Balls made from threads look very attractive and do not require any special skills or money. Many did similar things at school during labor lessons. Their use is limitless: simply as a decorative element, as a lampshade, or as a holiday decoration. From several of these balls you can make all sorts of things: snowmen, birds, fish. In general, everything that is enough for your imagination. In addition, using this technique it is easy to make.
Materials and tools for web balls
- Balloon (for a smaller volume, you can take finger pads, which are sold at the pharmacy)
- Threads (any thread is suitable: regular for sewing, floss, iris, wool for knitting)
- Glue (PVA, silicate, stationery)
- Kinder surprise egg
- Needle, scissors
- Vaseline (you can use thick cream or oil)
- For decoration: beads, feathers, beads, sparkles, semolina or powdered sugar
Instructions for making a ball of thread
- Inflate up to required size.
- Lubricate the ball with Vaseline to make it easier to detach it from the glued threads.
- We make two holes opposite each other in the Kinder Surprise egg with a hot needle.
- Pour glue into the egg.
- We thread a thread through the holes using a needle; when pulled through the egg, the thread will be wetted with glue.
- We tie the thread to the ball and begin to wind it around the ball like a regular ball. Make sure that the thread is well wetted with glue.
- You can wind as much as you want, but not very little. If there is not enough thread, the ball may not hold its shape.
- When winding is finished, secure the end of the thread with a knot and hang the ball wrapped in thread to dry. There is no need to rush, it is necessary that the glue dries thoroughly and becomes hard enough. This may take 1-2 days.
- When the glue has completely dried and hardened, carefully blow off the ball. The ball can be peeled off using a pencil with an eraser at the end. The ball can simply be pierced with a needle in several places and quietly deflated. Very carefully remove the ball from the inside. If the threads have moved, move them back into place.
- You can decorate the resulting web balls using beads, beads, feathers, and ribbons. You can create a snow effect: moisten the ball with glue and dip it in semolina or powdered sugar. You can use threads different colors, then you get a very beautiful weave.
If you are unable to wind glue-soaked thread onto a ball, you can wind dry thread and then thoroughly soak it in glue using a brush or sponge.
Instead of glue, you can use sugar syrup or starch paste. To prepare the paste, take 3 teaspoons of starch per glass of cold water, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Instead of thread, you can take thin copper wire and wind it around the ball in the same way. To avoid getting dirty with glue while making spider web balls, put on an apron and rubber gloves on your hands.
At first it may seem that the process of making balls of thread with your own hands is complicated, but in fact even a child can handle it. Such balls will decorate any interior and will also be a wonderful gift. And as a quality, balls of thread are simply a godsend.
Attention! On December 1, 2011, it starts on our website! We invite you to participate or just admire the original New Year's projects.
Content
What can threads be useful for? The answer would seem to be very simple - for sewing, embroidery, darning or knitting. And who would have imagined that threads could make original interior decorations and toys? However, if you approach the matter with imagination, then the home master can do anything!
Before you start creating, you need to consider that there are two important principles of working with threads when making toys from them.
The first rule is that to create volume from threads you will have to use some kind of base, for example, a balloon, cork or a wire frame. One or another thread or string is wound onto the base of the desired shape, and so the future object takes on the required shape. After drying, the toy can be decorated as you wish.
The second rule is a little simpler. When creating string toys, you can’t do without fluffy pom-poms. They are also used as a basis for a toy, when pompoms are glued together, creating the required shape and volume, and can also be used for decoration, for example, to imitate hair or fur on a toy.
Further, from the intelligible master classes, you can glean simple but very effective ideas for creating toys from threads using different frames. One has only to try, and the new hobby will certainly captivate both parents and children.
DIY thread balls
For the first time, descriptions of such Christmas tree decorations appeared in the difficult 90s, when you can find spectacular decorations It wasn't always possible in the store. Then the balls were forgotten, but today such handmade toys are back in fashion. At the same time, the use of balls has expanded, which today are used not only as New Year's decoration. There are quite interesting ideas more complex toys and even interior items made from air structures obtained by winding threads around a balloon.
