Sequined Ball Ornament

Make a sparkly sequined ball – a versatile Christmas decoration or ornament.

“Mum, are you making another Christmas decoration?”

“Yes.”

“Why? We have plenty of decorations already!”

Hmmm… good point… but I just can’t resist making and at this time of year it makes sense to make for Christmas!

I may be crazy – as suggested by my 10-year-old – but I actually don’t think you can have too many Christmas decorations. So I have been making some new ones including this lovely.

I remember making sequined balls like this as a child and they are still just as beautiful today.

What You Need

• Styrofoam ball – mine is about 5cm (you could just as easily use any other styrofoam shape too)
• Sequins – the loose ones with a single hole in the middle – I used two sizes in three colours.
• Bugle beads – these are the long straight beads
• Seed beads – these are the small round ones
• Pins – any pins will do but they need to have a largish flat head to hold the sequins in place

What To Do

The idea is simple: Pin the sequins and beads to the styrofoam ball.

You could create any design you like but I chose to work in stripes of green and silver with some red thrown in for interest.

To create a design like mine:

• Start with a single sequin – this will be the top (or bottom) of your ball.
• Work the next row of sequins around the first sequin in a circle. I have overlapped mine to avoid too much white showing through and help the sequins stay securely in place.
• I then added red smaller sequins to fill in the gaps.
• Next I did a row of sequins with bugle beads: Put the bead onto the pin first then add the sequin and pin into the ball.
• My next row was the large green sequins again, then I went back and added the smaller green sequins with green round beads in the gaps.
• To add a sequin plus small round bead: Put the round bead onto the pin first then add the sequin and add to the ball.
• I continued in rows around my ball with a mixture of sequins and sequins plus beads until I finished with a single bead in the centre of the other side of the ball.

To Hang your Ball:

Just add a loop of ribbon or thread. Secure it with the last pin and sequin, or add separately in a small gap with a pin to hold it in place.

If the ball is too heavy and the hanger falls out, just add a dot of clear glue to the pin to hold it tighter.

Other ways to Display your Ball

• A mixture of balls in a couple of sizes would look great on a tray in the middle of your table.
• Sit three balls inside three glasses grouped on a table or ledge – groups of three always look great!
• Turn a long-stemmed wine glass upside down and sit it over your ball. Then sit a small pillar candle on the base of the glass for an unusual candlestick.
• Sit a ball on each plate at your Christmas table and slip a small name card between the sequins to create placeholders.
• Hang on a ribbon above a doorway like mistletoe.

Do you have any more suggestions for displaying these?

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