Friends, meet my new little pretties:
If you’ve been around pinterest much lately, you’ve probably seen this glittery snowball tutorial by Martha Stewart. I thought it looked like a friendly enough little project, until I checked out the comments. Everyone says stay far away from this project! It doesn’t work! The balloons will stick! The balls will collapse, bringing your sanity and self-esteem crashing down upon you!
So I thought: that looks like something I should try.
Since the tutorial doesn’t offer any pictures, I took some along the way to show you how it worked for me. Here’s what I used:
- Small package of water balloons
- Tacky glue
- Plain white string
- Glitter
- Ornament Hooks
- Water
Partial cast of characters:
Step 1: Pour a little tacky glue in a bowl and water it down.
Here’s my bowl with just glue, then with water too so you can get an idea of proportions. I ended up using lots more water as the project progressed… mostly because I was running out of glue… but it worked both ways.
Step 2: Blow up your water balloons
Not too big, and don’t leave your pack of water balloons laying out on the living room floor so your 21-month-old finds them, then later you think you MIGHT have seen him swallow something, so you rush to the emergency room and spend 2.5 hours there until midnight last night getting his chest x-rayed because you thought you heard a weird cough coming out of him. Wait, did this just turn personal? Yes, I’d like to erase last night. Hide your water balloons. 
Step 3: Wrap with string
Tie the end of the string onto the end of your balloon, and just start going wild. We are going WILD in this craft time. 
Step 4: Glue.
I dunked the balloon in my glue bowl and rolled it around until it was covered. I didn’t even attach the end of the string to the balloon in any way – just used the glue to hold it on. This step is gonna get messy and gluey. RELISH it. 
Step 5: Add glitter
This is where you’re getting your money’s worth with this post: add the glitter right now, before you hang it to try. Don’t listen to Martha, bless her little heart. Just pour the glitter on your balloon over a bowl until it’s covered in shiny Christmasy delight.
Step 6: Dry
I attached a little twist tie to the end of my balloon, then hung the twist tie from a piece of string on a dowel. Martha recommends using a clothespin “threaded on a dowel that you’ve suspended from two points.” You can try that too. But this way, you can use your shower rod or whatev.
Now DON’T TOUCH IT for at least 24 hours. I waited longer than that because I’m an incredibly, patient diligent crafter I got really busy, then procrastinated. Update: based on a recent comment, leaving them up to 48 hours might be the key to making them dry correctly and not stick. So I recommend procrastination.
Step 7: Remove the balloon and hang.
I’m so excited for you when you get to this step! It’s intensely satisfying. You stick a pair of tweezers in a hole and pop the balloon, then it makes this amazing crinkly sound while it slowly pulls away from the sides of the string and withers into a sad little balloon mess in the middle of your snowball. Fantastic.
(Quick tip: Try this with one or two snowballs before you dive into making a hundred. Some people said their string stuck to their balloon, but spraying it with Pam helped fix the problem. That didn’t happen to me, and hopefully it won’t to you either.)
Remove the balloon pieces with a pair of tweezers and try not to jump up and down with excitement. Insert an ornament hook on one of the string pieces to hang.
I brought in some branches from the yard, displayed them in a vase and hung my snowy balls from the branches. I think they’d also look amazing on a Christmas tree.
P.S.: Check out these other holiday decorating ideas!
- DIY Kissing Ball with fresh greenery
- Tricks for (free) fancy Christmas garland
- Turquoise and green Christmas mantel
- Metallic nativity-inspired mantel
- How to make an easy Christmas vignette
- Full holiday home tour
- Make a monogram wreath
- Make your own Christmas art (one of my most popular posts!)(…and here’s take 2!
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Beautiful! I love that they are glittery.. very festive!
I have searched everywhere for the tool used by Martha Stewart to put Wood Grain impressions on old pieces.. can not find it and don’t really know what it is called.. Can you help?
http://www.joann.com/martha-stewart-grain-striping-comb-2-pk/11386786.html?mkwid=GknASKsT%7Cdt&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+Crafts&CS_003=12310052&CS_010=%5BProductId%5D&gclid=CMyaxMrL3cgCFQYIaQoduKEEng
Why can’t you just dip the string in the glue?
This looks awesome. Will try it this weekend. Maybe, if I don’t procrastinate. btw, love your sense of humor!!!
