Sweet Gum Ball Fourth of July Decor

This project is so free and easy to make that it's sinful!  The inspiration came to me from a project a friend did recently and I just happen to have the sweet gum tree nearby!

These little "itchy balls" as we've always called them are all over the place at the end of my block. 

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I never knew, until I saw a beautiful project that Sarah from Sadie Seasongoods, what they were even called. 

It is just the cutest thing! 

After seeing what Sarah did with them I just had to run down the road and collected a handful. 

First, I pulled off the stems on each of them and added wooden skewers with E6000 glue. 

Next, I painted the balls with a quick coat of red, white, and blue craft paint. 

I just dabbed one quick coat on and let them dry. 

Then using scraps of ribbons and glittered tape, I added a little decorative tie to each ball. 

I sprayed the balls with spray adhesive and sprinkled a fine dusting of glitter over the top. 

Next, I cut the skewers so the balls would fit into small glass vases to decorate for the Fourth of July. 

I'm adding these cute little vases of exploding flowers to my tiered tray that I decorated for the Fourth. 

I wrapped a DIY red, white, and blue rag garland through the tray.

Did you see how I changed up the look of my galvanized steel tiered tray? Take a peek!

Check out some of my other DIY Fourth of July projects before you go! 

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