Gather fresh blooms to make a floral pomander ball

While they're often associated with weddings and showers, there's no limit to where flower balls, also known as pomanders or kissing balls, can be displayed. These bloom-covered foam spheres can be hung from ceiling or wall hooks, doorknobs, stair railings and in windows. They can also be clustered together in bowls and vases or placed atop pedestals and cake plates. Pomanders are easy to make, don't require any special flower arranging skills and can be made to fit just about any budget.

Choosing the flowers
Visit your local florist or grab your clippers and head outside for garden-fresh blooms. Rosemary Little of Quince Flowers in Toronto recommends looking for something with a large blossom. "You'll need fewer flowers which will make it more cost effective," she says. For this project, we used 30 carnations to cover a three-inch ball.

Carnations are ideal for pomander balls because they're inexpensive, the blossoms are large and they come in a rich variety of colours. Rosemary recommends them because they're hardy and don't easily bruise. Pomander balls require a certain amount of handling while they're being made and can get damaged. "Carnations can take quite a bit of abuse without suffering any ill effects,” explains Rosemary. “You can also open up the blossoms with your fingers and not damage the flower."

Ultimately you'll want to choose flowers that suit your budget and your colour scheme. Popular choices include pansies, roses and hydrangeas. "With hydrangeas you can attach each individual blossom with tiny hairpins," says Rosemary.

Materials

• Small ball of floral foam (oasis)—ours was three inches
• Fresh flowers (carnations, hydrangeas, roses, pansies, etc.)
• A dish of water
• Ribbon
• Small hairpins (optional)
• Floral scissors