Surprising: Radvent journal Dec. 21!

Posted on 22. Dec, 2010 by Princess Lasertron in craft, inspiration, radvent

Surprising friends is one of my greatest delights, and what an easy time of year to be surprising! Whether it’s Christmas and the holidays, the magic and beauty of the changing seasons, now is the time that people are most open to the excitement and joy of a surprise.

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When I have a few free hours I like to take Alice to the store and walk around in a shopping cart–she likes to sit up and look around in a new environment with lots of friendly people, and I like the exercise. (We can walk with the cart, run with the cart, whatever. This is the lazy woman’s workout.)

Yesterday we went to a few big stores to pick up some supplies to make surprise balls for some of the little kids on our Christmas list! I was stopped by a few friends who we ran into. “Have you ever made a surprise ball?” I asked each one of them excitedly.

A surprise ball is a big ball of crepe paper with little presents and surprises wrapped up inside. When the receiver starts unraveling the paper, each gift is revealed one-by-one.

How to make a Surprise Ball:

1. Gather up some small goodies–inexpensive things are great, or things that you can find around the house like interesting stamps or candies. Stores like Walgreens, CVS, Target, etc. are awesome places to find these objects. I also like to include one higher-value item to put in the middle of the ball (to be unwrapped last).

I am making surprise balls for kids and a few of my friends using these supplies:

crepe paper, giant rubber bands, bouncy balls, plastic dinosaurs, animal stickers, silly bands, fancy bandaids, magic towels that expand in water, mini tape dispenser, jump rope, extra strong magnets, chocolate, play-doh, fancy Japanese erasers, hello kitty eraser, hair elastics and plastic barrettes

vintage button cards, a jewelry kit from French General, a felt flower pin, vintage spools of brightly-colored thread, a simple necklace, German glass glitter, thimbles, a perfume sample, a Scrabble tile charm, a vintage brooch, a bundle of antique millinery flowers, handmade pom poms, fortunes, an antique prescription bottle filled with buttons

2. Whatever object you start with is the one that will be unwrapped last, so if you have a bigger or more valuable gift, it might be best to do it first. For my five-year-old friend, I am starting with a few containers of Play-Doh.

3. Wrap the first object by tightly winding the crepe paper around it. Holding the ball, keep adding other objects and wrapping around them as you go. The “ball” might become kind of odd-shaped as you progress, but that’s okay. Keep adding gifts while wrapping, going from the bigger-sized pieces to smaller. By the end, as you are wrapping the smaller gifts into the ball, it should start evening out and becoming more sphere-shaped.

4. To finish, tape the end of the crepe paper to the sphere or secure it with a cool sticker. Add a little tag that says “unwrap me slowly!” so the recipient knows not to just rip into it! You can download my tag by clicking on the graphic!

Other good surprises:
Temporary tattoos, bags of glitter, cool buttons (the sewing kind or the pin-on kind), fake mustaches, sparkly cocktail rings, printed balloons, small puzzles, conversation hearts, four leaf clovers, toy machine toys, a small slinky, vintage brooches and necklaces, Starbucks instant coffee packets, hot chocolate packets, jacks,

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Click on the thumbnail below to download a printable .pdf of today’s radvent journaling prompt! Or check out the graphic on Flickr.

Are you writing your own radvent responses in your journal or blog? Feel free to share the link–they are awesome sources of inspiration for everyone!

Tags: diy, gift, radvent, radvent 2010