By Renee Neace
For rustic, Christmas charm, try making some Christmas Nut Balls. These are perfect projects for the crafts-disabled person. No artistic talent is needed, just time and patience. I have fond memories of staying up late one night during Christmastime, gluing walnuts to a foam ball. My husband fondly remembers me emerging from the kitchen, after hours of working on “Christmas crafts,” smiling proudly and displaying my Christmas Nut Balls. “Wow, Mommy made a nut ball!” he said with a sideways grin. Those words have stayed with our family throughout the years and have become a Christmas tradition. Each year as we unpack the decorations, we fondly remember when Mommy made her first nut ball.
The supplies are simple and available at your local craft store and grocery store.
• 1–2 foam balls (3” and 4”)
• Glue gun with plenty of glue sticks
• Bag of green moss
• Large bag of nuts from the grocery store (walnuts or hazelnuts work well)
• Dried baby’s breath
• A bag of potpourri to make the second ball (containing red flowers, like dried roses)
• A decorative vine ball
Instructions
{See The Christmas Nut Ball Slideshow for detailed pictures.}
Step 1: Glue the moss onto the foam ball. Break the moss apart into small pieces before you begin gluing.
Squeeze the glue onto a small section of the ball and gently press the moss on. Be careful! The hot glue is HOT! Gently pull off the extra moss as you’re working and then reapply, making sure there are no bald spots. Keep working with it until you’ve covered the whole ball. This can be a little messy and sticky, but it’ll look good when you’re done.
Step 2: Start gluing down the nuts. Again, this is easy. Imagine an equator around your moss-covered, foam ball. Squeeze some glue where you want your first nut to go, then press it firmly in. Continue all the way around the imaginary equator, and begin a second row. Do this until the whole ball is covered with the nuts. Don’t worry about being perfect; some space between the irregular shapes is to be expected.
Step 3: You’re almost done! At this point, you can decide to keep it plain or to add in some baby’s breath. First, break or cut off some little pieces of the flowers. Squeeze a tiny amount of glue into the tiny nooks and crannies of the nut ball and stick some of the flowers in. You don’t need to fill in every crevice, just a few spots all over the ball.
You’re done!
Make another one, so that you can create a vignette of nut balls for your Christmas mantle. Or make the Potpourri Ball to display with them.
The Potpourri Ball
Step 1: Glue the moss onto the foam ball like you did for the Christmas Nut Ball. (You can use a different size foam ball.)
Step 2: Start gluing down the potpourri. Pour the potpourri onto the table and pick out the prettiest pieces and start gluing them on. Cover the whole ball with the potpourri.
Step 3: Fill in gaps with green moss. Once you’ve finished gluing the potpourri, gently stick some
little pieces of the moss into the spaces all over it. This gives it a more finished look.
You’re done!
Now, set it down on your mantle next to your Christmas Nut Balls.
Renee Neace lives in sunny southern California with her husband of twenty five years and their four children. They have been homeschooling for several years, including coming up with creative ways to teach their son with Down syndrome. The whole family is actively involved in their church. Renee holds a B.A. degree in communications. She enjoys reading classical literature and loves working from home for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.
