to make: surprise balls
Surprise balls are, simply, a ball made up of crepe streamers wrapped around small presents. As you unwind you uncover the small presents inside. It's simple, an amazing amount of fun to open, and very festive. These would make great party favors for kids old enough to know not to try to eat small items, and adults love them too. Well, at least, I sure do love them. My first recollection of these is getting a tiny one from a gumball machine in Oklahoma, of all places. I've come across this as a present wrapping idea in a few places including the Carol Duvall Show, and you can find ready made ones from Tops Malibu (read their story of the surprise ball), and by Party Partners. Unless you plan on your surprise ball being very large you'll want to cut your own crepe strips instead of using the streamers you can buy in rolls as those will be too wide.
Crepe sheets come in folded packs and it's not difficult to cut. I was planning on orange or grapefruit sized balls so I guessed that strips 1.5 inches wide would work best. I used a mat and rotary cutter and found that I could cut through about six layers of crepe at a time. This is important: you want to make sure the folds of the crepe are running across the width of the strip, this way when you stretch it around the ball the crepe will be able to expand to hug the curve:
Picking out things to go inside is an awful lot of fun. For the ones I made in these pictures I was going for items that were unisex. I found things at a few places here in Seattle: Trophy Cupcakes and Party who carry a treasure trove of small vintage toys and reproduction pins, Archie McPhee who have more small plastic toys than any one person can stand and Display & Costume which has just about any party and craft supply you could want. Anything small and flat-ish will work great: uninflated balloons, coins, candy, toy rings, stickers and 1" pins. I think the small metal charms you can often find at card shops would also be great to include.
You can also add confetti, sometimes you can find larger shapes punched out of tissue paper. This is fun, but be aware that it can be a pain to clean up. Don't like the person you're making the surprise ball for? Add extra confetti. I decided I wanted to put a laminated four leaf clover at the center of my surprise ball so I used clear plastic snap together christmas ornament balls (found at Display & Cosutme). These worked really well as centers and allowed me to start with a nice globe shape. Wrap a streamer around the ball, pulling from the center of the width of the streamer so that it will stretch around the ball. Put at least one streamer between each item, less and things are revealed too quickly. This will seem like a lot of work, but when you open the surprise ball it fewer streamers will seem skimpy.
So, start with your center item and wrap a streamer or two around it. As you wrap shift the angle so you overlap each layer a little bit. Keep going, it will seem like a lot of work but you'll get the hang of it. It seems like a lot, but one item per streamer is a good ratio, otherwise the presents will drop out too quickly.
I decided to put a puzzle card scattered inside, so once the person opening it had revealed all the pieces they could put the puzzle together to read the message. I really, really want to do this with a map to some sort of larger treasure hunt someday. ![]() The puzzle card - you write a message, then break it up.
One thing I really regret not noticing in time to get them into this ball: fake mustaches. I suggest you put one in every surprise ball you make. If you need to wrap in a larger item or add padding to even out a lopsided ball you can use a square sheet of crepe or acetate inbetween streamers.
![]() The eye patch was extra fun to put inside. ![]() Just before the last streamer I used an extra large square of the same colored crepe. This helps even out the appearance of the final layer of streamer.
You'll need a sticker or ribbon to secure the outside of the ball, just something to keep it from unwrapping on it's own. I printed simple images onto sticker paper and simply put it over the last end of crepe.
Here are some lists I jotted down for themed surprise balls, also see my (very old) page on Valentine's Day Surprise Balls. general small things: candy, balloons, pins, small plastic toys Princess: sparkly temporary tattos, glitter makeup, oversize plastic ring, printed balloons, bead jewelry Pirate: eye patch, gold dubloons (chocolate?), small compass, pirate map drawn on puzzle, fake mustache, small treasure chest in center Tough Guy: fake mustache, tiny cars, temporary tattoo, sheriff badge, gun badge, tiny ninja, bacon bandages Lucky You: four leaf clover, puzzle with saying, green things, temporary tattoo (chinese character), rainbow balloon, gold coins (chocolate), plastic horseshoe Valentine's Day: candy conversation hearts, chocolate hearts wrapped in foil, stick-on body jewels, heart shaped balloons, heart stickers |



Omgg!! soooo cool =]
Comment by alex — July 31, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
This is a wonderful idea for a party favor! I was thinking of adult party favors the other day and this is the perfect solution to the adult party favor question.
Comment by Sara — August 1, 2008 @ 5:52 am
That's so coooool! I want to make some for the bebe's birthday.
Comment by TPS — August 1, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
[...] How to Make Surprise Balls I will definitely be making these cute and creative party favors next time I get a chance to. [...]
Pingback by StumbleUpon « Muse — August 1, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
I'm so doing this for LittleBoy's birthday this year.
Comment by Elana — August 2, 2008 @ 5:41 am
These would be fun at a Swedish julgransplundering party when guests fish for prizes.
