My Kissing Ball

It only took about 20 minutes to make this kissing ball. We don't have mistletoe on our land, but a mile up the ridge there is a tree that is full of the vine and berries. We called for permission, then Larry went out with his shotgun and shot some out of the tree--the time honored way to gather it in the mountains.

I did not have an embroidery hoop, even though I'd bought one over the weekend. The storekeeper evidently forgot to put it in my bag, so I had to find an alternate way to make my ball. I used 4 pieces of florist stem wire (only 96 cents for a good-sized package), shaped to form two hoops which I put together with florist tape. I used something like doublestick tape around the hoops, a product called Grip 'n' Stick that was for sale beside the florist wire, on the outside edges of the wire. This gave me a sticky surface that I could attach ribbon to.

I used 1" ribbon around the wires, then wrapped with other ribbon and beads, leaving long ends hanging after wrapping. Then I used a piece of red ribbon to for the hanging loop, attached the mistletoe with florist tape, and the ball was ready to hang.

It would have been much simpler with the embroidery hoop--simply intertwining the two hoops and wrapping them with ribbon and beads--but this worked too. If I'd had a wire coat hanger, I could have cut it and used it to make the hoops, but I'm fresh out after last night's wreath making!