How to make 3D paper ball ornaments | How About Orange

November 15, 2011

How to make 3D paper ball ornaments

I love 3D paper things. Love. And when I saw a little picture of what appeared to be paper balls in a CB2 catalog, I thought, "I am going to make those."

So the other day while Alex was writing a paper about mysterious things like polymers and flexible films and tactoids, I made a paper ball. Then I proudly announced I had created a tactoid and it was sitting on my desk. He giggled. Apparently a tactoid is not a paper ball.

These are made from 12 slotted flower shapes that fit together to form a sphere. No adhesive needed; the only ingredient is paper. I made a template in Illustrator and cut out the shapes with my Silhouette machine, but you could also print out the pages and cut by hand instead.

Download the PDF templates here:
Large ball (10")– print/cut 12 sheets
Medium ball (5")– print/cut 2 sheets
Small ball (3")– print/cut 1 sheet

Download a Silhouette .studio file here:
Small ball (3")– unzip the file; cut 1 sheet. (The shapes can be scaled up or down in Silhouette Studio if you'd like to change the size.)

If you want to hang your ornament, you might like to add the string before assembling the ball. I placed a piece of tape on the back of one flower so the hole wouldn't tear, then used a needle to pull string through, forming a loop on the front side. I secured the ends of the string on the back side with another piece of tape.

Use the slits to join petals together. Keep adding shapes, connecting as you go, so that every petal is connected to another petal on a neighboring flower.

It might be helpful to think of the first piece as the "north pole," and then add a row of five flowers encircling it. At this point, the ball is half finished.

Here's what it looks like upside-down:

Attach the next row of five flower shapes, and finally, add the "south pole" piece to finish the globe.

The colored balls are made from regular-weight computer paper (Astrobright from Office Max) and the white balls are made with cardstock. The big sphere is the size of a basketball; the little one is approximately a baseball. And the medium-sized guy is maybe a large grapefruit.

212 comments:

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Paula said...

oh my!!! I'm so gonna make a lamp out of this.. gorgeous!!

Betz White said...

Those are particularly yummy! I'm going to try them in felt! :)

Jessica Jones said...

Oooo, felt. Yeah!

kimberly michelle said...

Wonderous and amazing! I can't stop thinking of the possibilities!

Michelle | Remy and Me. said...

thank you - can't wait to try them!

Clare G said...

I just adore 3d paper crafts, I totally will have to make at least one -I might try some patterns or add photos.

Unknown said...

Love it. Going to make these with the kids next week! Thank you. :)

LovelyMint said...

The colors look really fun! But the white is so sleek, it reminds me of expensive contemporary pendant lamps. I'll have to make some to hang around the house!

Anonymous said...

Lovely! I love modular balls like this. I used to make some every Christmas for ornaments & such. Here are a couple and this one is my favorite (use metallic curling ribbon & it is gorgeous!)

Evg. Enko. said...

This is such an easy and brilliant idea! Thank you for sharing. I will definitely try making them :)

blurooferika said...

Super cool, Jessica! Thanks for the clear step by step how-to photos. What a great idea!

Grandma G said...

They LOOK more complicated than a tactoid (whatever that is)! Lovely!

Mum

Kala said...

Super creative but I wish making should be explained in more detail

Japh said...

Thank you so much for these! I think I'm going to throw one into every gift I wrap this year :)

Jessica Jones said...

Kala,
I'll try to explain again, but the photos are probably the most helpful.
-Cut out 12 of the flower shapes.
-Pick up one in each hand.
-Put the slit in one petal into the slit in the other petal and slide them together until they don't go any further.
-Pick up another flower shape and slip it into a petal on one of the first two flowers.
-Then hook it to its neighbor at the point where two petals come together (see third photo in the post.)
-Keep hooking on more pieces until you have a ball. It will take 12 pieces total. As you get closer to finishing it, you'll see how the petals will want to fit together naturally.

Jessica Jones said...

Tiffany, thanks for the links! Cool.

dawn said...

Whenever the CB2 catalog arrives, I think of you. Thanks so much for the pattern, I'm going to try these out.

momma2O said...

Wow, how did you figure these out? So cool! And they look just like the CB2 ones! Thanks!

Mommarock said...

Okay now that is cool!!

aimi said...

thank you for the pdf file *much love*

Unknown said...

