DIY Decorative Balls in a Spring Mantel

Spring Mantel with DIY Décor Spheres

Today I am sharing my Spring mantel with a DIY decorative ball tutorial. It’s been in the 70’s here in Texas though and all the plants are confused and blooming, it’s a crazy mess of early Spring like weather so I am rolling with it! Who knows, it may freeze tomorrow, that will make for some interesting plant issues.

The house needed a touch of bright and cheery plus I couldn’t wait to use a few of the Christmas gifts I received. My mom gave me these deer planter/vases and they are about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

After trapesing through multiple stores on the hunt for some good fake greenery I gave up. Fake greenery just isn’t me so I decided to go the inexpensive route and use what I had. First I stuck branches in the deer then I opted for boxwood cut from the yard. Boxwood lasts surprisingly long in a vase with or without water and they dry fairly nice as well.

Terra Cotta pots are super cheap and a great thing to use inside or out. To age these pots and add a fresh Spring feel to them I simply dry brushed some white paint on them using an inexpensive chip brush. It took all of five minutes.

Next I dug up some Liriope (or Monkey Grass as we called it growing up) from the yard. Liriope spreads, so if it’s in your yard you likely have an abundance of it. This is such a hardy plant, it does well in shade or sun and can stand being ignored. All these traits mean these plants might live through Spring on my mantel and if they don’t, oh well, they were free! My sweet Mother-in-Law gave me this metal basket for Christmas, isn’t it fun?

I broke down and bought the big green moss balls because I think it would have cost me the same or more to make them, but as I was looking for filler spheres I just couldn’t bring myself to pay for them! Here is how I made two different decorative balls to add to my Spring Mantel:

DIY Decorative Balls Supply List:

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twine, jute, yarn, thinly ripped fabric or string

Mod Podge

Scissors

Plastic cup or bowl

balloonsMake sure you use a work surface that can get dirty. This is a little messy. Blow up balloons to the desired size, I wouldn’t recommend going too large. Pour Mod Podge into cup or bowl and completely coat your material. Next remove the excess glue and begin wrapping in a random pattern around your balloon ball.

Let dry COMPLETELY overnight. When you are ready to get rid of the balloon, gently press the balloon away from the material before deflating. When you are separating the balloon and material if it still feels damp separate and let dry some more then deflate the balloon.   You can make a bunch of these for way less than you can buy them, plus there are a ton of material options you could try. I’d love to hear what you use so I can try it too! Hopefully you are enjoying nice weather wherever you are reading from. Happy early Spring! Please be sure to save or share this project for later.

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