Painted Foam Billy Balls

I've been keeping this easy project from you for too long! I made dozens of styrofoam billy balls for a friend's surprise vow renewal this spring, and then kind of forgot about them. These little yellow flower pods are known as Craspedia, Billy Button, or Billy Balls. I love their mustardy color and how simple and stark they look. What I don't love is their $1.50 per stem price tag! You can make a dozen of these for less than $5.

When I found this tutorial for how to make your own, I had to try it.

Here's what you need:
small styrofoam balls (I found mine with floral foam at a crafts store)
floral wire
paint

Stick the wire into the foam. Be careful not to stick it all the way through. I used a small crafts brush to paint the balls. A foam brush would work well too.

See how easy they are? I think they loo pretty convincing.

A few weeks ago I splurged and bought 5 stems of the real thing. I kind of like how the real and the fake look together. What do you think?

I love the real thing, but the DIY ones are pretty convincing.