String balls.. maybe a different material???

This may sound like a stupid question... But what are string balls for??

I've been thinking of doing this but haven't gone into it, school has me too busy. Love to see pics when you can!! hahaha sorry I love to see pics!

I think you could use just about anything! I wa thinking about combining a strong fishingline and strips of iridescent cellophane with a clear drying glue to make mine look like jelly fish (i'm going to cut them in half so they look like the caps of jelly fish) with a battery operated tealight underneath.

I'll include a few pics of some string ball projects in place for leyila!

I imagine that anything that will soak up the glue will work~ Let us know how it goes. String balls are inching their way to my DIY list… I wonder if ribbon would work?

Are you having a country theme wedding? there is a cute blog i saw this morning you could look at to get ideas... and they used string balls for decor! You could also use: spanish moss, raffia, ribbon, meadow grasses, fabric strips, etc.

http://pureandnoble.blogspot.com/2010/09/wedding-crashers.html

I made a few with raffia and hemp. I was having problems with the raffia sticking to the ballon, so I would wrap some raffia and then some hemp (to help hold it down) and alternate between the two.

Wow! These are awesome!! Have to add these to my inspiration boards.

I sure am having a country theme wedding I had thought about using hemp... as much as I would love too.. I've seen how much yarn it does take to do only the few I have done, and its been alot, and knowing how much hemp costs I'm not sure its in our budget to make them all in hemp.

We are doing the same style of wedding! But it sounds like your further ahead then me. I'm just starting. I only have 4 string balls made and would like a ton to hang from the ceiling of my venue. Thinking of putting all of my girlfriends to work lol. I made mine with crochet string which is only a couple bucks and comes in several colors. I made 4 that turned out and 4 that didn't and still have a bunch of the crochet string left.

I dont know what this is (seems to be called Jute), but it looks like yarn but with that natural/brownish color. I think it would look nice. Anyway, heres the pic and the link. JoAnns usually has some awesome stuff and more stuff on sale online than in store. I haven't used this stuff before though, so I'm going off of the look and texture of it.

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=prd51999

And, Joanns has 400 feet hemp for $5.99, dont know how much you need, but that doesnt sound too bad.

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=prd11015

It doesn't say how much this one is, but it looks like maybe a few string balls for $4.99 http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?pageName=search&flag=true&PRODID=zprd_02353860a

I've been getting hemp from walmart and what you get for $5 is 219 feet.. so I would be getting practically double that for only $ more if I ordered from Joanns... I really need to check into ordering online, I don't have a Joanns near me that I know of. Thanks Sarah!

Ok, so I used "Braiding string" from walmart, came in different colors. I like the way it looks... But how the heck did you get the glue not to do this??? I know with a lot of patience I can get rid of all the glue, but I'd rather not have to on future ones. The glue stuck alllll over the balloon, and then when the balloon popped the glue stayed.

@ A P - this was another reason why I haven't attempted to use anything but white yarn because I figured this would happen. Did you put vaseline on the balloon before you wrap the string around the balloon?

What kind of glue do you use? Just elmer's or a fabric glue??

I used elmers, but I guess you can use any generic brand of school glue I'm guessing. The recipe I used just said to use 4 ounces of school glue

The website I found the instructions on said you use a mixture of white glue, warm water and corn starch ( see here http://wednesdaycustomdesign.com/blog/messiest-merriest-and-whirliest-diy-balls )

She also said that they used a chop stick to knock off the excess dried glue so apparently it's not uncommon to have the excess glue stick to the yarn.

Http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16818615

you could always buy some wicker/rattan balls and spray paint them the color you want. I know they are a little thicker than the string balls...but that just seems like A LOT of work!!!

I won't lie Brittney B it s a good bit of work lol. I have the time to do DIY projects since I'm out of a job, and I have to find cheap ways to decorate the wedding lol. All of my DIY projects I have done (except for my bouquets) I have majority of my supplies. My centerpieces are mason jars that my were in my grandmothers basement just sitting there and I hot glued fabric to the top part of the jars to bring in my colors (the fabric came from my grandmothers house, she was a seamstress) all I've had to buy for my centerpieces have been the hemp, rocks and flowers. The string balls: all the yarn I'm using came from her house as well and my mom had the corn starch so I only had to buy glue and balloons and the vaseline. I've completed 10 or 11 balls so far (I only did one large ballong and figured out I didn't need that size, so all of the ones I have made are the smaller size balloons). Depending on how many string balls you make, it may take a good bit of yarn.

Well if you have the time I say go for it!!! I'm a total DIY Nazi!!! LOL I hate to pay someone to do something I can do. And you have plenty of time to do em, so good luck on it. I'll be using mason jars for my centerpieces too