Oh this is so cool, thanks for figuring it out and sharing it! Love paper cute stuff :)

Sandra said...

cute- if only I had the tim :(

Sara R said...

I was JUST looking at that catalog and thinking there must be a way to make those without paying however much CB2 is getting for them. Thanks for sharing!

Chocolate & Chillies said...

These look amazing! I was going to do a Sesame Street theme for my son's 2nd bday..I think I will make these in yellow & hang from the ceiling! Thx for sharing...love it!

Anonymous said...

Saw these in the catalog today and fell in love. Felting them for sure! Can't wait to try it out!

Amy said...

Very cool. Plus, your post made me laugh. Thanks!

Carol & Eddy said...

Thanks for this! I think the balls look so sweet and will definitely make some!

Promosyon said...

I just adore 3d paper crafts, I totally will have to make at least one -I might try some patterns or add photos. It reminds me of expensive contemporary pendant lamps.Also make some to hang around the house!

yann said...

Love it! I am inspired to make this as Christmas deco. Some giant paper balls.

Anonymous said...

Thanks!! This will be a wonderful papercraft for one of those now long & dark evenings.

What about changing the form of the petals? Like cutting out five-pointed stars or something else?

Sure I will give this a try this evening!

Bettina

Ideas Take Flight said...

Can I please borrow your Silhouette machine?

Jacqui said...

Neat! I can see you could go in so many different ways with these. Thanks for sharing!

Limarea said...

Wonderful! Thank you for the template :)

I.M said...

Love it:)

Sofia said...

Thanks for sharing. They are lovely :D

Susana Castro Conti said...

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!

izuss1 said...

absolutely beautyfull!

Dani said...

These are gorgeous! Going to pin them now!

CBH said...

Thank you so much for this post. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in CBH Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, under the Page 4 post on Nov. 16, 2011. Thanks again.

able mabel said...

I've made those before, they were so fun to do!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, thanks for the how-to. I've been looking for more paper projects to do in front of the tv and if there's one thing I do have it's a printer and coloured paper!

hi-d said...

These are simply gorgeous!!! I'm going to have to bookmark this and hopefully get around to doing this someday. Thank you!

Unknown said...

i love 3d paper things. this balls are so nice.

Gill said...

A brilliant idea, generously shared. Thank you!

Rose Clearfield said...

Cute!! I love how you can customize these in any color combination. I love the felt idea from Betz, too.

SaraD said...

These are beautiful! Could you post a link for your Silhouette file(s), too?

Jessica Jones said...

Sara, I would if I could, but as of several months ago when I tried to figure this out, there was no way to make a .studio file from a PDF. I cut these directly from Adobe Illustrator using a plug-in, instead of launching Silhouette Studio.

But I wonder what happens if you launch Silhouette Studio and do file>open>choose one of the PDFs. It will show up on the cutting mat area. Is there a way to make it cut, I wonder?

Or if anybody knows of a way to convert a .pdf to a .studio (on a mac), let me know!

pak said...

I have ordered a Silhouette for myself (Christmas present). This is another example of WHY exactly I need this handy little machine. What a great project! What about using fabric (hint) with fusible interfacing and then cut that out and assemble....

skippysays said...

These are amazing! I wish I was that talented.
www.saysskippy.blogspot.com

Arwa said...

Hehe, i just found that you cannot just say, "hey i don't need the template, i can do this myself" and go draw the flowers. Even if you measure angles out, there's always some little off detail that makes the petals not fit :(

Jessica Jones said...

Well, good to know. I like that spirit, though!

Eve said...

I think they would be pretty if you glued lace paper doilies to the paper before cutting, especially white over the colored papers.

hi-d said...

I couldn't wait and had to make one of these! So much fun and it turned out great! Do you mind if I do a post sometime on this and include your link?

Thanks,
Heidi
http://hi-dho.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Love this! Thanks for sharing!

Sharon Stanley said...

oh my goodness...these are to die for! thanks for sharing...i see much cutting in my future!!

Jessica Jones said...

hi-d, go for it!

Simply AJ said...

These are crazy good!! Way to go...
AJ@queenofmynest

Anonymous said...

