DIY Billy Ball Flowers

It's that time of year again.  Love is in the air.  Valentine's Day is showing it's romantic face, and in a few days you will be showered with chocolates, conversation hearts, flowers, and teddy bears, or something more practical like hair pomade.  This is how we Whiting's roll.

On the opposite spectrum, Valentine's Day may be a shock to the system, with that crushing blow to reality that you are in fact single. Maybe it is a date that you completely disregard, or maybe you celebrate single-hood?  Happy Vagina Day!, am I right?  Either way, this little tutorial will help assist in making your very own, or someone else's Valentines Day that much more special via handmade flowers. Shhh... do you hear that?  Yes, yyyes, that is the sound of your wallet not screaming.  *Hearts!*

I seriously get so much pleasure finding a cheap bouquet of flowers with a little Billy Ball (Craspedia's) nestled right inside. I have even swapped a flower or two in various bundles just to get a ball fix. Sorry I'm not sorry.  You know why?  Because a bundle of these little yellow balls will cost you more than a hundred magic beans.

With a little time and the right supplies, you can make your very own-non-wilting version for around $5-$10.

Your Supply List:

1. Dish Soap
2. Really Hot and Really Cold Water
3. Felt Roving in a mustard color (1 small package should make about 7-9 balls)
4. Green Floral Wire
5. Hands

Time: 3-5 minutes per ball

If you are as clueless as I was when it comes to what "felt roving" looks like, all I can tell you is it's in a bag near the yarn at your local craft store.  The bag that I purchased was for two colors (mustard and maroon) and cost me $2.50, after a 50% off coupon.  Using a coupon on a five dollar product?  I call that thrifty.

Felt Roving < Cotton Candy

A word of caution:  When you remove your felt roving from the package, you may want to eat it.  The resemblance to cotton candy is striking.  I bet this is what organic cotton candy tastes like...

Step 1:  First tear off a piece of felt like you would be grabbing for a piece of cotton candy, about that size. You want your ends to be ragged.  Remember, even if it seems like a lot of wool, the ball making process will cause the wool to shrink. 

Step 2:  Next place a drop of dish soap, or hand soap, on your dry hands.  Rub a little bit of soap on the dry wool roving as well.

Step 3:  Get your hot and cold water ready.  I just used tap water.  Fill two bowls, one with as cold as you can stand water, and one with as hot as you can tolerate water-- without your flesh falling off that is.

Step 4:  Roughly shape the wool ball before dipping it into the SUPER hot water.  You only want your roving a tad wet, not dripping.

Step 5:  Gently roll the ball in between your hands like you would with a clay ball.  DO NOT SQUISH THE WOOL.  Handle it like you would if you had a little baby chick in your hands.  (Not like this) 

Dunk the ball into cold water.  You can get the ball completely saturated.  Keep rolling the ball while alternating between the hot and cold water to set it.  The contrasting hot and cold water will help "shock" the fibers into submission.  This is part of the felting process.

Step 6:  You will notice your ball becoming smaller and firmer.  As you notice this, you can begin to apply more pressure when rolling.  A good indicator that you are finished with the process is when your ball starts to feel "dense" and the soap has been completely rinsed out.

Billy Ball getting "shock" treatment

Step 7:  Let your balls dry between 24-48 hours.  To test if they are dry, you can drop your ball on the counter top, if there is a slight bounce, you are able to move on to the next step.  If not, let the balls dry for several more hours.

Teal Fox-The Billy Ball Protector

Step 8:  Once the Billy Ball is dry, you can pierce the ball with the end of a floral wire.  The wire should almost poke through the other side.  For added security, you can use a little bit of hot glue to hold the wire and the yellow wool ball together.

Step 9:  Find a pretty vase, add the flowers, and begin to "naturally" bend them.  You aren't looking for sharp, kinky bends... you want soft, rounded ones.  Enjoy!

Obviously, the more balls the merrier.  This vase is hurting for about five more.

Wishing all of you a Happy Romantic-Overrated-Special-Stupid-Valentine's Day!