I think you can do that as well but it will be alittle more messy…
Your little branch/glitter corner is adorable!! I try to avoid glue. I’m dangerous with glue. Spray paint is my craft weapon of choice lately!
You can’t be any more dangerous with glue than I am with glitter. Yesterday Weston had glitter all over his face and I couldn’t get it off. I see this as the beginning of a lifetime of my offspring suffering as a result of my crafting.
Hi, I was just wondering if you can dip the balloon in the glue&water then rap the string, then dip it in glue again. Will in work the same?
(I was just wondering because i was thinking of turing these into lanterns.)
Thank you!
-Maria
I wonder if a lint roller would pick up the sparkles (and remove them from kids).
So cute! My friend and I saw some of these at a craft fair and I so wanted to make them! Now I know how! I wonder if you could use modpodge instead of glue (since that’s what i have around)?
Worth a try! Let me know how it goes!
What type of glue did you use? I would think modpodge would be to strong and cause the string to stick to the ballot when you pop it?? What about elmers school glue? Would this be strong enough? Sorry for the 20 ?s any responses from experience are greatly appreciated!
I am your newest follower and I am extrememly proud of myself! I love the glitter snowballs….but I love how you displayed them even more! Thanks for the tutorial and have a very blessed day!
Yay, thanks for following!
These are so so beautiful and I bet they are just as easy as you say they are!
I’m taking it that W didn’t actually swallow a balloon? EIther way – I’m glad he is ok! How scary!
No balloons swallowed, thankfully! We were all up late in the ER
last night, but I’m glad it was just a cold after all. Hope you had a
great weekend!
This looks awesome! I wish I had more space in my apartment and I would SO do this.
If you did some and hung some branches on the wall a la the photo, or placed them on a mantel, in a window, or whatever, you could do this Ashley…:)
we hung ours in our window at different heights.
Love this! I can do this with all the kids, Thanks Kelly!
If you try it, let me know how it goes! Miss yall!
Wow! You are a Christmas crafting genius! So glad I found your project via Centsational Girl.
Please stop by for a visit to my blog. I am currently in the midst of a Gifts to Make series.
Be Merry and Bright!
Julie said that letting them dry longer than just 24 hours helped her’s not stick. The first one collapsed after just 24 hours. She gave the other one 48 and it turned out perfect! Love the tutorial!
Thanks! I updated the tutorial. to include that info.
I bought the white twine instead of the string. I couldn’t make it stay on the balloon! Too slick! I finally drug the twine through the glue mixture and then “glued” the end of the string down at the top of the balloon. (The whole process took almost 30 minutes for one!) Where did you buy your string? I have been to 5 stores and the twine was all that I could find! I WILL get this project done, if it’s the last thing I do! 😉
These are so pretty! The more glitter this time of year, the better! And I reeeeallly hope that Weston is okay (I’m assuming he is?).
Yes he is! Thanks for checking. 🙂
Those are so cute and your description of the journey was hilarious! I pinned it so I could find the tutorial easily for the humor! Good job. Will be checking in on your blog often!
Ok, love the snowballs, totally going to try those next year (I’ve totally ran out of gas this year) but LOVE your commentary even more 😀 You are hilarious! I can completely relate to the kiddo freak out – I just did one similar where I thought mine had gotten into my asthma inhaler, but I wasn’t positive. Ugh.
Glad to know I’m not alone on the parenthood freak-outs. 🙂 So far we’ve been to the emergency room twice – once for what turned out to be a cold, and once for what turned out to be a diaper rash. Our insurance company probably LOVES us right now.
You know, I used to make those as a kid but I’d forgotten about them. Thanks for reminding me! These would make an excellent craft to do with my kids!
Seriously awesome. I’m doing it!! They remind me of tiny versions of the twine light fixture I made last year. I was just about to comment and had to backtrack because I noticed the fabric on your chair. I just pinned that yesterday…love it!
You make me laugh!
Sigh. I love these so much 🙂
They’re great! Could you put them over christmas lights…putting one light in each ornament? Know what I mean?
Whoa – I love that idea! I definitely think you could do it and it would be beautiful. If you try it, let me know how it goes! Maybe I’ll try to find an extra strand of lights and try it myself sometime soon.
Gorgeous. I love that they looks so light and glittery. I’m done making things this year, but they are a must-do next year.