These are great! I wonder how they'd look done in an opaque or shimmery vellum. I'm thinking a snowball/snowflake effect for Christmas tree.

creativejewishmom/sara said...

thanks so much for doing the work for us on this one....saw those too and thought, oh I should make some! There is actually someone from Israel who makes them from vinyl and sells the kits on Etsy, though I wasn't sure how they were put together. all the best!

Karin said...

oh, absolutely have to try this!

Anonymous said...

Lovely little things! I tried them out here for a little Christmas fun :)

http://i44.tinypic.com/15335uu.jpg

cecilia said...

I'm in love with these. Such a great tutorial :) I'm equally inspired and intimidated, but I'm gonna go for it!

Becky M said...

The first attempt was a lot of trial and error, but it all came together in the end. Thanks for creating the template (btw: the medium template printed with the black line but with pink on the inside; so I have a blush-color ball).

Jessica Jones said...

Becky, you're saying you printed the file and the flower shapes came out pink? That's pretty weird, since they're white in the file!

Anonymous, nice work!!!

Katie Lewis said...

These are super rad!

Shalini said...

Oh, wow, these are really cool. Love them in the colors for my daughter's room and in white for myself! Will be making them soon :-)

Milomade said...

Just tried to post a comment and it wouldn't let me - so giving it another go. These are pure genius - you're so clever! I love these and definitely going to give them a go this weekend.

Jessica Jones said...

Aw, thanks. Have fun!

liza jane said...

This is awesome!

missa said...

looks confusing but awesome! thnx 4 the idea!

Unknown said...

I love these so much that I linked to them in my most recent "Five Favorites Friday" post! Hope you don't mind! :)

http://rosalindrevival.blogspot.com/2011/11/five-favorites-friday-111811.html

Thrifteando said...

Thanks for this! I love it! Want to try ASAP! :)

Vee said...

Thank you for sharing. I just put a medium one together. It's beautiful, but oh what a pain to put together.

Jennifer said...

Thank you for an awesome tutorial! I loved those balls in the CB2 catalogue but would never buy them... they did look like a doable craft project, and you've proved that they are!

Maria said...

I have a silhouette on a mac. I'm very new to using it. I open your download file and tried printing it on my silhouette studio. All it cuts is one line at the bottom of page. I cannot figure out how to turn the black lines into cutting lines. Please help.
I love the blog and all the cool projects

Lisa said...

These are gorgeous! I tried the rounded ones then made them into stars and it worked great. The negative space you get also makes a star. I printed them with Christmas words in them and made the points a different color in Illustrator. Love it! Thanks for sharing.

Jessica Jones said...

Hi Maria,

Hmm, well, now I know the answer to my question in the comments above in response to Sara who asked me to post .studio files. I said:

"Sara, I would if I could, but as of several months ago when I tried to figure this out, there was no way to make a .studio file from a PDF. I cut these directly from Adobe Illustrator using a plug-in, instead of launching Silhouette Studio.

But I wonder what happens if you launch Silhouette Studio and do file>open>choose one of the PDFs. It will show up on the cutting mat area. Is there a way to make it cut, I wonder?

Or if anybody knows of a way to convert a .pdf to a .studio (on a mac), let me know!"

Well, now we know. Cutting from the PDF doesn't work. Sorry about that! I'd make you .studio file if it was possible!

Jessica Jones said...

Lisa, nice work!

Barbara said...

I opened the PDF in PhotoShop Elements and saved it as a .PNG. I dragged and dropped that into Silhouette Studio, and did a trace of one of the flowers, then used the "fill page" command which gave me 12 perfect flowers, evenly spaced. I save that as my .studio file.

Maria said...

I save it as a ".png" without using any photoshop program. I then "select trace area" the whole page and click "trace" under Apply trace method. It work!! Thank you Jessica and Barbara

Jessica Jones said...

Guys, Barbara sent me her file and I've put the link in the post so you can download it. Thanks so much, Barbara!

Meghan Maloney Photography said...

I've just made my first one...and I can feel an addiction coming on....these rock!

Anke said...

Yay, with a silhouette file <3

Thanks so much, that's a gorgeous project and I'll make some with music sheet paper. Greetings from Germany!

Milomade said...

Just blogged about this as I think it's brilliant...

www.milomade.co.uk/blog/2011/11/how-to-make-3d-paper-ball-ornaments/

Anonymous said...

