Easy DIY Felted Wool Ball Garland

Did you spot the DIY felted wool ball garland in Monday's post about my wintry blue and white holiday decor?  My mantle is so narrow that decorating it is a real challenge.  It's difficult to create a layered look but I wanted it to look really full and interesting so I came up with some tricks, like tucking glittering picks behind my cone trees for extra oomph and making a huge, natural cedar wreath to add some height.

I also whipped up that cute white felted ball garland at the last minute.  I love how it really popped against my dark grey fireplace and, because the felted balls looks like snowballs, complemented my wintry theme so perfectly:

Making felted wool ball garland is really, really easy, which makes it the perfect last minute holiday craft or decor idea.  Hang it from a mantle, like I did, or use it as garland around a tree.  Mix up the size and color of the balls and use colorful, metallic thread for some sparkle and shine.  You could even mix in some beads or needle felt designs onto the felt balls.  

Supplies:

• Wool roving (your choice of color, I linked to white but these blues are pretty)
• Dish soap or hand soap
• One bowl of really, really hot water
• One bowl of really, really cold water
• Large needle
• Metallic embroidery thread

 
How to Make Felted Balls

My original felted ball tutorial - when I made my cute felted wool billy buttons - is really thorough and even though I've since shared felted ball tutorials (like when I made my felted wool rings), it's still my favorite so I've included it below.  But if it seems like too much work, you can track down pre-made felted wool balls on Etsy or Amazon and skip these steps.  Here's a lot of 100 mixed colors for $14.48 or try this 200 lot listing for under $30.  If you're after a more traditional holiday palette, these felted balls might fit the bill.  It seems that single color lots are a little bit pricier, but I tracked down this teal green listing - the color is so gorgeous - and this multi-colored bundle is limited to greens, which is very seasonal.  But I have to say that these these sky blue felted wool balls or this mixed lots of different blues have that wintry look I'm into this year.

Yup, you can definitely find a ton of these felted balls online, in different colorways and price points.  But they're so much fun to make!

The whole process for one felted wool ball should only take a couple minutes.  First, tear off a piece of your wool roving, like you would tear off a piece of cotton candy; you want ragged ends.  Remember that your wool ball will shrink during the felting process.  The size you choose is up to you and if you find that your first ball is smaller than you hoped, just layer on some more wool and keep felting to enhance the diameter.  I recommend starting with a dry ball the size of a marshmallow.      

Next, place a small drop of soap (I have used both hand soap and dish soap successfully) in your dry hands and also rub a tiny bit onto the piece of wool roving. 

Then, roughly shape the wool into a ball before dipping it gently in the hot water – you want it a tad wet, not completely drenched.

Very, very gently roll the wool roving between your palms – like you would a clay ball, but with much less pressure.  At this stage, don’t squish the wool any harder than you would a baby chick.  Then dunk the roughly shaped ball into the cold water (this time you can soak it) and keep rolling. Then dunk the ball into the hot again, then the cold, rolling between dunks.  The change in temperature helps “shock” the wool fibres and is part of the felting process.  Plus, you want to rinse out the soap.

As your ball becomes firmer (and thus smaller), you can apply more pressure.  Your ball is finished when it is firmer to the touch and feels dense.  You can see in the next photo how much smaller my wool ball has become.

Leave the felted wool ball(s) to dry, for about 24 hours - or at least overnight.  The dry felted wool ball should have a slight bounce to it when dropped on a counter top.  I recommend making a few as a “test” before diving into mass production.  I've created a second post, with tips for felted wool ball troubleshooting, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have in the comments below. 

Once you get the hang of it, making these felted balls is so easy.  When the balls have dried, it's time to turn them into garland! 

How to Make Felted Ball Garland:

I just grabbed a pretty metallic gold thread from my stash and, using a larger needle, threaded each ball onto the thread.  Because mine are so densely felted, the friction causes them to stay put in the thread so once I spaced them evenly, they didn't budge.  But you could definitely add a knot before and after each ball to secure them in place.  Use a thicker thread or embroidery floss for strength.  

