Tutorial: How to Make a Pomander Flower Ball

Pomanders, or “Flower Kissing Balls” are gorgeous floral decorations at parties and weddings. It’s name is from the French pomme d’ambre or apple of amber – a ball of perfume. They were carried to protect against infections and diseases by modifying bad smells. Interesting huh? Well, today they’re used as a beautiful, hand-made decoration!

My sweet friend Paula of Frog Prince Paperie (who I first met when she made a birthday banner for my friend’s son) has made a tutorial for these darling pomander floral balls! She created these pomanders for a Little Birdie Baby Shower (it’s darling, you must check it out).

Paula: “I love being crafty and doing big projects, but planning a party is such a big project by itself that I try to create crafty items that are simple but have a big impact. The paper pomanders that I made for my recent Little Birdie baby shower fit simple and impressive perfectly. So simple, in fact, even my husband was able to help with them!”

SUPPLIES:

– 4” white Styrofoam ball

– 90-100 pearl tipped corsage pins

– Two sheets scrapbook paper – I used a pearlized pink for one ball and a matte pale pink for the other in these pictures

– Martha Stewart hydrangea punch

Step 1. You’ll need to punch 180-200 of the hydrangea petal shapes, which will take around a sheet and a half of 12×12 scrapbook paper.

Step 2. After the shapes are all punched, curl the edges of the petals upward and to the center. This will give the flowers some dimension when they are complete.

Step 3. Stack two of the flower petals and turn them a bit so it looks like a full flower. Stick a corsage pin straight through the center of your petals.

Step 4.  Push the end of the pin into the Styrofoam ball, the repeat until your ball is covered.

I started mine by making a row around the center and filling in each half a concentric row at a time. Make sure your flowers are close enough that the petals cover the Styrofoam. If you’re going to sit them flat by themselves on the table as I did for my centerpieces, you can leave about 2 inches on the bottom bare of flowers so the balls have a bit more stability. If you cover the entire ball, these would look pretty in a bowl or with ribbons pinned among the petals to hang them.

And that’s it! A very simple project for a very elegant and impressive display.

 

Thank you, Courtney, for letting me share this tutorial with your readers!

 

All the best-

Paula Biggs

Frog Prince Paperie

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