The ball is actually a truncated icosahedron or dodecahedron. Very cool, thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

I just made one, it turned out gorgeous! Thank you very much. Now I have to make more!
By the way are you a lefty? That would explain the slots directions. :)

Sonia

Anonymous said...

I made two more. One in metallic cooperish/goldish in medium size and an other small in light turquoise as the fist medium (my living room colors along with the black and white). The metallic one looks like a sculpture, very nice.
FFYI, the smaller the ball, harder it is to put together. Also thicker the paper, easier. It seems to be obvious but better to be told also.
Thank you again Jessica for sharing.

Sonia

ThirdMargaret said...

Oh, thank you!! These are lovely and so versatile! I can't wait to assemble a slew of them! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Jessica Jones said...

Hi Sonia, nope, I'm right-handed. And for me, thinner paper was easier, actually. Ha, we are opposites. :) Your metallic ball sounds great! I mean, your truncated icosahedron. Thanks, Cyn. :)

Wall Decals said...

I like this design...Will design it for my child :)

Renisa said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial, they are really beautiful and I just printed them out to see if I´ll be able to make them myself!

Smila ♥ said...

Thank you for this! It´s just great! I tried it out and put it to my blog: http://smilas.blogspot.com/2011/11/snowball.html

Jessica Jones said...

Looks perfect! Love the red ribbon, too.

Ryynette said...

those are tooooo perfect!
check out my blog
ryynettesstoryplace.blogspot.com

florida vacation home said...

wow yummyyyyyyyyyy..........

K&B by the Sea said...

Wow! That is so cool! I just used your pattern to cut 12 of the shapes out of regular white computer paper. It took a bit of time to do all the cutting, but once the pieces were ready, they went together really fast & easy. Thanks for sharing!

katieF said...

these were so easy to make, my step mom wants me to show her so she can decorate her Christmas trees with these...they are just too cute.

Siany said...

so cutee

Jenn said...

Sonia is right! why did you have to make it so leftie-accessible? jk! but really, do you have a version of the small ball template with the slots going the other way? it would be sooo much easier to cut(my printer doesn't have the setting that will flip it)
also you are awesome, Jessica!
-Jenn-

Jessica Jones said...

Hey Jenn, I replaced all the files with flipped-over versions. Try these!

Paty said...

Very beautiful!!
Thanks

Anonymous said...

cant do it

Anonymous said...

you have to be a genius to do this it looked like a mess and was a load of rubbish

Anonymous said...

please make a video tutorial i really need help!

Unknown said...

These ornaments are cute! I've enjoyed looking around your blog.

Anonymous said...

Sweet - found this on Pintrest. So going to make these this week.

irem said...

this is awesome ;) i learned how to do it from you and I did some colorful paper balls myself ;) I'd appreciate if you check and say what you think about them ;) i love your blog very much =)

http://irem-just-a-dream.blogspot.com/2011/12/kagttan-topcuklar-diy-paper-balls.html

Anonymous said...

ahhhhh...... thanx so much im gonna make them with my friends!!!

supriya said...

awesome this christmas i m going to decorate witjh this handmade balls..... infact colourful ball..... thanks to the creator.

Anonymous said...

I just made it and it looks perfect !

I am thinking of making a few and use a diod guirland to lighten up the paper balls.

Thanks for the templates !

http://lescarnetsdharmonie.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/boules-en-papier-cartonne/

Jenn said...

Now you are awesomer! thanks Jessica!

Ninfa said...

Queste palle in carta sono bellissime ed originali. Grazie per aver messo a disposizione il modello, l'ho appena stampato e sicuramente proverò a farle!

Anonymous said...

I love them. Thank you ever so much. Made them for my MOPS group. WONDERFUL! Thank you!

Esther aka London Mummy said...

Love these, thank you :) Have just made one from ordinary printer paper. To save cutting out twelve individual ones I just folded the paper over and lined up the outline markings so that I could cut out two at a time.

Now of course, I'm really coveting one of those Silhouette machines, which I had never even heard of before, still I am in the UK so not surprising :)

Anonymous said...

These are so cool. But I tried it and it looks like a mess. The instructions were kind of confusing, HELP!

K said...

I wrote up a tutorial on how to form the balls. I hope this helps someone out.

