Pomanders, also known as flower balls or kissing balls, are an elegant but inexpensive table decoration. They look great but are cheap and super easy to make! They are also very versatile; you can make them in different sizes and colours, group them together or display them individually, and they can easily be a hanging decoration with the addition of a ribbon. They can be customized to fit any wedding theme - these would look great made with map paper, sheet music, book pages, or anything else you can punch out and pin!

You will need:

Polystyrene balls - these come in a range of sizes, the ones I used are 7cm and the smallest I would recommend for this project.
Flower punch - mine is by Martha Stewart, but any of your choice will do. Alternatively you can cut flowers with a die cutter or plotter cutter such as Silhouette, if you have access to one
Paper of your choice - mine is pearlescent pink Conqueror paper, but you can use any you like! I used two A4 sheets for one pomander, but the amount you will use depends on the size of the ball, size of the flower, and how closely together you punch/cut your shapes.
Dressmaking pins
Coloured seed beads in the colour(s) of your choice - I used multicolour because I love the subtle pop of colour that this gives!

Step 1: Punch Flowers. Lots of Them!

The first thing you need to do is punch or cut a lot of flowers from your chosen paper. I won't lie to you, this can get a little tedious, especially if you are making a lot of pomanders. But it is easy to do and you can just zone out punching them while watching TV or chatting with friends.

Once you have plenty of flowers punched, you can begin assembling flowers. Take two of your flower shapes and place one on top of the other. Offset them slightly to get a nice flower effect. Place a seed bead on the end of a pin, then push the pin through the centre of the two flowers. It doesn't have to be right in the middle, close enough will do, but the finished pomander will look prettier if they are all reasonably central.

Step 2: Start Pinning Into Place

Press the pin into the polystyrene ball, as straight as you can (it doesn't matter too much if pins are a little crooked, but if they are very crooked, it can cause problems when you are trying to push other flowers in later). Once you have done this, squeeze the flower petals upwards slightly to give them some shape.

Step 3: Build Up the Pomander

Repeat, adding flowers fairly closely to minimise the amount of polystyrene visible, but not so closely that they become squashed. Try to ensure that all of the petals are folded up and visible, rather than one flower covering the next. As your flower ball gets fuller, you may need to use a hook tool, pencil or similar to gently lift the petals so you can ease the next flower into place.

Step 4: Complete Your Pomander!

If you plan on hanging your pomanders, you will need to make sure the polystyrene ball is completely covered in flowers. If they will rest on a table, you can choose to cover them completely, or to leave a small area bare for the flower to stand on. It is up to you!

There are lots of variations you can try to customise these pomanders for your own wedding. You can use pearl-topped pins instead of dressmaking pins and beads. You can use different coloured paper for the two layers of the flower, or experiment with different types of paper. It is all up to you! I hope you have fun experimenting :-)