If you're looking at the calendar, nervously counting down the days and staring a looming to-do list, you can also buy felted ball garland, ready to hang!  Here's a six foot long multi-color felted ball garland.

So easy, right?  But it looks so cute.  I kind of want to make itty bitty wool garland for some of my plants.  My tree shaped lavender planter is especially begging for some more ornamentation. 

Here are some great links to finished felted wool balls, ready-to-go garland, and wool roving - for whatever level of commitment you've pledged.  Happy crafting!

Wintry Blue + White Holiday Decorating Ideas

Today's post is a lot of fun, and I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Lowe's Canada to add some wintry, but cozy, touches to the lakehouse for the holiday season.  Not only did the first Lowe's just recently open in my small city (who doesn't love perusing the aisles of a shiny new home improvement store?), the Lowe's Cold Spell holiday collection looks like it was made for the lakehouse!  The colour palette consists of icy blues, creamy whites and tons of silver (check).  Plus so many of the pieces that caught my eye have a vintage-meets-Scandinavian vibe (check).  Even better, although the line includes a stuffed Santa and a gorgeous collection of gleaming Christmas tree ornaments, what I love about the products is that many of them just feel wintry so even if you don't celebrate a traditional Christmas, you can still add some festive seasonal decor pieces to your home and keep many of the decorations up long past the end of December (check).  Finally, with so many gorgeous tabletop trees in the collection, even if you have absolutely no room for a tree in your small home (I hear ya), there are plenty of items to bring holiday cheer to a pint-sized space.  Yes, there's a lot to love about the Cold Spell collection, so I was really excited about bringing home my favorite pieces, and mixing them with my existing decor, to show you how to add a festive, wintry vibe to a small space. 

Let's take a tour!

My narrow mantle is tricky to decorate but, even with the limited space, I created a really sparkly, layered mantlescape this year.  I started with glittery tulle from the fabric shop (I bought a metre, which I cut in half lengthwise).  I scrunched that up on the mantle and then placed a fresh cedar wreath I made in the centre, casually leaning it against the brick.  I made it using the same wreath form (and the same steps) as last year's fresh greenery wreath, but the cedar really lasts much longer.  Once again, I added some faux foliage in shades of blue and white, along with some silver leaves.  Using ornament hooks, I attached a row of my absolutely favorite ornaments from the Cold Spell collection to complete the wreath.  Something about the shape, the vintage shade of the blue, and that glittering "snow capped" top really remind me of vintage Christmas ornaments (they come in a pretty shade of mint and a soft champagne gold, too).  Using my easy DIY felted ball tutorial, I quickly whipped up a felted ball garland that looks like snowballs - perfect for my wintry theme!

I flanked the wreath on either side with two faux birch bark cone-shaped trees - they have such a pretty shimmer to them and a minimalist, Scandinavian-inspired vibe.  I wove a string of battery operated pine cone shaped lights around everything to add some glow.  I found these adorable lights in the lighting section, but the mercury glass finish matches other pieces in the Cold Spell theme.  I also tucked in some sparkly faux foliage to add a little more sparkle and interest - the light faux stems and trees really pop against my dark fireplace.  My Mummu is an avid crafter, so I raided her collection, but Lowe's also carries this type of glittering pick (which they tuck into their display Christmas trees - such a pretty idea).

Look at these faux birch bark trees shimmer!  When they're placed beside string lights or candles, they just gleam like freshly fallen snow.  I'm really tempted to find a place to display a grouping of these all year round.

One of the fabrics used in the Cold Spell theme (for stockings, throw pillows, and a tree skirt) has such a mid-century modern vibe that I just had to bring home some pieces.  You know my obsession with tweed; the stockings and throw pillows look like a creamy tweed shot with silver.  To me, this fabric just feels wintry - it doesn't scream "Christmas," which I like because you could totally put these out in November and keep them until the snow melts (I plan to)!

