Bauble Season Begins — From Foam Ball to Festive

This is what my kitchen table looks like for the next few days, in preparation for the festive season: the work in progress — folded ribbon, sequin pins and foam balls at every stage.

Each one starts exactly the same way: a plain polystyrene ball, ribbon cut into little folded triangles, and a box of sequin pins. Fold by fold, the ribbon covers the ball in that woven, pinecone pattern — you can see the tartan ones, the classic red and green, a glittery gold and green, and even a frosty blue and silver for something a bit different. No glue guns here; every single fold is pinned by hand, which is why no two baubles are ever quite identical.

These, along with the rest of the festive collection, will be coming with me to Greendale Market on 31st October and 1st November and the other fairs in the diary, or you can find them in the online shop now.

In the work-in-progress photo you can see the pattern forming: overlapping folded triangles of ribbon pinned over the foam ball, each one tucked under the last so the surface builds up like scales or a pinecone. The tartan is the easiest to read at this stage because the lines keep you straight.

The finished pile shows what all those pins turn into: green satin and green tartan woven together, classic red and green, a glittery gold and green, and the frosty blue and silver that always goes first at a fair. Each bauble is around 7cm across, finished with a bow on top and a hanger, ready for the tree.

People ask how long one takes. The honest answer is that I stopped counting, because the folding is the part I enjoy most and the pins are the part my fingers complain about. What I do know is that there is no glue anywhere in them — just ribbon, foam and a great many sequin pins.

Right — back to the pins. The pile will only get bigger from here. And here is the reward at the end of it: a proper pile of finished baubles, bows on, cords attached, ready to hang on trees and catch the fairy lights.