Your ornaments turned out so beautifully!!
I made these this year too, they were so much fun 🙂
These ornaments are so beautifully done. I have been wanting to attempt a light fixture with a similar tutorial (big project). You have done these perfectly and they are so effective and so festive.
SO cute! I was so excited to see you on CG and had to come over and tell you congrats:)
I’m all set to go, water and glue mixed…and I can’t blow up the stinkin’ water balloons! Did you use a pump or something? Maybe my lungs are just weak!
These are adorable!
I just found your blog yesterday and I love it! Definitely a new follower. These snowballs will be so perfect with my Christmas decor this year and I can’t wait to make them. I’m just wondering how they lasted being stored all year? I keep my holiday decorations in an outside storage closet and I’m afraid the summer heat might make them collapse. When you get them out this year, I would love to know if they survived!
I made these with large balloons to hang outside on our regular trees. Im leave a hole large enough to insert a battery led tea light. So far the project is going well. I just need to adf the glitter. Modg podge will work but for larger balloons it can be costly. Dollar store is the key…$5 for 24 large string ornaments! Oh and flour water works also, but can stain the string a brown color.
Oh my goodness, I love these little ball decorations.. the DIY, the glitter, love it all. Thank you for sharing on the Winter Holiday Hop today!
One of my favorite techniques! Looks fabulous!
Oh! I love these!!! I can’t wait to try them as I have lots of balloons and string galore:) Thanks so much for sharing. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I am so impressed! I seen these and read the comments also, so glad you proved it could be done.
Thanks for sharing in the hop and all the tips.
A couple of questions:
– Do you think I could use Elmer’s white glue or is tacky glue a little stronger?
– Where did you get your tiny balloons?
– Why did you fill the balloons with water instead of air?
– Do you think I should use cotton yarn or is acrylic ok?
Planning on making these for an ornament party I’m having!
– Do you think I could use Elmer’s white glue or is tacky glue a little stronger? Not sure, but my guess would be that Elmer’s glue would work.
– Where did you get your tiny balloons? They are made to be water balloons, so they come a little smaller than “regular” balloons.
– Why did you fill the balloons with water instead of air? I didn’t; I filled them with air.
– Do you think I should use cotton yarn or is acrylic ok? I’m not sure, I would test it first and see if the acrylic will accept the glue as well as the cotton would.
Good luck!
Love those Kelly! I was thinking about making the styrofoam balls for a display but I may have to try these instead. OH and your story about the balloon reminded me of when my then 6 yr old daughter stuck a sticker (about the size of a quarter) onto my pants leg…which my then 8 mo old son promptly crawled over and stuck in his mouth before I could stop him. Gagging and an ambulance call later….nothing was found. They thought he swallowed it or it dissolved. All I could think was, it’s in his throat and is gonna choke him later…I’ll never sleep tonight! They left, we gave him a bunch of water and he coughed up the sticker, fully intact! I have NEVER been so relieved!
I made these about 35 years ago when my twins sons were small. And, up until about 5 years ago, I still had one. The directions in those days called for a simple mixture of flour & water, then you wrapped the string around as usual. There was absolutely no problem with any sticking. We sprinkled them with gold glitter and they were gorgeous!! (I should make them with my grandchildren!) (I don’t remember the exact proportions of flour to water… just make a thin paste – it works great!!)
Thanks for your input I was wondering about flour n water and if it would work! cheaper than glue thats for sure! 🙂
So I just found this tutorial and a tutorial on how to get small objects into balloons. Jingle bells inside Snowballs? Yes, I think so!
My husband cut down a lot of branches off of our trees. You just gave me a “TA-DA!” idea before he burns them! Thanks. The snowballs look fantastic!
Love them on the branches ~ they look so pretty and are good for the whole winter season.
P.S. You also want to hide them from your 21 year old son who might just decide to use them as water balloons! Merry Christmas all!
I wanted to do this project so bad as a gifts for my family members since I am on a very tight budget and it literally ended up bringing me to tears. I tried different thickness of strings and blowing the balloons smaller and larger and that darn string just kept falling off. I even tried dipping the string in the glue first and then wrapping it. So sad 🙁
What type of glue did you use?
I love these and am about to attempt making them. I ordered water ballons which have just arrived but when blown up they have a slight oval shape to them rather than been perfectly round. Is there a particular brand of ballon that I could use?
