DIY Christmas Kissing Ball Tutorial

I was at a nursery in St. Paul with my mom and sister a few weeks ago and saw these adorable round hanging evergreen balls. As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted to DIY one with faux greenery. These beautiful and festive balls are called Christmas Kissing Balls.

Christmas Kissing Balls were actually around before the mistletoe and were originally hung to bring good tidings and blessings to those that walked underneath them. Then the Christmas kissing balls were romanticized by Charles Dickens referencing mistletoe in his books for a way for single women to be kissed by a charming gentleman. Eventually the kissing balls were shrunk down into just the mistletoe as we know it today! Neat huh?

DIY Christmas Kissing Ball tutorial. Christmas craft creating a traditional kissing ball from faux cedar and berries.

So if you are looking for a Christmas DIY craft to do with your family and friends I have you covered with my Christmas kissing ball tutorial:

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Supplies:

5 Cedar Bush with Snow
4 Cedar and Berry Bush
2 Champagne Green and Glitter Cedar Bush
3 Green, Silver & White Leaf & Berry Stem
5 Metallic Red Berry Stem
4″ Floral Sytrofoam Ball (3″ will work too!)
Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
Ribbon
Scissors
Wire cutter

Shop my supplies below:

Step 1: Trim Cedar Bushes

The cedar greenery comes in larger bushes from Michael’s and so the first thing you will need to do is cut apart each stem away from the bush with a wire cutter. See below:

Step 2: Add Ribbon to Foam Ball

Next you will need to take your foam ball, carve a 1/2″ deep hole in the foam using a scissors. This is where your ribbon with be glued into.

Step 3: Glue Ribbon to Foam Ball

Now take a piece of ribbon about 12 inches long and tie a knot at one of the ends. Add a large glob of hot glue into the hole you carved in the foam ball. Push the knot of the ribbon into that hole so that it becomes covered in glue (be careful not to burn yourself!). Add more hot glue on top of the knot and around the knot.

Step 4: Begin adding your greens to the ball

Next, you will take all your small greenery picks you cut off the bushes earlier and start pushing them into the foam ball. To give your greens an extra hold, put some hot glue on the ball before you stick each pick in.

Continuing adding greenery until the entire foam ball is covered.

Tips:

Make sure you are sticking each pick close enough together so that when you are finished you won’t see the foam ball.
The smaller the foam ball you buy the more affordable the project will be.
Make sure you stay aware of how hot the hot glue is. I burned myself a few times :\ Crafting has it’s downfalls I guess 🙂