Fabric-covered balls

On Friday night, I participated in a multi-vendor home boutique sale...I was selling Barefoot Books and my handmade items, and there were representatives there from PartyLite, Pampered Chef, Close to my Heart, a wall words company, a health drink company, and a purse company. Anyway...my friend who sells PartyLite was trying to clear out some inventory, as she's taking a break for a while, and she gave me this gorgeous candle holder. I had seen it at a previous show and loved it, because you can fill the bottom with whatever you like.

So I brought it home and started thinking about what I wanted to put in it, but didn't really find anything in the house that called out to me. An idea started forming in my head, though...what about fabric?? What if I could turn it into a sort of "quilt in a vase?" I thought fabric balls would be good, but didn't really want to waste enough fabric by winding up all fabric to make the balls. I didn't have any wooden balls in the house, and I didn't want to spend any money to buy any.

I went scavenging through my craft drawers and came up with 2 unopened packages of white impression material - you know, that marshmallow-looking modeling stuff that's used to make hand and feet impressions? So Saturday night, Anthony and I worked it and kneaded it until it was soft and pliable, and then we rolled it into balls, about 1-inch diameter...his were sometimes a bit smaller and bumpier than mine. :) Then I let them dry for 24 hours.

Next, I made fabric spaghetti!! I cut lots of fabric strips, about 1/4 inch wide and around 36 inches long...they varied, as some were from scraps. If they were too short, I just ended up using two strips of fabric to cover a ball instead of one.

To start covering the ball, I wrapped the strip of fabric around the ball one time, overlapped the end, and used a straight pin to hold the fabric in place (this is an advantage of using the modeling material versus a wooden ball - the pins slide right into the modeling material!). Then I just wound the fabric around the ball until all of the ball was covered, and used another pin to hold the end in place.

Pretty soon, I had a lovely assortment of fabric-covered balls. I couldn't stop touching them and looking at them, actually...they were so fun and pretty!

And I was very happy with the end result - they were exactly what I envisioned for the candle holder. They add just the right splash of color and texture.

I do so wish I could leave it on this little table at the end of my couch, because I love it there. Alas, if I did, it would be broken before an hour had passed, so it will have to be content on the end of my kitchen island. But I will still get to gaze at the lovely colors all through the day!