Kissing Balls Fresh (pomander)

[dog mom]

Has anyone made a fresh kissing ball? My florist wanted $ 50. each and I thought that I could make them cheaper. Does anyone know how many flowers go into each and what size ball to get? Thanks so much. dog mom

[amunet]

I bought a foam ball, pins, and ribbon at the craft store this past weekend. I am waiting for this auction to end on ebay to have the flowers. Still not sure if I am getting the flowers since they are a different shade of green than I want. I will post pics when I make it, which will hopefully be in a couple weeks.

[Kfancii]

Has anyone made a fresh kissing ball? My florist wanted $ 50. each and I thought that I could make them cheaper. Does anyone know how many flowers go into each and what size ball to get? Thanks so much. dog mom


I have and truth be told, I didn't care for it but the bride loved it and that is all that matters. What type of flowers are you planning to use? My recommendation is to use primarily carnations because they last a long time without water and they fill up alot of area without too many flowers so they are affordable. You can add in accent flowers such as roses or whatever other flower you are using once you get the ball covered with the carns.

For the construction of the kissing ball, start with a foam ball form. I would try to get one of the green hard formed balls that they use for topiary trees if you can find it. Then get a stock of greening pins to use to stick the flowers to the ball. For carnations, pull them off of the stem and fluff them really well. Take the greening pin and push it through the top of the flower to the bottom so that the petals fill in over it and cover the mechanics. The two stem prongs of the greening pin will give you much more stability and keep the flowers from falling off. For your accent flowers, you could use pearl head corsage pins to add them in so you don't wreck the flowers.

Once you have constructed your kissing ball, spray it with a fine mist of water (don't drown it) and put it in a plastic bag in the fridge away from any fruit you might have in there. It should stay nice for 2-3 days without any additional water.

Let me know if that doesn't make sense and I will try to explain better.

One thing to think about- fresh kissing balls are heavy- so if your flower girl is tiny, be sure to take this into consideration.

ETA - ball form size should be about 3 to 4 inches in diameter depending on how big you want the ball to be. The finished ball will most likely be about double what your starting diameter is.

[Bride_Craft]

I agree with Kfancii about the carnations...or spray carnations? Once they're done, you can't really tell at first that they're carns. Any pretty sturdy and bruise-resistant as well.

I've got a tutorial on my site that might be useful. Hope this helps. :)

http://www.bridecraft.com/cinderella_ball.html

~ Brittany

[Kfancii]

I agree with Kfancii about the carnations...or spray carnations? Once they're done, you can't really tell at first that they're carns. Any pretty sturdy and bruise-resistant as well.

I've got a tutorial on my site that might be useful. Hope this helps. :)

http://www.bridecraft.com/cinderella_ball.html

~ Brittany

Thanks Bride_Craft! Your tutorial is very nicely done too! I will have to spend some time looking at the rest of your site because it looks GREAT!

I have always chosen to use the regular styro balls over oasis because I find them easier to construct using greening pins and you don't have to worry about the flowers falling out. Since the oasis balls are made of softer foam, and therefore easier for the novice florist to squish, and they don't hold water long enough to really benefit the flowers any more than a mist and storing in a plastic bag, I find the hard styro balls a better option. JMHO-

[Bride_Craft]

Thanks Bride_Craft! Your tutorial is very nicely done too! I will have to spend some time looking at the rest of your site because it looks GREAT!

I have always chosen to use the regular styro balls over oasis because I find them easier to construct using greening pins and you don't have to worry about the flowers falling out. Since the oasis balls are made of softer foam, and therefore easier for the novice florist to squish, and they don't hold water long enough to really benefit the flowers any more than a mist and storing in a plastic bag, I find the hard styro balls a better option. JMHO-

Ahh, thank you for the nice compliment. ^_^

I've never tried making the floral speheres with styrofoam. I'll definately have to experiment, now though. Do you SEE the greening pins? I'm a stickler about mechanics... Or are they buried between the petals? Thanks for the neat ideas! :)

[Kfancii]