Each of the four holiday collections at Lowe's this year have an assortment of stocking hooks and this simple, silver snowflake-shaped one caught my eye - but there's a pair of brass reindeer from a different theme that I definitely kept putting in my cart.

As I was leaving Lowe's, I spotted a rack of tree-shaped lavender plants (along with more classic choices, like poinsettias and Christmas cacti).  These smell amazing, and are so different, so I brought one home and planted it in a mid-century modern-inspired tabletop planter from Modernica.  It looks so cute on my hearth, but I'll move it to the dining room table for everyday use.  You have to keep pruning it to maintain the tree shape, so after the holidays I can let it grow out.  To make it a little more festive, I just tucked in some glittering, faux foliage stems.

With our 20-ft sectional sofa, we don't have much room for other furniture - or display space - but I made the most of our accent tables and swapped my usual plants for a vase with fresh blue spruce boughs, a tabletop ball tree from Lowe's, and some other cozier accents like a light-up owl and assortment of candles - some from Lowe's (they have some pretty white tree-shaped and pine cone shaped ones) and some I made last year.

That glass owl is battery operated and lights up, creating this gorgeous glow at night.  The mercury finish matches other pieces from the collection, plus it's too darn cute!

Moving over to the dining room, I mixed some new pieces from Lowe's with some of my existing holiday decor.  Last year I dyed some vintage crochet doilies teal, along with some matching linen napkins, and I loved how that looked.  The lacy doilies complement a wintry tablescape so well, so I used this makeshift runner idea again, this time with some wintry glass plates and glasses.

The mercury glass vases from Lowe's come in two sizes.  For a centrepiece, I recommend the shorter size.  I chose this larger size because I knew it would photograph better, but for real life, the taller size is perfect for a mantle, end table, or sideboard, while the lower size is great for a centrepiece that allows you to still see your guests over dinner!  To create a budget-friendly arrangement, I used natural cedar greenery from my backyard along with some more faux foliage picks pilfered from my Mummu.  Once you invest in some glittering picks, they can be used every year to add sparkle to a green (and free!) arrangement, helping to keep a holiday decorating budget in check by saving money on flowers.

To create more ambiance, I added a small plate to each place setting and nestled a pretty blue glass votive holder into a bed of cedar.  I also added a pretty glittering stem to each napkin for some more sparkle.



This pine cone shaped candle, also from Lowe's, makes an even brighter, cozier statement:

We had our first snowstorm recently and it was so bizarre to go from unseasonably warm fall days to WINTER overnight.  The temperature plummeted, cars drove off the highway into the ditch, and we had to pull out our deep freeze parkas.  I immediately started craving cozy comforts: the fireplace, candles, blankets, (and pie!).  Adding new touches, like those battery-operated pine cone lights and that adorable owl really added another layer of coziness.  Look how lovely the living room looks at night!

This is just a small sampling from the Lowe's Cold Spell collection, which I'm so thrilled to showcase because it just feels so right in the lakehouse!  Lowe's has three other collections - including one which has a really colorful, retro vibe and a bold color palette of turquoise, red, green and white - and I was definitely excited about pieces from each of the other collections.  Think: adorable fox figurines, bright turquoise mid-century mod inspired ornaments, beautiful shades of indigo blue glass, and modern brass accessories.  I could have definitely picked about a dozen items from each collection, and they can definitely be mixed and matched, but choosing from one collection, with its colour-coordinated palette and matching finishes, makes decorating for the holidays a snap.

Well, I'm officially ready for evenings in, huddled under a blanket watching movies.  How about you?

This post was sponsored by Lowe's, but all thoughts, opinions and styling choices - including the decision to highlight products from the Cold Spell collection - are my own.  The case study planter was provided by Modernica.  Happy holiday decorating, everyone!
 
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