Materials and tools
- Threads
- PVA glue;
- Non-greasy cream, for example, massage or hand cream;
- Scissors;
- Balloons of different shapes;
- Darning needle;
- A little cotton wool or cosmetic cotton pads;
- Brush.
Manufacturing procedure
To make a Christmas tree decoration, the balloon is inflated until the diameter is approximately 10 cm and tied tightly so that no air escapes.
Using a cotton swab, carefully apply the cream to the entire surface of the ball, making sure that it covers the mold with an even layer. This technique will allow you to quickly remove the form from the ball of thread without any problems with peeling off. This is especially important if a thread with pronounced hairiness is chosen for the toy, from which it is not always easy to separate the balloon.
The thread from which the toy is to be created is pre-impregnated with glue. It is better to do this when the threads are wound into a loose ball, which can be completely immersed for some time in a container with an adhesive composition. You don’t have to soak all the threads at once, but do it gradually when making the jewelry. To do this, two through holes are made in a container with glue, through which a darning needle with a thread threaded through it is passed. Passing through the glue inside the vessel, the thread will be saturated, which means it will be prepared for winding.
Now you can remove the needle from the thread and proceed to the main stage. You can start wrapping the ball from any place, but it is more convenient to fasten the tip of the thread to the tail of the ball so that it does not slip off and you do not have to start all over again. The thread should be wound in chaotic circles, making sure that one turn intercepts the previous layers.
At this point, you may need the help of a second person to hold the glue and help pull the thread through evenly. A child can easily handle this activity, the main thing is that parents take care of an apron for the baby, which can get dirty when working with glue.
The density with which the thread is wound is determined by the master himself and the purpose of the future ball. However, if you want to make the ball as openwork as possible, you should not lay the thread too rarely, because this will affect the strength of the structure. Frequent winding ensures a dense thread cocoon.
When the required volume of thread has been collected, you need to generously lubricate the end of the thread with glue and hide it under the wound layer. After this, check whether the adhesive layer is sufficient everywhere, and use a brush to coat it with additional glue.
When the work is completed, the balloon can be hung to dry, and so that the process goes evenly and the balloon does not release air, it is better to dry the toy away from heating devices. On average, it takes about a day to dry, and when the workpiece has completely hardened, you can take the balloon out of it. To do this, they either pierce it, in order to then get it through the holes in the threads, or, having untied it, carefully release the air.
Decorating a ball of thread
Such a blank can produce an original Christmas tree decoration. To do this, the ball will need to be either covered with a layer of glitter, placed on a small layer of glue, or decorated with themed appliqués, sequins or beads. You can apply designs to the balls using a stencil or cover the future toy with aerosol red or decorative, for example, gold, varnish.
There are countless decor options, and using different techniques you can make decorations in the same style for the entire Christmas tree, while one toy will be different from the other, creating a unique New Year's decor interior
If you carefully cut the ball with a stationery knife, you can turn the blanks into surprisingly openwork airy flowers, as if coming out of a fairy tale. To do this, without deforming the thread ball, it is cut, as shown in the illustration, and one petal after another is carefully bent one by one. Such buds can become spectacular lilies of the valley, lilies or tulips - it all depends on the imagination and desire of the craftswoman!
If you get a little more creative and, for example, attach fins and an elegant tail made of gold paper to a spherical blank with transparent instant glue, then a magical Goldfish will visit your house.
Many of you have seen many times how beautiful a ball of thread looks. Very often such unusual crafts become an addition to the interior of a room or office. But how to make such a ball of thread with your own hands? It’s not all that complicated, the main thing is to clearly recognize the technology of this very interesting craft.
In our today's tutorial we will look step by step at how to make a ball of thread yourself at home.
So, let's begin our educational master class on making a ball.
