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Make your own Victorian Mistletoe Ball with a step by step guide from our Victorian Christmas experts

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Items Needed
Step-by-Step Instructions
Comments and Tips

Victorians made mistletoe balls for the same reason we hang mistletoe today, to steal a kiss from an unsuspecting person passing under it. The mistletoe ball or 'kissing ball' was always made out of evergreen branches and was often decorated with scented herbs and foliage.

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Topic: Decorations
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 1 hour

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Items Needed

Wire or thin cane
Mistletoe
Greenery - holly, ivy

Ribbon
Scissors
Items to decorate

Warning:

This activity uses sharp materials. Children should be supervised.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Make two circles from wire and tie together

Make the frame

Bend a piece of wire or thin cane into a circle and bind the ends together with string. Do this again, so you now have two circles.

To make the frame, place the two circles together, making a globe like structure. Bind the two wire circles together with string at all conjoining edges.

Step 2: Wind greenery around the frame

Cover frame with greenery

Cover the wire frame with all kinds of festive greenery, like holly, ivy and yew. Weave the branches around each other and the wire frame.

Step 3: Add decorations

Decorate

Attach other items like dried roses and holly berries with wire.

Step 4: Suspend the mistletoe using ribbon

Attach the mistletoe

Tie some ribbon in a loop at the top of the newly decorated ball ready for hanging. Add a length of ribbon to the bottom of ball and tie a sprig of mistletoe to it.

Step 5: Hang the mistletoe kissing ball

Hang the mistletoe ball

Hang the mistletoe ball above a door or in a walkway and wait beneath it until someone comes along to give you a kiss.

Comments and Tips

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Comments

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1. At on 04 Dec 2009, Dooce wrote:
When I was a child, my Mother used to make us a "Kishing Bush", which is very similiar to the "kissing ball" made from the mistletoe. She would hang sweets from our kishing bush, and we had to give her a kiss to obtain a sweet - I often wondered where the idea came from (Mum said her Mother used to make one when she was a child) and now I know!

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2. At on 19 Dec 2009, mo wrote:
What a lovely series and these special Christmas programmes come at just the right time to counteract the expensive mass-produced Christmases we experience today. One last thing -Please don't ever let the presenters be seen in modern dress! It would ruin the little story-bubble I have in my mind about them.

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3. At on 20 Dec 2009, Jim Townsend wrote:
My daughter Bronagh and I made this today, it is now hanging at the front of the house. She thought it was great fun, and especially liked adding the apple. Great series, really enjoyed it.

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4. At on 30 Dec 2009, katebrown wrote:
My grannie had something very similar. She called it a weslybob. The hoops were larger and it was decorated with the kinds of thngs you would put on a christmas tree.

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5. At on 30 Dec 2009, katebrown wrote:
My grannie came from Cottingham near Hull and i always thought it had something to do with that part of the country. She would have been born over 100 years ago. I made a wesleybob for my house and every year I add 1 new item, as she used to do.

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Make your own Victorian Mistletoe Ball with a step by step guide from our Victorian Christmas experts

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