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Photo by Nancy Liu Chin

Claudia asks: I love, love, love these tutorials! Here's my question: what's the trick to making a sturdy, fresh pomander? I tried making one of my own and completely failed! Water was dripping from my foam and the stems kept breaking as I pushed them into the foam. Would you mind sharing your expert tips and advice?

I personally have a love/hate relationship with kissing balls (aka pomanders). I love making them, but they aren't as easy as they appear. Even though we've made over 200 kissing balls over the course of our business, they are still one of those pieces that we continue to finesse. For me, the trick with kissing balls is using the right flowers. Many people don't realize that there aren't many flowers that work. I once saw someone use French tulips to make a kissing ball. Sorry, but that's the absolute worst flower you could use. First of all, the beauty of the French tulip is its gorgeously long stem. What a shame to waste that stem on a kissing ball. Also out of water or Oasis, tulips aren't very “happy”.

Most important tip: choose a sturdy, flat, round, mass flower. My two favorites are mini carnations and pom pom (button) mums.

We use two different methods when making a kissing ball. For mums, we like to use a styrofoam ball. For the carnations, we use an Oasis ball. It's a matter of personal preference and ease for us, so you don't have to follow this. Most people use Oasis balls because they keep the flowers hydrated. We have a professional cooler where we can keep kissing balls for several days, so we often use the styrofoam method. For a non-professional, I suggest using the Oasis balls.

Photo by Ken Buck

Pom Pom Kissing Ball:

-1 3 or 4 inch styrofoam ball
-1 bundle of pom pom mums
-1 box of pearl pins or straight pins
-Ribbon
-Several straight pins
-Water mister
-Large zip lock freezer bag or clear bag (with no holes)
-Bag ties
-Floral shears

1. Cut individual mums from their stems. Make sure that all stems are removed.
2. Fasten ribbon (to use as handle or to tie pomander as decoration) to the styrofoam ball securely with straight pins.
3. Starting with one side. Secure mums to styrofoam, using pearl or straight pins, by poking the pin through the center of the mums. Continue until the entire ball is covered with mums.
4. Mist pomander with water.
5. Take a zip lock or plastic bag and blow hot air into the bag. Place kissing ball into the bag.
6. Secure the bag tightly using the zip lock or bag ties.

Photo by RAH Photography

With mini carnations, you do the same thing but instead of styrofoam, use an Oasis ball. Make sure that you let the water-soaked Oasis ball stand, until the water stops dripping. Then, secure your ribbon to the ball with straight pins. However, instead of cutting all the stems off the mini carnations, cut them down to 2 inches. Insert the stems directly into the ball; no need for the pins. You can also add some spray roses and little green buds into the ball like the pink kissing ball above.

Good luck, and please share your results with us!