Comment by Patti — August 2, 2008 @ 10:32 am
[...] SURPRISE BALLS by NotMartha Já tinha visto essas bolinhas feitas com lã, mas nunca com papel crepom do jeito que esse tutorial ensina. Outra coisa bem legal é que a Megan (”dona” do NotMartha) dá sugestões do que colocar em surprise balls temáticas, tipo, uma bola com surpresinhas que tenham a ver com sorte, com piratas e assim por diante. [...]
Pingback by Mania de tutorial « wicked,wicked in wonderland — August 4, 2008 @ 6:40 am
This is fantastic! I know just the person to confetti...er... I mean give this to!
Comment by Andrew — August 5, 2008 @ 9:44 am
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Pingback by links for 2008-08-05 [delicious.com] : mdq — August 5, 2008 @ 5:33 pm
[...] love Megan’s Surprise Balls. What a great idea for a party or [...]
Pingback by One Hour Craft » What to Make — August 5, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
What a very creative idea! There's nothing better than a surprise (especially if it's a good one)! :)
Comment by Lisa — August 8, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
I just made a couple of these. I'm going to suggest using them for my baby shower for the kids that are coming. This is one of the single greatest party favors EVER. Thanks!
Comment by Sonya — August 9, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
[...] great idea from Not Martha; Surprise Balls! She is sharing a great step-by-step tutorial on her blog. SHARE THIS POSTClose this [...]
Pingback by Folding Trees » Surprise Balls — August 11, 2008 @ 2:01 am
I love these creations. Something I could've really enjoyed when my son was a boy, but still the kid in me thinks of special gifts for others...thanks!
Comment by Gale — August 11, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
This is such a great idea! One other occasion I can suggest is wrap in some little risque items for a bachelorette party. I can't wait to try this soon!
Comment by lazeedaze — August 12, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
this is slammin'
Comment by g — August 18, 2008 @ 6:25 am
Great Idea, and I love your site!
Comment by sarahelizabeth — August 18, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
What would you put inside of these surprise balls for a baby shower? Something the ladies can take with them as a party favor? Thanks:) You are very creative!
Comment by Kristen — August 19, 2008 @ 9:27 am
awesome! these would make GREAT party favors.
Comment by Pattie Cordova — August 20, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
what a super idea i willdo these at christmas for everyone including the dog.
Comment by granma — August 26, 2008 @ 5:31 am
These are so cute! I need to make a bunch up for rainy days.
Comment by Kate — September 20, 2008 @ 2:51 pm
Great idea. You could adapt them to any theme - Valentine's Day, Easter goodies. A lovely inexpensive present for children inside of those hideous shop-bought party bags.
Comment by Valerie — October 4, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
oops - meant to type 'instead' of those party bags, not 'inside'. Comment doesn't make much sense otherwise!!!!
Comment by Valerie — October 4, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
These are called "snowballs" where I live. Same idea, but WHITE crepe streamers. Even the 14-year-old, too-cool-for-all-that kids LOVE them, no matter what they're filled with! (And it's the only kind of SNOWballs we get down in the deep, deep south!)
I made oblong ones (no central sphere) in olive drab crepe and added little black cardboard handles and tops...instant "hand grenades" for my son's 8th birthday "soldier" party a few years back. Manly, warrior stuff inside. Cool!
Thanks to your post, though, I'm going to branch out and make pumpkins for my teen daughter's all-girl Halloween party. Those little pins like you show are all the rage. Great idea, and timely! I just love your site!
Comment by Marcia — October 13, 2008 @ 7:58 am
You know, I just realized...you have four-leaf clovers! :)
You're somebody ELSE in the world who finds them in droves, I presume?!
Comment by Marcia — October 13, 2008 @ 8:12 am
Marcia - Yup, I cannot seem to not find one if I look.
Comment by megan — October 22, 2008 @ 11:27 am
Where do you find the snap balls?
Comment by Linda — October 23, 2008 @ 6:26 am
Megan, pleased to meet you. Never met anybody with my curious "affliction" before! :)
Comment by Marcia — October 25, 2008 @ 8:33 am
Wow, these are fantastic! And look like so much fun. If I ever make them for anyone, I'm going to have to make one for me too, and try to forget what I've put inside!
Comment by ::twiglet:: — November 23, 2008 @ 5:03 am
Ah! I LOVE these! My mom used to treat me to these when I was a kid and I'd recently considered making them as gifts. Thanks so much for posting this tutorial.
Comment by Anastasia — November 27, 2008 @ 1:15 am
I did this for a wedding present. I used kitchen string, about 750' of it. We can always use string in the kitchen, right? I cut out hearts and wrote love quotes on them and wrapped them up with gold dollars in the string. This was a group gift and in the center was a MAstercard giftcard for $500.00. I wish I could have been there to see the unvailing but I heard they had a lot of fun!
Comment by Billie — December 8, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
I made a ton of christmas themed ones and they were a huge hit! Thanks for the great idea!
Comment by Benita — December 22, 2008 @ 7:50 am
This is one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen before!
Comment by Dee — December 22, 2008 @ 10:06 pm