Let me tell you, I have been SO excited for fall decor this year!
I think we could all use a little coziness in our lives after a year like this, am I right?!
I’ve seen so many BEAUTIFUL dollar store DIYs going around so far this fall, and my favorites are always the ones that you look at and can’t believe they were made using dollar store products!
I’ve been searching for some kind of decorative ball to use in my fall mantle decor, and although I’ve made some of my own DIY ones before, they just didn’t quite fit with the look I wanted.
That was when I had the idea to make these gorgeous jute wrapped cotton balls!
Would you guess from looking at these, that they used to be kids toys?!
Yep! These are actually two baseballs and a mini basketball, all purchased at Dollar Tree!
If you have some similar kids toys on hand then you could even upcycle what you already own, and possibly not have to buy a thing for this project!
Keep reading to find out step by step exactly how to make these awesome dollar store DIY jute wrapped cotton balls yourself!
Supplies needed:
- Balls of various sizes (I used two baseballs and one mini basketball from Dollar Tree)
- Cotton balls (Dollar Tree)
- Jute twine (Dollar Tree)
- White paint (on hand, but can also be purchased at Dollar Tree)
Tools needed:
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Paintbrush
I used Kilz white chalk paint because that’s what I had on hand, but you can use any type of white paint! The ones they sell at the dollar store should work just fine too!
STEP 1 – Painting
You’ll want to paint whatever type of balls you use, especially if they are brightly colored! That way the color doesn’t show through the cotton once it’s glued on.
The baseballs I used were already white so they didn’t need to be painted, but the mini basketball’s bright orange had to go!
Just paint over the ball with one or two coats of any kind of white paint.
TIP: To make it easier to paint the ball I sort of skewered it onto something so that it would sit up off the ground and allow me to paint the entire thing at once (I used a mini screwdriver with the other end stuck into a plastic container that I cut a hole in, haha! So you can definitely get creative and use whatever you have on hand!)
STEP 2 – Cotton
Once the paint on your ball has dried, you can start gluing on the cotton!
Take a cotton ball, and gently pull at the center of it until it starts to unravel. They should unravel into neat little strips like this:
Once you have a few strips unraveled, take your hot glue gun and place a line of glue along your ball.
Take a strip of cotton and press it down along the line of glue (be careful not to push so hard that the hot glue comes through the cotton and burns your fingers, ouch!)
It should look like this:
Once you get the end of that cotton strip glued down, grab another one and glue the start of that one right next to where the last one ended.
Continue doing this all around the entire ball.
Make sure to glue the edges of the cotton down well, and keep each new strip pushed close to the ones before to avoid any gaps in the cotton.
Don’t worry though if you do end up with a few small gaps, because I will show you my secret trick for hiding any imperfections in the next step!
STEP 3 – (Secret trick) Pinching
I know, you’re probably thinking “whaaaat?!” Right about now, but I promise, you don’t want to skip this step!
It’s absolutely necessary if you want these cotton balls to look their best!
Go around the entire ball, gently grabbing the cotton between two fingers and pulling it slightly away from the ball (be careful not to pull so hard that you rip any pieces completely off the ball)
This will help the entire ball to look even, and hide any gaps or lines along the cotton strips!
Once you’ve went over the entire thing, you can smooth it back down a bit, or leave it as poofy as you like!
STEP 4 – Jute twine
Now you’ll want to take the end of your jute twine, and pull up a piece of the cotton on the ball.
Tuck the end of the twine underneath the cotton, and then glue the entire thing back down!
Now you can start wrapping the jute twine around the ball, however much or little as you like, and in whatever pattern you prefer.
It’s entirely up to you!
You’re going to pull the jute twine tight enough so that it won’t slip off, but make sure you don’t pull hard enough to rip the first piece out of where it’s glued at underneath the cotton.
The awesome thing about this part is that you can change it as many times as you want until you glue the end of the twine down!
So if you start wrapping the jute twine around the ball and then decide you don’t like the way it’s looking, just unwrap and redo it!
Once your happy with the way the jute twine wrap looks, you can cut the end of it, and glue it to the ball.
For that step I tried to find a spot where I could tuck it in underneath another part of itself and glue it down so that it would hold securely without being visible.
And that’s it!
A super quick and easy DIY that will look gorgeous in your fall decor this year!
Here’s another look at the finished project, tucked into a tray with some of my other decor:
Am I the only one who gets ridicoulously excited over little things like this?!
But these look so incredible AND cost less than $4 for me to make all three!
So I’ll just be over here doing a little thrifty home decor happy dance, haha!
One of the other things that I love about these jute wrapped cotton balls is that they will actually work great for both fall and winter decor!
And I am all for any decor that can transition from fall to winter and make my redecorating easier when the seasons change!
I’ve made a few other home decor projects lately using upcycyled toys, and I can’t wait to share those as well!
(Psst! If you’re looking for more awesome fall decor DIYs be sure to check out my tutorial for this Dollar Store DIY – Easy Fall Wreath!)
What did you think of these dollar store diy jute wrapped cotton balls?
Do you want to see more upcycled toy projects in the future?
Let me know in the comments below!