What we need:
a) a deep plate or some kind of deep bowl;
b) PVA glue (one bottle will be enough);
c) a skein of thread;
d) hand cream (you can also use Vaseline or a cream based on it);
e) scissors;
e) a balloon.
Necessary materials for crafts.
Description of the process of making a ball of thread:
1) Take our balloon and inflate it. We securely tie the inflatable hole with a thread so that the air does not escape. The ball should be inflated to the size that we need for the future ball of thread. We will make a ball approximately 15-20 cm in diameter.
2) Apply a small amount of cream to the balloon and rub it over the entire surface of the inflated balloon. This procedure is done so that in the future the threads wound around the ball will not stick to it.
3) Pour PVA glue into a plate or bowl. The amount of glue depends on the size of the future ball. At this stage, you can go several ways, either moisten the entire skein of thread in a plate at once, or apply glue to the thread gradually, winding the thread, pulling it through the plate with glue. In the second case, it turns out that it is more economical to use glue for this craft. We wind the thread soaked in glue until we achieve approximately the same distribution of threads throughout the ball. We make the dimensions of the gaps to your taste. The gaps between the threads can be either small or large. By the way, the threads can be different colors and thickness.
4) After the glue has dried a little, use scissors or a needle to pierce the balloon and carefully take it out through some convenient gap in our ball of thread.
5) Our wonderful ball is ready, we hope you liked it! Now you know how to make such a craft yourself. This ball can decorate the interior of a room in any home. You can put it on a coffee table, a bookshelf, or simply hang it on something, it’s up to you.
The final look of the craft.
At all times, handicrafts have been the best remedy from depression and from any mental turmoil. Make your own crafts more often with your children or loved ones! On our website you can always find many interesting and entertaining DIY projects. For example, making a bracelet from ribbon and beads with your own hands will be interesting to any girl or even a girl.
If you have an idea to decorate your home for the holiday, but do not have enough funds for this, then crafts made from thread balls will allow you to do this without causing damage to the family budget. These decorations are very simple to make. Even a child can cope with such work, and the results of his own labor will bring joy to the child. In this article we will learn how to make it at home and use the craft in the interior.
Required materials and tools
- Balloons (if you need a small balloon, then finger pads purchased at the pharmacy are perfect for this).
- Threads (any you like - for knitting, sewing, embroidery, etc.).
- Scissors.
- Needle.
- or clerical.
- Vaseline (if you don’t have it, then any fatty cream and even vegetable oil will do).
Making balls of thread with your own hands: instructions
The very first step is to inflate the balloon to the required size. Tie the end with thread, be sure to leave a longer tail. This is necessary so that there is something to hang the base of our future craft made from thread balls to dry. Then lubricate the ball over the entire surface with cream or Vaseline. If this is not done, the threads will be very difficult to disconnect later. We impregnate the selected threads with glue. By the way, when using multi-colored balls, the weaves will be very beautiful. Using an adhesive plaster or tape, attach the tip of a thread soaked in glue to the balloon and begin to wrap the entire surface of the balloon with arbitrary movements. We do this as if we were winding a ball. The frequency of revolutions depends on the thickness of the thread: if it is thin, the winding density is greater, if it is thick (for knitting), it is less.
During work, you must ensure that the thread is well saturated with glue. You should hold it while winding the balloon without pulling too much.
When the process of winding the threads is completed, leave another long tip and tie it to the tail of the ball. Now comes the turn of drying the future craft made from thread balls. It usually occurs within 24-48 hours. It is necessary for the cocoon to become completely solid. There is no need to hang the workpieces over heating devices to speed up the drying process. The rubber from which the balls are made can burst from hot air, and then all your efforts will be in vain. We recommend hanging them on a clothes dryer, securing them with clothespins. After the glue becomes hard, the balls are removed. How to do this correctly so that the balls of thread you create with your own hands do not lose their shape and what methods of applying glue exist, you will learn by reading the article further.