Link: http://paperandribbon.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/3d-paper-ball-tutorial/

Sol said...

I can't stop making these balls since I discovered them. Many thanks.

Anonymous said...

Wow, too cool! I've got this linked to my paper ornaments post as well today, for inspiration!

Barbara Cross said...

dreeI CAN'T STOP MAKING THESE. Plain white ones; mixed paper ones with white. I bought some scrapbooking papers on sale & am in heaven! I love the play of shadows on them. They make a beautiful sculptural display on a glass cake pedestal setting on a purple table cloth. These make beautiful little gifts for friends! THANKS.

katrina - dot dot dash said...

these are amazing!! want to make some now! x

jenny said...

Hi Jessica
I love your blog! So many nice things and sooo inspiring.

Where did you find the illustrator plug-in? I have a mac and I have looked everywhere for the plug-in, but I can´t find it.

br
Jenny¨

Jessica Jones said...

Hi Jenny,

I went back to find the link where I downloaded the plug-in, but it seems the links have changed.

You might be able to find an updated link in this person's post or in the comments, though:
http://maggiemugginsdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/01/silhouette-digital-cutting-machine-and.html

Brittany {Mommy Words} said...

Thank you! I will be blogging this one. It was so easy to print out the pages and use my sharp scissors to cut them out. Figuring out how to put them together took a little brain power but I love it! I used medium thickness cardstock and it went together fine. I think plain paper would be easy to do but also be easy to rip.

Again, thanks!

Margot said...

Elles sont superbes en blanc ! Merci pour le tuto et bonnes fêtes de fin d'année.

Angie Y said...

Hi, I'm new to your site, but I love it. I do paper cutting and love to create with it. Thanks for sharing your ideas:) Angela

Cica said...

FANTASTIC!!!!

Cica said...

FANTASTIC!!!!

brouette said...

merci, c'est très très joli!

CraftAddict2 said...

Just found your site from a post on Pinterest -- this craft reminds me of something we did when I was a kid (and had been wanting to do again) We used old Christmas cards and cut circles out of the Pictures and just folded the sides in to make triangles and glued (or you could tape/staple)the sides together until you got a ball of whatever size desired - then it became an ornament - just add string to hang it with. Thanks for giving my old "thinker" a kick!!! I'm going to dig out my old cards and the ones that come from businesses and get to work!! Thanks again! Craft Addict 2

Karisa said...

I am definitely trying these on my Silhouette! Thanks for sharing the file too. I wanted to let you know that I've included this in our roundup of Christmas ornaments on the FaveCrafts Blog: http://www.favecraftsblog.com/link-love-ornament-explosion/

Please let me know if you're ever interested in publishing with us :)

Anonymous said...

Hi there, thanks for putting these online. My mum found them via Pinterest and made me one for my birthday, today. I love it. I've even made one myself and written about it in my blog. You are very clever to have designed them. How many colours would I have to use so as not to have adjacent colours the same? Do you know?

Jen said...

AWESOME! Thanks for this, I have a Silhouette too so fun!

Carobricole said...

Thanks so much for this great "How to" ! It just saved my living room :) I put some photos on my blog if you want to see how it looks. Happy new year to you and your beloved ones.
Caroline

Jessica Jones said...

Carobricole, looks great! I love it as a light!

Simone said...

Hi...

Thanks for the tutorial...
I have just finished a lamp out of wallpaper, with this pattern... I just love it... Thanks a lot...

hugs
Simone

http://mizzzims.blogspot.com/2012/01/hjemvendt-fra-juleferie-hos-mor-og-far.html
You can look at the pictures if you like, but not understand the language (danish)...

angharad handmade said...

I must make these; I imagine it could become compulsive! Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

Jeen Rodrigues said...

These are simply gorgeous..I made them for office decoration and people are ga ga over it..thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

super cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

{♥} thank you so much for sharing... I am going to make them now!

Diane Warburton said...

oh my goodness, there are hundreds of comments! I'm clearly missing something here, so best I sort it out and 'follow'. I must go back to some of the comments to see if anyone has a link to how to make these into lamps - I'm really intrigued.
Thanks heaps for not letting Alex deter you :-)

tunde said...

Thx for sharing! Done many, and they are beautiful! Kids love them! :)
tunde from Hungary

Anonymous said...