Ahh, thank you for the nice compliment. ^_^

I've never tried making the floral speheres with styrofoam. I'll definately have to experiment, now though. Do you SEE the greening pins? I'm a stickler about mechanics... Or are they buried between the petals? Thanks for the neat ideas! :)

I'm also a stickler about the mechanics of an arrangment and no, when done correctly, you don't see the greening pins at all. I will fluff the carn, then without breaking it, split it open, slide the greening pin inside and let the petals come back over the top of the pin. If you decide to work with accent flowers that don't have petals to cover the greening pin (like Stephanotis) I use the pretty pearl head corsage pins and they seem to work fine as long as the entire ball isn't covered with them. (More chance of those falling out when the ball is carried)

[dog mom]

Okaay, now I'm going crazy. I found a website that had a picture of large pomanders, kissing balls floating in a pool. Has anyone seen it? I need to know how to float them. If you use the regular fresh oasis, I think it would sink. Also, anyone know how many you need to put in any size ball.
Thanks dog mom

[Bride_Craft]

The styrofoam balls should floar. And the amount of flowers should depend on the size of the ball and the type of the flowers. Why not do one test run to be on the safe side? And always try to order extra flowers to make sure that your safe, and not sorry. And if you're going to be floating them in water anyways, maybe consider silks? Then you can make them months in advance (if you have that kind of time). Good luck!

[Jenkel]

Wow Bride_Craft, I love your website, it has some great ideas and easy to understand tutorials.

I like the kissing ball idea, and I was wondering what you think about silk flowers instead of fresh ones? Do they look too "fake"? I want to assemble a bunch of them to hang from Shepard's hooks at the end of our isles.
I like the way the fresh flowers look but I just don't think I'll have time to do them myself a day or two before the wedding, and I REALLY don't want to pay $50/each to have a florist do them for me.

So do you have any ideas? What type of silk flowers to use? And are they assembled the same way as shown on your tutorial (minus the water of course)?

Oh and BTW, our colors are blue and brown with a beach theme. I haven't decided on what type of flowers to use for the wedding yet. I know I don't want roses and I don't really like the look of blue flowers.

Thanks in advance.

And Doggy mom... I love the idea of floating the kissing balls in a pool!! That is such a cute idea maybe even use some floating candles and some loose petals too!

[Bride_Craft]

Hi Jenkel!
*grovels* Thanks for the compliment..I'm working hard on my site, but it's still a baby and work keeps getting in the way.

Actually, Kfancii's method would be better for silk pomanders. Get an actual styrofoam craft ball, a hot glue gun, and then use wire cutters to trim the stems to the desired length. Then pop them into the styrofoam, and use a little hot glue to secure the stem to the styrofoam (just in case they want to loosen up and fall out later). Then you can use a greening pin and ribbon to create a "handle" for it (create a loop of ribbon by tying a knot at the ends of the ribbon, then use the greening pin to secure it to the foam, and then glue the stuffing out of this part, as it will support the weight of the ball. In fact, you might want to do this part first, so the flowers don't get in the way of securing the ball).

As for types of silks, I would shop around and see what catches your eye. Tan/brown hydrangeas, or tan/brown roses would be pretty and easy. Or big, tannish brown peonies to (the bigger the flower, the less you'll need to buy...in theory).

OR you can coat the styrofoam ball coated in 3M adhesive spray, roll it around in beach sand, then use sea shells that have greening pins hot glued to their backs to decorate the balls. And then create little streamers of ribbons that can hang from the bottom and blow in the breeze. :D Don't get me going on all the neat things you can do!! Good luck. ^_^

[Jenkel]

Thank you!! Great ideas!
I will give it a try.
I love the idea of brown/tan flowers and then maybe I could hang them with blue ribbon and add some blue accent pieces.

This actually helps with figuring out my bridesmaid bouquets too!! Which I was having a tough time with.
So you get a Double THANK YOU!! :bbbiggrin:

I might try the Shells too. Maybe I can incorporate both ideas and hang them on every other hook.

[Wedding Budget Fairy]

I made mine and with a 2 inch styrofoam ball i did a practice one and used 84 closed roses