Options for impregnating threads with glue
- If you have to work with PVA glue, then it must be diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio. Pour the glue into a suitable container and soak the threads in it for about 10 minutes. You should avoid getting them tangled.
- Wrap the ball with dry thread and then carefully, using a brush or sponge, saturate the workpiece with glue.
- Using a hot needle, pierce the tube of glue so that the holes are opposite each other. Thread the thread into the needle and pull it through the resulting holes. This way it will be saturated with glue. If you have glue in a large container, you can pour it into a disposable plastic cup.
How to correctly remove the ball from the workpiece?
- We untie the knot of the ball and let it gradually go down, then carefully remove it.
- Second way: using a simple pencil, at the end of which there is an eraser, peel off the ball from the thread frame and pierce it with a sharp object in several places. We take it out.
Now you know everything about how to make a ball of thread, and you can start decorating our craft. Although in itself it looks original and can become an independent home decoration.
Air fantasies
And the ball will fit perfectly into it and it is very simple to make. Three blanks of white threads, made according to our description, are connected to each other using glue. Glue on the eyes, ready-made or made from paper, and the nose. It can also be made from red threads, only for this we wrap not balls, but paper rolled into a cone. After it dries, remove and cut to the desired length. Sew it on. If you make a loop on the top of the head, then our snowman can be hung, for example, on a Christmas tree, if its size is small.
It turns out that you can make stylish and original Christmas tree decorations yourself without spending huge sums of money on it. New Year's balls made of thread will become an exclusive decor for the forest beauty. Having made small thread balls, we decorate them at our discretion: with beads, various ribbons, sequins, beads, feathers - don’t hold back your imagination, everything you have in the house will come in handy, even the well-known semolina. Yes, yes, if you moisten a ball with glue and dip it in this cereal, you will get a frost effect.
Small tricks
Did you want to make crafts from thread balls, but didn’t have any glue in the house? Don't despair and don't put off your wish for another day! It can be replaced with paste or sugar syrup. The paste is made like this: starch (4 teaspoons) is stirred in a glass of cold water and brought to a boil.
Do you need a red ball, but only white threads? It’s also not scary: we take the paint and repaint it, but this must be done before the ball is deflated and removed from the base.
To give texture to your creation, coat the ball with glue and roll it, for example, in millet or coffee beans.
Greetings, masters and craftswomen!
Materials and toolsthat we need:
Balloon (for smaller volumes, use finger pads, which are sold in pharmacies; for larger volumes, inflatable balls);
Threads (any thread is suitable: regular for sewing, floss, iris, wool for knitting);
Glue (PVA, silicate, stationery);
Needle, scissors;
Vaseline (you can use thick cream or oil);
For decoration: beads, feathers, beads, sparkles, semolina or powdered sugar, etc.
Step by step instructions how to make a ball from threads:
1. Inflate the balloon until the right size. Wrap a thread around the tail of the ball with a reserve of ~10 cm - for the future loop on which the ball will subsequently be hung to dry.
2. Lubricate the surface of the ball with Vaseline to make it easier to detach from the glued threads later.
3. Soak the threads with glue. When using threads of different colors, very beautiful weaves are obtained.
There are several ways:
- Pour the glue into some container that is convenient for you to work with, and soak the threads in it for 5-10 minutes. Dilute PVA glue with water (1:1) before soaking, as it is too thick. Make sure that the threads do not get tangled when soaking.
- Take a tube of glue and use a hot needle to make two holes in it opposite each other. Thread a thread through the holes using a needle (when pulled through the tube, the thread will be smeared with glue). Instead of a bottle of glue, you can take a Kinder Surprise egg, or another small plastic bottle, for example, a medicine bottle or the same silicate glue, and pour the glue into it.
- Wind the dry thread around the ball (skip step 4 and go straight to step 5), and then thoroughly saturate it with glue using a brush or sponge.