I can not open the PDF templates. :(

Jessica Jones said...

Have you tried saving them to your computer and opening them in Adobe Reader? (Reader is a free download.)

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for sharing such expert knowledge.

paperandthepea said...

So cute! I pinned you. :)

dolphinlady said...

I made a medium one in bright pink. I'm going to make more to hang in my studio.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I consider myself an above average crafter and my husb. is THE puzzle solver in the family. But both of us are having a devil of a time making these look like yours. We're using red and black to go with a ladybug theme.
I noticed that one comment mentioned a step-by-step photo tutorial. . .am I missing something?

Anonymous said...

Crazy! I love it!! Just made two for my roommates!!
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

SO cute!! I'm making blue ones for my baby girl's blueberry themed birthday party!

Visalakshi said...

it looks lovely and thank u so much for the template and the steps

Anonymous said...

I made 6 of them, 3 small, 1 medium, and using your template I made a size between medium and large and made a couple of them. They look great as part of a themed Mexican party decortions.
Thanks!!!

pammie~k said...

thank you for sharing this technique - love it -

E.A. said...

Thanks so so so much for posting this tutorial. I made a few back in November and have since decided to use them as the main decor in the Lodge at our wedding. We'll be making a few large lamps (already gifted to friends at Christmas) and stringing small white ones together with LEDs inside them. I can't wait!
I'll send you a thank you email with pictures.
Cheers!

Jessica Jones said...

E.A., I'd love to see. Sounds great!

TudoEmChocolate said...

Hello! I am brazilian and I loved your blog and I just turned the ball of paper 3D!
Ameii .. so cute * - *

christine kim said...

Loved the tutorial. Thank you so much! I added a little twist and painted the paper with watercolour before assembly.

http://www.christine-jh-kim.blogspot.ca/#!http://christine-jh-kim.blogspot.com/2012/04/something-new-today.html

Jessica Jones said...

Great idea, Christine!

jd said...

Thanks so much Jessica. made a small one about a month ago, then couldn't find it back @ pinterest. so googled it this morning. Have now saved the templates for future reference. Simple but so elegsant! thanks again.

Jen said...

Oh my goodness these are awesome! I just came across this idea on pinterest this morning. I'm going to be using it for my daughters birthday decorations to hang above the table. I was going to use the round paper lanterns, but now I'm going to use this instead! I resized mine on the Silhouette so that each flower was about 7.5" across. I only wish that I had a Cameo so I could make an even bigger one :)

Lina said...

Hi, I love it, but when I try to download the pattern it says "To change this page, upload your website into the public_html directory", I dont know what to do.

Jessica Jones said...

Whoa!!! That is bizarre! I'll find out what's going on.

Kylie said...

Fabulous design and so effective - thank you!!!
I've posted the ones I've made on my blog :)
Kx

origami_girl said...

Thanks for sharing the pdf file with us. I love to do 3D balls from paper.
Love you!!!!

Figgy Lane said...

Just seen this and had a go! Love them! Thanks!!

Linda said...

I made a lamp out of the largest ball, it turned out great so I made a tutorial, here it is if you want to see it! http://frokens.se/?p=543. There is also instructions in english if you scroll down a bit!

Jessica Jones said...

Linda, excellent! Thanks for sharing that!

Unknown said...

ok so im going to try this on a thin plastic and make string lanterns for my porch gazebo. so hope it works because it would be cool and elegant yet simple and cheap. been looking for the string lanterns for so long now and if i find them they are so expensive. I'm so doing this :) thanks for your tutorial.

imsneakers said...

Thanks so much, that's a gorgeous project and I'll make some with music sheet paper. Greetings from Germany!

E.A. said...

Jessica,
I posted a while ago that I was going to make lanterns and LED filled balls for my wedding. We finally posted photos! http://chrisandbetsysalzman.com/p430908294/h4360a9f2#h4360ebc2
http://chrisandbetsysalzman.com/p430908294/h43713ba6#h43713ba6
Thanks again for your wonderful, inspiring blog!

Jessica Jones said...

E.A, that makes me so happy! Wow, I love that they're lights... so cool! That was a lot of work!

Anonymous said...

Just made two of these!! So easy and so awesome!! Thanks for your post :)

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! : )

imalefty said...

