Cheater Yarn Balls

I started my blog in January.  By then, it was too late for me to share my Christmas decorations.  I've had to wait over 10 months to show these.  

I'd originally planned to make one of the yarn ball wreaths that Starbucks used a couple of Christmases ago. 

 image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

After wrapping foam balls in different red and green yarns, I decided that I didn't feel like dealing with trying to arrange and attach them to a wreath form so I ended up just tossing them in a basket, which I really liked.  I liked it enough to do the same thing with them this year.

Just like the Christmas Ribbon Wreath and the Ribbon and Yarn Trees, these yarn balls don't need a tutorial or instructions, really.  I'll just briefly explain what I did.  I've mentioned in  the past posts that I try not to use hot glue.  I can't stand those stupid strings of glue that form when you pull the gun away.  They annoy me to no end.  Anyway, I use straight pins when I wrap foam in something.  With these yarn balls, I used a good many pins throughout just to keep the yarn in place.  When you're wrapping these, you want to change directions every now and then and placing a pin right before you change directions will help you out.  You can just cover the pinhead by positioning a neighboring strand of yarn over it.


I also made these "snowballs" last year.  I had some fuzzy white yarn that I think came from Hobby Lobby and it makes the perfect snowball when wrapped around foam balls. 

I'm using a good bit of foam in my Christmas projects this year too.  I sure hope these things aren't toxic.  :-)


Linking to:
Sugar & Spice @ seven thirty-three
Hookin' Up With HOH 
Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge
Three or More Tues @ The Gypsy's Corner  
Whatever Goes Weds @ Someday Crafts
Strut Your Stuff Thurs @ Somewhat Simple  
Show & Tell Sat @ Be Different, Act Normal 
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch  
Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog  
Show & Tell Sat @ Be Different, Act Normal 
 

Winter GIVEAWAY @ The Speckled Dog

Follower Appreciation Winter Giveaway!

Win a hand-knit hat from The Speckled Dog!

I know some parts of the country are already getting snow and to celebrate this and the fact that colder weather is just around the corner for the rest of us, I'm giving away one of the hats in my Etsy shop.  All you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment telling me which hat you'd like. 

Here's the link to my shop.  You can click over to the Hand Knits section to see the hats.

Hand-knits make a great gift for someone or for yourself.  Please note that I do take custom orders.  I can knit the hats already in the shop in any color you'd like or if you have a photo of a hat you like, you can convo me through etsy and I'll see if it's something I can do.  I can also knit armwarmers, legwarmers, cowls, scarves, socks, you name it.  If you have something in mind for someone special, send me a photo or a description of what you'd like and I can do it.


If you just want to win a hat, I can do that too.  :-)

GIVEAWAY ENDS Sunday night. I'll announce the winner on Monday!