How to Make a Flower Girl Ball

Make a bouquet ball for your flower girl to carry down the aisle.

Flower girls in frilly dresses throwing flower petals make a very cute addition to any wedding party. However, if your flower girl is very young, throwing petals may take longer than anticipated or possibly not happen at all. Make your flower girl a pomander bouquet, or flower ball, to tote down the aisle and stave off any jitters about your little lady losing her petal-throwing nerve.

Things You'll Need

• 4-inch floral foam ball
• Bucket or large bowl
• Towel
• 1 yard ribbon, 5/8 inch wide
• Floral pins
• Pinking shears
• 20 to 50 small flowers

Instructions

1. Float the foam ball on top of the water in a bucket or large bowl to saturate the foam. Let the foam float until it sinks, which will take from 10 seconds to two minutes. Remove the foam ball from the water and allow it to drip onto a towel for approximately two minutes.

2. Fold 1 yard of ribbon in half and crease it to mark the center. Unfold the ribbon and lay the center on top of the foam ball. Wrap the two ends around to the bottom of the ball and twist the ends around each other. Pin the twisted ribbon to the bottom with a floral pin.

3. Wrap the two ends of the ribbon around to the top of the ball, so that you now have four strands of ribbon surrounding the ball. Knot the ribbon tightly at the top. Pin the top knot to the foam.

4. Make a large loop, enough for a long handle, with one end of the ribbon. Tie the loose end of the loop with a knot at the top of the foam ball to secure it to the ball. Trim the excess ribbon with pinking shears to prevent fraying.

5. Soak the flower stems in water. Trim the flower stems at an angle with sharp scissors; leave about 1 1/2 inches of stem. Remove any leaves from the stems.

6. Poke the flower stems into the floral foam, beginning at the top and working your way down and around the ball. Set the flowers close enough to hide the foam and ribbon, but not too close, to avoid crushing the delicate petals.

7. Hang the ball from a hook or hanger by the ribbon loop to keep you from having to hold the flowers already placed while you cover the last section of the foam ball. Place flowers to cover the base to complete the flower ball.

Tips & Warnings

• If the stems begin touching inside the ball, trim the stems shorter before continuing to place flowers.

• Hang the flower ball from the ribbon loop in a refrigerated area to keep the flowers fresh before your ceremony.

• Substitute artificial flowers for an economical and easy-to-store alternative to fresh flowers.

References

• My DIY Wedding Day; How-to: Fresh Pomanders; Nancy Liu Chin; May 2009
• “Handcrafted Weddings”; The Editors of Creative Publishing International, Inc.; 1999
• A Floral; How to Make a Pomander Ball Arrangement Using Fresh Flowers; May 2008
• The Gardener; Using Floral Foam Effectively; Chrissie Harten; 2002