Sequined Ornament

This is a very cool looking ornament; you could make these to hang around your house anytime of year or make them for your Christmas tree.  

This one is red, blue, pink, green and purple so I think I could keep it out all year.  Its almost like a colorful disco ball; might be cool hanging in my kitchen window?!

This does take some time and patience.  This is a 2 inch ball and the sequins were kind of small {maybe 1/4 inch}, so this took me 1 1/2 hours to complete {Little Miss J's naptime}.  Its just time to think about things, not necessarily about what you are doing. :D

I would like to try some larger sequins and see how much quicker these go together.  You could do a design, zigzags or something if you wanted; I just attached them randomly.

A little twist on this, you could cover the styrofoam ball with ribbon, snow paint or other paint (glitter paint), let it dry and then just use the sequins to add a design to the ornament.

I think this could be done with kids, maybe 5 years old and up; Big Mr J would like this, but I think Little Miss J would be too small for it.

Materials:

-styrofoam ball {I used 2 inch, they also make egg shapes and other shapes so choose what you like}

-sequins {like I said above mine were about 1/4 inch across; the larger the sequins the faster you will complete the ornament}

-stick pins {I used a whole box of 450 pins called satin pins, size 17, 1 1/16 inches long, if you can find shorter they'll work too}

-short piece of wire, about 1 1/2 inch long {or string to glue on for hanging}

-glue, optional

Process:

1. Pour some of the sequins out on your working surface {you'll probably use less than you think; I put a large piece of paper (so I could easily pick up the paper and pour the unused sequins back into the bag) on top of a tray with sides (a baking sheet with sides would work).

2. Begin by putting a pin through the hole of a sequin and pushing the pin into the stryofoam ball all the way.

3. Continue, keep it up!

4. I got sick of the ball rolling onto its sequined side (because its now heavier) every time I sat it down so I "rigged" up this stand {its a can with a canning ring on the top}, so it held the styrofoam ball in place so I didn't have to hold it in my hand and it wouldn't roll while both my hands were reaching for sequins and pins.

Keep going!

Look from this side it almost looks done, but the other side is empty. :(

5. Continue with the pins until you have the whole surface of the ball covered; then fill in any places where you may still see just a little bit of the stryofoam peeking through.

6. All done!

7. Bend the piece of wire into a "U" shape.

8. Find a place between the sequins where you can push the wire into the styrofoam ball; push the wire into the ball.  You can put a little bit of glue on the wire to ensure it stays over time.  {You could also glue a string to the ball for hanging; use a decorative string to keep it looking great.}

9. Enjoy for the holidays or year-round!