Apr
19
Tissue Balls
over the course of this week, i’m going to try to address some of your questions and requests that you have sent me in the comments section or in personal emails. i think a separate post is the best way to do this, since i have commented back in the comments section but realized that unless you go back and look, you won’t ever see it!
i SO value your thoughts and comments…you have no idea!! so i want to encourage you to keep them coming, and i want to assure you that i read all of them, multiple times, and really consider your requests and thoughts!
i’ll start today by posting a tutorial for the tissue balls from Bella’s room and party (see here and here), since multiple people have requested!
you can do a google search and find better tutorials, but i’ll show you what i did.
the following pictures are for the mini balls that i attached to the back of the chairs at the tea party, but the exact same rules apply for the larger ones too.
first off, find some cool tissue paper (this polka dot one come from WalMart). for the small balls, you’ll need to stack 4 sheets of tissue, each cut to a 10 x 5 inch rectangle. for the larger balls, you’ll need a stack of 8 sheets of tissue. i actually didn’t cut the tissue paper for the larger balls, but just used the size it came as. but if you want to cut it, a good size is 20 x 30 inches.
begin to accordian fold the stack of paper, making one inch folds, starting at the short side.
once that is done, secure the middle with some thin floral wire (24-26 gauge is good, but whatever is easy for you to work with). you don’t need to have much leftover wire if you are just hanging the balls, but since i was wrapping these small ones around the tulle on the chairs, i needed some extra. you can also use these small ones as napkin rings, wrapping the leftover wire around the napkin.
next, cut both edges to the desired shape. i typically like the scalloped look, so i round out the edges. a few of the ones in bella’s room have a triangular edge too.
fan out the ball:
and then gently separate each sheet of tissue from the one underneath, staring on one side, and then continuing on the other. it rips easily, so be careful. but don’t freak if it rips…you really won’t be able to tell! separate the tissue all the way to the middle, where your wire is. it will make the ball fuller and rounder.
this is how it should look when you are done separating all the tissue. you should not be able to see the wire in the middle, so you can fluff it a bit to round it out. 
here’s the smaller balls on the back of the chairs. i just used the wire to wrap it around the tulle.
and to hang the bigger balls, slide a long piece of fishing line/monofilament under the floral wire in the middle. knot to secure. wrap the other edge of the monofilament around the sharp edge, close to the head, of a flat, white push pin (to blend into white ceilings), like these:
and then stick the pin into the ceiling at desired length to secure. my ceiling has all kinds of pin holes from moving these balls around to get them at just the right height!
this is the easiest, most inexpensive decoration, yet they look so festive too!! you will see me repeating these for just about every event i host…like the boy’s party coming up soon (although i’m not gonna use pink polka dots!)
on that note, some of ya’ll guessed correctly…those silver things from last week are Golf Clubs…we are having a Golf Party in a few weeks, so be on the lookout for more projects coming up…and pray for my sanity…as we try to construct a homemade mini golf course in our backyard using household (aka: free) products!
i’ll leave you with this: as i type, the Bug is giving me a new hair do. her comment to me 3 seconds ago, “Mommy, maybe oouu shood take a souwer and get the fwosted mini wheats out of oour hayr!” thanks bug…had no clue i had frosted mini wheats in my hair, especially considering i haven’t been eating frosted mini wheats!
but i think that’s all the motivation i need to go take a shower,
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