Under $5 Vase Filler

I have been meaning to fill my apothecary jar with something for spring or something that I could display year-round.  During the month of January and February my jar looked like this...

I got the pine cones from Walmart during their Christmas clearance.  I love the look of pine cones or other natural elements as vase fillers, but it's time to bring in some spring!  I wanted something inexpensive and easy to make.  I found a tutorial on the Eddie Ross website here on how to make plaid shirt ornaments.  I am definitely making those bad boys for my Christmas tree this Christmas!  Anyways, I had scraps of fabric left over from my no-sew pillow covers plus some sage green fabric that I bought on clearance a few months ago.  So, I decided the two fabrics together would be a perfect combo to make fabric balls to use as vase fillers.

Here's what you'll need:
Scissors
Ruler
Pins
Fabric
Styrofoam balls (I used 3 inch balls)

Step 1: Measure the circumference of your ball.  Mine were about 9 inches.  I added an extra half inch so that I could overlap and pin both ends of the fabric together on the ball.  My boyfriend was lovely enough to want to help me!  Those are his fingers, not mine! : )

Step 2: Cut your fabric into strips based on the length of the ball you chose.  So, I cut my strips 9.5 inches long and made them each 1 inch wide.  Even though I did use cotton duck fabric (the patterned fabric) on three of the balls, my tip is to use regular, thin, cotton fabric (the green balls).  Regular cotton fabric will conform to the ball more and look "neater" in my opinion.

Step 3: Wrap each strip of fabric around the ball making sure they are tight and cover the entire ball.  I only used one pin for each ball by using a pin on the last strip of fabric.  Using pins instead of glue allows you to use different patterns of fabric year-round to change up the look of your fillers.

Step 4: Place your fabric ball fillers (lovely name, huh?) in a basket, vase, or jar!

Here's a before and after:

Before

After

This project cost me a total of $3.50.  I had everything on hand except for the Styrofoam balls.  Amazing how simple it is to update a space!

I'm linking up here:

Tatertots and Jello
Five Days...5 Ways
Serenity Now
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
The Shabby Nest
A Little Knick Knack
The Frugal Girls
At the Picket Fence
Delightful Order
Crafty Scrappy Happy
Thrifty Decorating
Southern Lovely
Organize and Decorate Everything
Classy Clutter
Funky Junk Interiors 
Savvy Southern Style
 New Nostalgia
DIY Show Off
It's So Very Cheri
Inspired By Felicity
It's Overflowing
Tip Junkie
Home Stories A to Z
The Girl Creative
Centsational Girl