Many thanks
Donna
Thank you for sharing this tutorial with us. I can’t wait to make them. I do have one question… I want to make them bigger and use them to decorate a live evergreen tree outside. My question is; Will these hold up if they get rained/snowed on? Thanks, Kathy
I doubt it because it seems like it would melt the glue, but I have no idea!
Could you tell me what kind/color of glitter you used? I have looked everywhere and cannot find glitter that looks like that. Thanks!
If you tie the string to the balloon, then when you go to pop it and remove it, isn’t it stuck?????
Nope, it comes right out. 🙂
darn – trying to make these, but my string keeps sliding off? what’s the trick to getting the string in all different directions?
I was wondering the same this been trying to make these, my string doesn’t want to stay either. We sure could use a little hint on how to keep them wrapped nicely.
Wow thanks so much. Have recently moved & I don’t have Christmas decorations. Thanks to you I will now ????
I’ve been looking for a couple years for small round (obviously tear drop shaped won’t work) balloons for a similar project and haven’t been able to find them anywhere! Any ideas? I’ve checked on line…at craft stores, WalMart and Target etc. HELP!
Put less air in them and they will be more round and less oval
If u tie the string to the balloon then how to u get the top piece out after it drys
It’s really easy – it just comes right out.
Hi Kelly
I’m new to your site and I love it! I’m also very curious about the name of the color on your wall and trim. It looks like the blue I’m looking for but haven’t found. Would you mind sharing the color please…thanks
I made Easter Eggs a few years back this same way, you can cut an oval hole one side and put Easter grass in, candy, or little Easter bunnies, I used ribbons also to decorate them. I removed the oval piece and decorated around the hole with lace or ribbons. Oh yes, I used larger balloons and if you are careful you can flatten the bottoms so they will set up to display.
Thanks! It’s Benjamin Moore Brittany Blue. Good luck!
I’m thinking I might try popping a plastic spider in the balloon before I blow it up. We have a kid’s Halloween party this weekend with a spider theme and these would make the neatest web balls!!
I’m guessing this is an American site as not heard of ‘tacky glue’ and America’s craft departments simply have everything. (Jealous )
What can I use instead of tacky glue?
Use liquid starch. Be sure your string is 100% cotton so it will absorb the liquid starch.
I’m a brave and/or crazy woman: I love this so much that I’m going to try it with class full of grade four students. Wish me luck!!!!
Your directions were the best….love your funny comments. THANKS~
I used to make something very similar to this. Instead of using tacky glue, I used liquid starch. I used 100% cotton string or crochet string. When I pop the balloon, I poked a hole at the top near the knot and the sir hissed out gently. I would use larger balloons at Easter time that made an oval egg shape. When the balloon was removed, I cut a hole in the front and put Easter grass and candy inside or ceramic Easter bunnies. The decorating ideas are endless.
I made Easter eggs , l flattened the bottom while it was still somewhat wet so it would sit on a table. Used large balloons.
Has anyone tried to color them? I’m always looking for pastel Christmas ornaments and they can be hard to find. I was thinking maybe it would be possible to put a little craft paint in the glue?
would just like to know about how much glue and water , in cups ty
Love these! We are making them for our annual after Thanksgiving Christmas craft!
Also- I have to know what paint color is on your walls in that photo!! I’m looking gorvthecoerfeft shade of dove grey and that looks like it!
Why can’t you just mix the glitter into the glue?? Save yourself a step. I did and it was so much easier. I had trouble finding water balloons this time of year so had to use the smallest regular ones I could find. The thing was, they started to deflate on their own. Must be because they’re meant to have way more air in them, do I ended up making them a little larger than I meant to but they look great. It’ll be good to have different sized ornaments on the tree.
What a neat tutorial! I just wanted to share with you or Easter egg project. It’s pretty much the same but we use large balloons that are more egg shaped. Make a heavy simple sugar, drag Patel colored string thru the simple syrup and wrap away. Hang to dry (procrastinate) the next step is one of choice. My mom would cut awaya hole on thes side, Ijustleft a hole asi wrapped, pop, stuff with grass and tint decorations, hang! You can also use Easter grass on thetable surface to balance then if you don’t want to hang. Note**** humidity is not their friend! Maybe that’s why you used glue?! Thank you for your wonderful ideas. We love them here in Phoenix!