Fabric ball decorations

My amazing sister in law threw the cutest party for her two year old and made the most darling decorations.  When I saw the flower balls I knew I wanted to make a few for baby girl's room.  Luckily they require no sewing and are really easy!  Here's a how to (thank you Melissa for teaching me!)
Supplies:
Styrofoam balls (cheapest at Hobby Lobby...I used 8", 4" and 3" balls)
Fabric - Melissa recommended using broadcloth because it doesn't fray easily...and it's only $2.99 a yard and Hobby Lobby has good colors to choose from.  I needed 2 1/2 yards for the 8" ball, 1 1/2 yards for the 4" and a yard for the 3".
Pleating pins (Hobby Lobby)
Fabric scissors
An object to measure the circles (4 1/2" circumference for the larger ball and 2 1/2" circumference for the smaller ones)

To start, trace circles out of your fabric.  With good fabric scissors you can fold it over four times and cut more circles at once.  Melissa's Mom let me borrow this scrapbooking tool that was the perfect size to trace the circles.  I took the measurements from it for reference...

Once the circles are cut out, fold each one in half...

...and in half again to make this:

Push a pleating pin through the layers at the bottom.  If you gather the fabric around the pin a little bit (weave it in and out of the fabric layers) it helps to shape the fabric petal better.

Stick the pin in the styrofoam and spread out the petal.  Repeat, repeat and repeat!  Eventually it will start looking like this:

You want each petal fairly close together so your ball will look full (with the larger circled petals you don't need them quite as close, but just eye it as you go and look for any gaps to fill in).

And here's the finished product:

They are such a fun decoration for a girl's room, party, shower etc.  The nursery should be done in about a month and I can't wait to reveal it on the blog!