore, but the web is sure to have that piece of information. 😉 Jolynn
How long did it take them to dry? I’m wondering if this could work for girl’s club…
Overnight would be ideal. It was at least 6-8 hours.
How do you get your projects to turn out so perfectly every time!!?? Very nice. I haven’t tried this before but I’ve seen the same thing done to make decorative Easter eggs.
It’s very simple: I don’t post pictures of the projects that don’t turn out. Hehee.
Very lovely! I just made some of these recently for a children’s class. Loved the object lesson….in short, we are the balloon and God has his arms around us. When we pop. God stays strong! I just made some to hang in our store for Christmas.
I forgot to say that I used liquid starch for the stiffener. For the thread I used some kind of craft twine which worked great. And also crochet thread….which seems a bit fragile but held together sort of..those are quite large tho.
elmers glue and water works too…I forget the ratio tho…I used that one time and it worked wonderfully. I just love the simplicity and delicateness of these.:-)