Used my Cricut to cut the shapes from double sided scrapbook paper.
Wonderful results! I use fishing line for hanging loops. Making some for our close relatives who lost all their ornaments in the Sept.2011 flood in NY state. Know they will love them. Thanks for sharing!
imalefty

Jessica Jones said...

That's great!

Anonymous said...

I added pictures on the middle of the flowers to give it a personal taste. Love this!!

Sabrina Spattini said...

Bellissima !!!
Grazie

Catherine said...

I have added the pendants and paper ball ornament photos to our class blog. I have also put in a link to your website. Thank you so much for sharing. The students are going to be very excited tomorrow morning.

Anna Lerneryd said...

Thanks for a nice decoration. Though I cant figure out how to put on the last pice. Seems like there are too many tabs left on the ball to be finished with only the last "pole" could you give a more detailed description on how to do it? preferably with a picture.

Thank you

Anonymous said...

my computer wont open up the template :(

Megumi said...

Thanks for another craft idea for my school! Older kids will make one or two of them at our Christmas party during the craft time. I just made the sample and I think it's perfect!

Camille said...

Thank you so much for your beautiful ideas !
I have done some balls to decorate my christmas tree : http://leblogdecam.canalblog.com/archives/2012/12/16/25931423.html

Camille

twinklepig said...

I made the large size. It houses a present under the Christmas tree.

Marlène said...

Merci beaucoup. C'est vraiment très joli. Bonnes fêtes !

Jessica said...

I've been painting a new house, and have collected what seems like every paint swatch from every paint store around. I knew there was something crafty out there to do with them; just used them to make the little paper ball. Looks great! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Just found these in Jan. 2013; and started with the small one (bad idea) now that I read the comments and find that bigger is easier. I'll try again. Thanks

Nine Red said...

I've been in love with these for a while! Been meaning to share with my readers. Your tutorials are so great, and I love that you love paper!! One of my favorite materials.... thanks for sharing! Featured this on my blog today and am sending my readers your way for the full tutorial :D Have a good one! http://ninered.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-diy-3-d-paper-ball.html

Luciléia said...

Adorei, muito obrigada !!
Bjs, Luciléia

Anonymous said...

Is there any way you can make hexagons for this too?
If so, thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love this! I am making some for easter decorations!

Antonio Garcia-Bellido Capdevila said...

Jessica Thank you sooo much for the pattern, a lovely idea, very well thought out and beautiful.
Idon't have the machine (Parsifal) to cut them out, so I do it by hand.
But since I am in love with Zentagles, I printed one of your patterns, draw a nice Zentangle on it and then scanned it to print 12 identical pieces to make the paper ball (now standing pround on my desck).
Thank you!
Antonio (from Madrid, Spain)

Clarissa Grandi said...

These are lovely! I'm a maths teacher and have created a lesson on surface area, using the 3D paper balls as the prompt. Would you mind if I shared the resource with other teachers on the TES website? I will credit you of course.

Jessica Jones said...

Yes, go ahead!

Unknown said...

These look amazing... I am just starting with craft and this a sure interest catcher.. Love them

Unknown said...

Thank you for the tutorial. The balls look great and this is exactly what I am searching for one of my paper projects. Hope to have the chance to show you the final result soon:)

Jessica Jones said...

If you're having trouble making the ball, here are some notes a reader sent in that you might find helpful:

----I had to cut a bit farther in on the petal lines

----the north pole idea, while helpful for many, didn't work for me---I kept myself oriented by always fitting petals so the outer 'flap' showed

----had to use sturdier paper---couldn't have done it with printer paper

---it especially helped to use little bits of painter's tape to hold the flaps secure and open as I went

I am now making spheres like mad. What once was like combat with paper, is now meditative.

Crafty fox blog said...

Awesome, thanks. I used this to make a lampshade.

Anonymous said...

These are awesome!!!! They look sooooooo pretty!!!!

sarahspins said...

These are amazingly cute - I just cut them out in a bunch of different colors and my kids are going to have so much fun helping to put them together :)

Unknown said...

Im going to recycle my Christmas cards to make some of these. I just need to fetch them back out of the loft.

Rashmi said...

you must be tired of hearing this..THANK YOU so much and your blog is AWESOME!!! :) SO totally gonna try this!

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