DIY Jute Balls

Happy Wednesday Everyone! How's about a quick mid-week craft? Yes? Well then...lets get started :) Here's how you make these cute hallow jute balls.

These were super easy and super quick....a little messy....and well, the quick part was over when you had to wait for them to dry.

Okay. Here's the material list:

• Stiffy fabric stiffener - I found this at Joanns in the glue section (with coupon it only cost about $3)
• Jute/Yarn....or both :)
• Balloons (I used water balloons, it probably doesn't matter)
• Paper towels and a plastic bag.

Okay. Now cut your jute/yarn to size. For my first attempt I just dry wrapped the jute around the balloon to get an idea of how long it should be and cut it from there. Now put enough fabric stiffener in a small bowl - enough to cover the cut jute.

Mix it up and make sure all the jute is covered.

Looks like this....nice and nasty :)

Now start wrapping the jute around the balloon. I started with a pattern like this:

Then just kept on wrapping it, trying to cover all the big empty spots. It ended up looking like this:

Now, place the finished wrapped balloons on top of a paper towel on top of a plastic bag.

I did this so it wouldn't get all over my counter, although it is water based, so it washes up easily.

I let these dry for about 24 hours -just enough time to make sure they were hard and stiff. Throughout the 24 hours, I turned the 'balls' two or three times to make sure all surfaces got some air and got a chance to dry.

I then popped the balloons with a sharp knife. This part was sooo cool. The balloon crackles and shrinks and 'magically' releases itself from the stiffened jute.

And now you have your own jute balls, for pretty much the cost of the jute (I found a whole roll at target for $1 and the stiffener....so $4....and I can make like 20 balls out of these)

Totally a great deal:

Here are the finished balls made out of the yarn and the jute: