Christmas Decorations: How to Make a Kissing Ball

The weather outside may be frightful, but you can fire things up when you deck the halls inside with a kissing ball made of fresh mistletoe. The greenery adds a pop of holiday cheer to your Christmas decorating. And as it hangs above a doorway, or anywhere in your home, it will definitely set the mood for celebrating.

The supplies to make DIY mistletoe kissing balls are usually easy to find. Fresh mistletoe is usually available at local Christmas tree lots and is also sold online from mistletoe farms. Sheet moss, floral foam balls, florist wire and greening pins can be found in the floral supply section of crafts stores.

Making your own holiday crafts is fun and adds a personal touch to your holiday decor. Assemble your DIY Christmas kissing ball using our tutorial.

Cut a 30-inch piece of red ribbon. With this ribbon, make a 12-inch loop (this will be the hanging loop), two 6-inch loops on opposite sides of the 12-inch loop and a 6-inch tail.

Then cut another 6-inch piece and place it on the opposite side of the first 6-inch tail, as shown in the photograph. Tie all the loops together with a 12-inch piece of floral wire, twisting the ends of the floral wire tightly.

Insert the twisted length of wire through the floral foam ball so that it goes in one end and out the opposite. Bend the wires so they cannot be pulled out. I actually attached one of the holiday bells to the end of the wires as an anchor.

Covering the foam ball with moss creates a background layer for the mistletoe. That way, there are no empty spots on the ball, even where there is no mistletoe. Tear pieces of sheet moss to fit around the ball and secure the moss with greening pins.

Cut the mistletoe sprigs into smaller 2-inch pieces. Each sprig of mistletoe can usually yield between four to eight individual pieces. Some pieces will be fuller than others, creating more depth and variety in the finished kissing ball.

Starting at the top and moving downward, insert the mistletoe pieces into the foam ball. If you have trouble getting the stems past the moss layer, just create a hole in the moss with your fingertips so the mistletoe can slide through it. Keep going until the ball is covered. If you do not have enough mistletoe, you can supplement the ball with other greenery like pine or holly.

The kissing ball will already look beautiful at this point, but adding some embellishments will make it more festive. Slide pearl corsage pins through the opening in the holiday bells. You may want to use a hot glue gun to glue the pin to the bell to keep it from moving around.

Insert the pins into the kissing ball, just far enough so that the pearls and holiday bells are still visible against the mistletoe. You will need about 36 pins around the ball, but the more the merrier.

Using the large loop at the top of the bow, hang the kissing ball above a doorway. The mistletoe will keep fresh for about two weeks in a cool room. You can also refrigerate the kissing ball to keep it fresh longer.

Making a kissing ball from fresh mistletoe is a fun and easy Christmas craft. You just need some mistletoe and a few other basic supplies from your local crafts store. Then attach the mistletoe to the floral foam ball and add embellishments like moss and jingle bells. Finally, hang the kissing ball before your next holiday season party. Now pucker up for that Christmas kiss.