Stickball DIY Wedding Centerpieces

It is all in the details. 

When it came to wedding planning, I was ALL about the details. I knew that many of these details would be lost on our guests but that didn’t deter me. I was bound and determined!

I knew that I did not want flowers as our centerpieces. As beautiful as they are, they can be pricey and I wanted to have some personal, crafty touches in our space. Someday soon I will share the whole set up but for now, I will focus on one piece of the centerpieces: Stickballs. 

Not sure that there is a technical name for these babies. They look almost like a sea urchin (Target has some similar décor right now, which made me oh-so-proud!). But they were a blast to make and not too difficult, although a bit time consuming.

I had found an image of a similar décor piece quite some time before the wedding and knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate it somehow. Once we got engaged and we had set a date, I immediately started working away. We had three different centerpieces with different stickballs used in each: one large stickball, two purple stickballs of varying sizes or one gold stickball.  

Supplies:

- Different size Styrofoam balls (I found a huge set of 50 on eBay for an affordable price)

*Note: Try to make sure that the Styrofoam balls are over 1 inch. We found the ones that worked best were between 1.5 and 3 inches.

- Craft Sticks (I found large boxes of 2500 on Amazon for under $5)

*Note: Do not use toothpicks unless you are okay with sharp ends

- ModPodge or craft glue

*Note: You can use hot glue but it gets a little stringy. It would be cute if you’re going for a Halloween look!

- Spray Paint

*Note: Find something that is silk, floral and foam safe. I learned the hard way and had some of my gold paint erode the foam, making the whole stickball collapse.

Directions:

1. Start by pouring glue onto a paper plate. Add some glue to the end of each craft stick and insert it into the Styrofoam ball until it feels sturdy. Some sticks may need to be pushed in farther than others before being secure.

2. Insert craft sticks in desired density. I did a variation of some being fuller and others being more parse. I tried to add more sticks to the larger Styrofoam balls to give a variety of looks.

3. Let glue dry before spray painting. Paint so that all the wooden sticks are coated. You may need to move the stickball around quite a bit in order to get it completely covered.

That is how easy these were! While the directions are simple, be warned that they are a bit time consuming. I had a few lovely helpers during my several months of crafting. But it is easy to work on them while watching a show, talking on the phone or with a glass of wine while catching up with friends. 

I absolutely loved the look of these on the wedding day. They were simple and dynamic at the same time, not to mention light and easy to transport to the reception set up! And we had no guilt about tossing most of them afterwards. Of course, I kept a few for our home. I may have to whip up a few more for Christmas décor, I am already dreaming of how dashing they would be painted white with some jazzy glitter!