KISSING BALLS
Making kissing balls is much simpler with the netted spheres by Oasis. Flower balls used to required extensive taping to maintain the integrity to the round foam.
Oasis now encased their foam spheres with a tough netting that is flexible and completely supports the weight of the heaviest flowers and water.
For this pomander, you will need the following supplies:
4 1/2" Oasis Foam Sphere
1 ft 1.5" Ribbon
1-2 Stems leatherleaf fern
1 stem Naked Eucalyptus
1-2 stems Miniature Carnations
1-2 stems Burgundy Mums
Colored Pearl Pins
Flower Jewels (your choice)
Finishing Touch Spray
Floralock Stem Adhesive
Kissing balls are a charming alternative to wedding baskets or bouquets. Traditionally their history lies in the days of early England where they hung over doorways to entice gentlemen to steal a kiss from an unsuspecting girl.
It's easy to make a fresh pomander with this simple tutorial. Florists used to have to support an Oasis sphere by wrapping it with pottery tape. But with Oasis' netted spheres, that is no longer necessary. Soak the sphere in water that's been treated with professional flower food. This is an important step, because it will help extend the life of your flowers.
I'm going to use decorative ribbon as a handle. After cutting a length of ribbon, I thread it through the netting on the Oasis sphere.
Now thread the other end of the ribbon through the netting as well, so that both ends are secure in the netting.
Tie the ends in a square knot and trim the ends short.
You should be able to lift and hold the pomander ball by the ribbon.
You can green kissing balls with any variety of florist greenery, including leather leaf fern, spengeri, ivy, or holly leaves. Since this is for a summer wedding, I'm going to green with leather leaf fern and seeded eucalyptus.
I begin at the top first, paying special attention to clustering my greens so that the knot from the ribbon handle is completely hidden.
Then I continue down the rest of the sphere, angling my fern leaves in different directions to keep the ball shape round.
Continue until you have completely covered the ball.
I tend to use only the seeds of the eucalyptus, since the leaves are rather floppy and look a little too large for such a small pomander.
Once the greens have all be inserted, you'll be ready to go on to the next step of flowering in the pomander.
