I am woefully behind in sharing a backlog of posts with you. It seems I have time to do the projects, just not time to share the projects.
Anyway, this was a party favor I made for Etta’s first birthday way back in March (aka a million years ago). I lost momentum in posting party projects, but finally, here it is!
I discovered surprise balls forever ago, and filed the idea away in my brain for the future. Basically, it’s a ball of crepe paper, with a bunch of toys and prizes hidden inside. As you unwrap it, a prize is revealed with each layer. Can you imagine getting one of these as a kid? So fun!
Want to make one? Here’s how!
First, collect up a bunch of tiny prizes. They can be small toys, candy, coins, handmade things, tiny notes, whatever you can think of! They don’t have to be flat. The one thing in the photo above that didn’t really work out was the stickers. It probably depends on the stickers themselves, but mine peeled off the backing when I bent the sheet.
Next, crepe paper. This is a good way to use up any partial rolls you may have hanging around from past celebrations. How much you need depends on how many prizes you have and how big they are, but I think a good rule of thumb is one roll of crepe paper for each ball you want to make. Of course, it’s fun to change colors with each layer, so you probably want more than just one roll.
This next step isn’t absolutely necessary, but I had better results by cutting the crepe paper lengthwise. It takes a while, but it wraps easier and looks a lot cleaner.
Now comes the fun part — wrapping the prizes! I put a bouncy ball in the middle to start off the round shape. Each prize gets another layer of crepe paper, and the ball builds and builds. Don’t worry if your ball starts to look a little lumpy; you’ll be able to even it out by staggering the prizes in the subsequent layers.
I stuck down the end of each layer with a piece of washi tape, but a glue stick would work just as well.
I included something like 15-17 prizes, and the finished product ended up being about the size of a softball. It’s amazing how much you can fit in such a small package! In hindsight, that might have been too many layers, because they ended up taking a considerable amount of time to wrap.
But honestly, it was all worth it to see the kids unwrap them. It’s one surprise treat after another! Who wouldn’t enjoy that? Elise loved it so much, I’m going to start collecting prizes and make a couple as stocking stuffers this Christmas.
Want to see more examples? Check out my surprise ball Pinterest board >>
See more party and party favor ideas >>
p.s. I moved my blog over to WordPress this weekend, so I apologize if you come across any broken images or links on the site or if anything else looks awkward. If you’re reading this in a feed reader or over e-mail, stop by and see my new redesign!
