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Theme and Contents
Now, one of the things I enjoy the most about creating surprise balls is selecting the contents that are going to be concealed inside of them. There are a couple of things you need to consider when you're selecting your items. One is that you really need to have a few items that are fairly flat, and that will be easily concealed by the roles of crepe paper. If you have a couple of bulkier items, it's not a problem, you just stick them towards the center of the configuration, but I want to talk you through a couple of the things I've selected to put into this prize, but we're going to create today, but then I also want to talk a little bit about potential themes that you could use when considering making your own surprise balls. Now, traditional ones really had sort of simple, inexpensive novelty items in them, and I think those are a lot of fun, and when I look for these items, I kind of tend to gravitate towards the items that are a little bit nostalgic, maybe have a little bit of a v...
intage feel to them. I've got a mixture of vintage items and new items on dh let's, just start with, you know, I think these air basic in every kid's birthday party, surprise packet these air, the little parachute guys there's a plastic parachute on the back you open it up you throw it over the banister railing at your home and it floats to the floor I think they're great they've been around for years I affectionately refer to these really sweet little strawberry candies is grandma candies because I think just about every grandma I know has them in their purse this is a perfect flat item these are tissue paper crowns now you find these a lot in christmas crackers if you've ever opened any of those at the holidays they unfold into a little crown and you can wear it on your head those air pretty great and they're really simple to wrap balloons or another great item to include I happen to find some that have these really annoying squeakers on the end the sound is just atrocious and obnoxious but the kids love them and they're always a big hit so here's an example man but the kids love them they make a horrible noise but there are a lot of fun you confined miniature beach balls these things are pretty fantastic obviously deflated it packs really flat and they're very similar to these chinese paper balloons this is basically the same thing there's a little hole in the top you blow into it and it inflates looks very similar to this that they come beautifully flat patch so they're going to be easy to wrap between those crepe paper folds one of the places I like to go when I'm looking for some of these treats is some of the dollar stores and also we've got a few japanese dollar stores here in los angeles which always have the cubist tiny little things the's air just little erasers that look like candies and fruits and cakes they're delicious looking I also love these old school champagne party poppers these are the guys where you pull on the string and they shoot confetti so let's do it let's see whoa there we go sometimes they're a little more effective than others but the kids love him because they make a big bang little sticky notes and stickers are another perfect thing to include kids love them they're actually really useful little boxes of candy and gum I've got a few different varieties the's canals air sort of vintage inspired and then these little boxes of gum are japanese as well, which I think kind of great we got the old school compass rings which I really love I don't know how accurate they are, but they're really fun to play with one of the vintage items I do have and tend to collect when I'm at flea markets are teeny tiny little brass charms this one's in anybody harmonica which I think is amazing and then I string little loops of twine on the end of them I've got them in all sorts of shapes and sizes some little novelty rings, maybe even a ring pop for the center. Another thing I like to include our jokes are riddles, and especially if you're giving these to a kid, they're pretty fantastic. I have a little hobby of collecting kindergarten jokes just because they're so ridiculous that they're funny. I mean, what do you call a pig that knows karate? A pork chop? Come on, that's really good, right? What the buffalo say to his kid when he dropped him off for school. Bison? What bison? I know so it's always nice to have a bunch of these on hand. They wrap really nicely conclude a couple of them when you're rolling it together a couple of final things, we've got some temporary tattoos again they pack flat. They're great to use miracle fish I remember these from when I was a kid there pretty fantastic. You take the little cellophane fish out and you lay it in your hand and the heat from your hand tends to make the fish curl up and depending on the manner in which it curls there's a little guide on the back that tells you what it's doing so mine is curling sides. It means I'm fickle that's not really the fortune I wanted, but that's what the fish is telling me and I think they're kind of great you also are going to want to have on hand a nice big bowl of confetti. We're going to tuck this inside when you open up a surprise ball, you make a tremendous happy mess and I think that the crepe paper streamers air going to create this wonderful pile of color and the confetti just sort of adds to that now. Like I said, these contents are really geared towards maybe kids surprise ball, although myself is an adult would love to receive a surprise ball with some of these in them, but I think there are a lot of different occasions for which you could create one of these. I think you know a bridal shower would be kind of fun. You do these for each year guess maybe you theme them around graduation or a birthday party. You can theme them to the specific likes of the recipient, which I always think is a great idea. One example I always give when I teach this prize bull workshop is I always think it would be amazing if someone proposed to a boyfriend or a girlfriend using a surprise ball with the best prize in the middle being the ring and then maybe wrapped in the layers around it or little mementos of their relationship together. They also make perfect stocking stuffers because they fit really easy during this into the stockings during the holiday season there are a world of possibilities when it comes to theming. One of these party favors. So gather your contents together, and then we're going to begin constructing.
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Ratings and Reviews
Anna Butterfield
Really engaging teacher and such a fantastic craft. I've gone on to make a tonne of these with my family and they make such a wonderful gift
Julz P
A natural teacher, great craft idea to add a bit of fun to gift giving!
user e3c8cf
Love these - a fab idea and a great instructor and class which talks you through step by step without getting boring. I will definitely be making these as little extra gifts for all my loved ones. Thank you for introducing me to them Robert.
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