Have Yourself a Retro Little Christmas: Medicine Cup Kissing Ball
Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 8:15PM 
I can't decide which side of the divide this post will fall, retro cool or super square. Regardless, I decided to recreate a favorite Christmas decoration from my childhood, the medicine cup kissing ball. I'll be curious to see how many of my readers remember these. The one my mother unwrapped from tissue paper every December and hung in our front hallway had Christmas-green glitter and plastic mistletoe. I've changed a few things on mine to update an old classic just a bit.
One of the reasons I love reading craft blog DIY posts is that someone else has gone through all of the trial and error for me. This project had quite a bit of both trial and error. I hope you will take advantage of my experience if you decide to make one of these for yourself. You aren't likely to find any help elsewhere. A thorough internet search turned up essentially nothing on the subject of medicine cup kissing balls with the exception of one or two posts asking if anyone remembered them. As I have noted before, when I run across a topic that seems to be missing from the interwebs I like to cover it, since I know I am not the only person out there looking for information.
You can find the instructions over in my Tutorial section or by clicking here. I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. I would love to hear if any of you remember these icons or perhaps still own one. I hope you are busy making your own memories this holiday season.
Reader Comments (3)
I love this! I'm considering working on one of these with my daighter this weekend, but would like to ask your opinion. The comminion cups are tapered at the bottom. Do you think they work/ look better then clear medicine cups that aren't tapered? Will I achieve the same look or will the cups be "further apart"? I feel like with the tapered bottoms you were able to get them closer together on the styrofoam ball, then the tops kind of "trumpet" out together.
Barbara, I did not have any trouble with the communion cups. I gauged how far apart to place them based on the rims. I hope you will share a picture when you are through.
How nice to see this retro craft. We had a similiar item in the years gone by at the campground. It was made with about five ounce clear drinking cups. Made in two halves like a clam shell gave it an opening in the middle for small Christmas lights. Once the lights were placed into the bottom of each cup, the two halves were secured into a ball shape. We still have one, as do our friends next door. It is a unique light ,especially at night, showing off all the various colors. Thank you!