To make Christmas Ping-Pong Baubles you will need... Ping-Pong balls, poster paint, glitter, scraps of card, PVA glue, twigs, and Parcel ribbon to make hanging loops.



To start with you will need to make a ball stand to top the Ping-Pong balls from rolling around as you work on them. Cut a piece f card about 7cm by 2 cm and wind it around a pencil to make it curl. Unroll and bring the two ends of the card so that hey meet and staple them together. This is the ball stand.

The Glitter Bauble

Paint the Ping-Pong ball in any colour you choose. Metallic colours look great. Leave the paint to dry.

Using a corkscrew gently push a hole in to the top of the ball. Take a length of parcel ribbon and fold it in half to make a loop. Fold the ends length ways a little, this helps when feeding the ribbon into the hole.

Cover the top half of the ball and the hole with PVA glue. Push the ribbon inside the ball leaving a hanging loop sticking out. Sprinkle the top of the ball with glitter and set aside to dry.

The Christmas Pudding Bauble

Paint the Ping-Pong ball brown and leave to dry.

Add a dollop of thick white paint to the top of the ball and spread around a little to look like cream or brandy sauce. Allowing the edges to dribble adds to the effect. Leave to dry.

Cut out two small holly leaves from scraps of green card. Glue the leaves to the top of the Christmas pudding add three or four blobs of red paint for berries.

Make a hole in the top of the Christmas pudding and glue into the hole a hanging loop as before.

The Holly Bauble

Paint the Ping-Pong ball red and allow to dry.

Make a hole in the top of the ball.

Cut out a large holly leaf from green card. Make a fold down the middle of the leaf. At the base of the leaf add some PVA glue and push the end of the holly leaf and some hanging ribbon into the hole. Allow to dry.

The Apple Bauble

You may be wondering why an apple if festive. If you cut an apple in half around its equator, it will reveal to you its star of Bethlehem.

Paint half of the Ping-Pong ball red and the other half green and leave to dry.

Push a hole into the top of the apple and glue into the hole a hanging ribbon, a round tipped leaf and a short twig for a stalk. Allow to dry.

The Christmas Robin

Paint a large love heart shape on the front of the ball, but instead of the usual 'point' at the bottom of the heart, paint a 'U' shape. Leave the heart white and paint the rest of the ball brown. Leave to dry.

Paint a red heart inside the white heart, leaving a thin line of white showing. Allow to dry.

Cut a triangle of card, and snip off the tip. Glue tip side down onto the back of the robin to form the tail. Paint the tail brown and let it dry.

Fold black card and cut out a small triangle on the fold to make a beak. Glue into position.

Add two black blobs of paint for eyes, allow to dry.

Make a hole in the top of the robin to add a hanging loop or make two hoes in the bottom of the robin and glue into the holes some twigs for legs. When the glue is dry the 'legs' can be pushed into soft compost of a houseplant.