4. Secure the end of the thread soaked in glue to the ball (to secure the thread to the inflatable ball, you can use adhesive tape, tape, or protective tape). Then randomly wrap the thread around the entire surface of the ball, like a ball - each turn in the opposite direction. If the threads are thick, make fewer turns; if the threads are thin, wind them more tightly. Hold the threads in your hands with a slight tension, and also make sure that the thread is well wetted with glue. If the canister runs out of glue, refill it.
5. After winding, leave again a long tail for the loop, winding it again on the tail of the ball, cut the thread and hang the ball wrapped in threads to dry. Dry the ball thoroughly for 1-2 days - the finished cocoon should be hard. Do not try to speed up the process by hanging the balloon next to a heating device - the rubber from which balloons are made does not like this, and the hot air may cause the balloon to burst. An indispensable thing for drying is a clothes dryer with clothespins. You can dry several balls on the dryer at once, and they will not stick together.
6. When the glue has completely dried and hardened, the balloon must be removed from the web craft.
There are two ways:
1. Peel the ball off the web using a pencil with an eraser at the end. Carefully pierce the ball with a needle in several places and remove it or what is left of it.
2. Untie the knot that tied the balloon and it will gradually deflate. This method is mainly practiced when, instead of hot air balloon you used a beach ball as a base for winding.
7. Glue the finished cobweb balls together with a hot gun, pressing the gluing area slightly inward. The balls can also be sewn together, but this is not easy, because the balls become very strong and hard when dry.
8. Decorate the resulting design with beads, beads, feathers, braid, ribbons, artificial flowers, or any other materials at hand. Cover with paint. To do this, take a can of paint and go out onto the balcony or into the yard. With a slight movement of your hand, direct the colorful streams towards the balls awaiting a miraculous transformation. Create a snow effect: moisten the balls with glue and dip them in semolina or powdered sugar. Spray the ball with glitter hairspray. Don't expect much shine, but light sparkles are guaranteed.
Imagine...
small BIG tricks:
To prevent the table from getting dirty during the wrapping process, it is better to lay something plastic on it, not paper - everything will stick to the paper. Will fit plastic coasters under hot. If not, you can use a document corner made of thick plastic. The bottom seam is cut off, the folder is unbent and straightened, and it turns into a universal tool for saving the table from glue, paint and other creative deposits. In extreme cases, polyethylene is suitable for protecting the workplace.
Instead of glue, you can use sugar syrup or paste. Recipe for making paste: 4 teaspoons of starch per glass of cold water, mix thoroughly and bring to a boil.
Instead of thread, you can take thin copper wire and wind it around the ball in the same way.
To prevent glue from leaking through the hole in the thread tube, place a thin needle on the end of the thread and poke a piece of tape through it. Pull the thread in the opposite direction and firmly glue this tape to the jar. Thus, through a small hole in the electrical tape, the glue will not wet the thread so abundantly and will stop randomly dripping from the thread onto the table and clothes.
Be careful when winding the kokan. When dried, a poorly tied cocoon cracks and loses its shape as the ball descends.
Spider web balls can be not only spherical in shape. As a basis for winding, you can take a cone-shaped object (roll thick paper or cardboard into a cone), a heart, etc.
If you decide to change the color of a thread ball, then it is best to paint the ball before deflating and removing its base - so that the web does not become wrinkled when painting. In addition to aerosols, it is convenient to apply paint with a small sponge, inconvenient - with a brush and takes much longer.
To make the surface of the ball textured, you can coat the balls with glue and roll them in cereals, for example, millet or coffee beans.
And a few more words about threads...
If an air structure is being prepared, then the threads should be thin and light. For flower pots, it is better to take thick threads or even ropes and do not skimp on glue. The thread color can be any. True, it depends on the glue used. When the glue is transparent and leaves no traces, you can experiment by wrapping the ball with threads of different shades. It will turn out even more interesting.
Nice bonus:
For an innovative method of making spider web balls, see.
