'Kissing balls' add festive touch to holidays

One of the delights of the holidays is the opportunity to show affection and appreciation for those we love.

One especially rewarding delight is the "kissing ball" — a delightful creation using fall's bounty to brighten the holidays. They're fun to make, and part of that fun is the gathering of herbs and greenery to create them.

While styrofoam forms may be purchased and stuck with a variety of twigs and berry stalks, the most meaningful ball is one we make ourselves, and in today's "recipe," anyone with herbs and/or evergreens at hand can make a beauty that will enhance your holiday decor.

Track down a wire coat hanger, procure a roll of florists' wire, a handful of heavy toothpicks (the rounded kind with two pointy ends), scissors, wire snips, and a spray bottle of water to keep greens fresh as you work.

Now for the "ingredients." First of all, you will need an apple. Choose a three-inch round, sound specimen, and remove the stem.

Then, gather the herbs and greens you'll want to use: Pick several-stem "bouquets" of three and 3 1/2-4 inch stems of rosemary; lavender (both the leafy stalks and flowered stems); cedar, pine, fir, and/or spruce twigs; sage clusters; boxwood, Pachistima ("Prince's Pine), and/or Cotoneaster; and a few sprigs of Vnica Minor ("periwinkle").

Clean and prepare your gatherings — discolored leaves, bent twigs, etc.— and cut all stems at an angle to equal lengths. Strip foliage from the bottom 1 1/4 inches of all stems. There should be three inches of foliage to make an evenly rounded ball.

Begin making sage bundles by gathering about three groups of the clusters together and gently but firmly wrapping a 5-inch piece of florist's wire from the leaf base toward the stem bottoms tightly enough to hold the stems but not enough to cut through them. Twist the two wire ends together and trim the stems protruding to about 1/4 inch past the wire. Make about eight more sage bundles. Lay aside.

Now for the frame. Lay the coat hanger out, and with wire cutters, cut a piece that includes the entire straight bottom and about two inches of one angled corner (this will hook the apple). With pliers, squeeze the hook end to nearly closed; this will be the bottom of the kissing ball. Next, insert the straight end of the hanger into the stem end of the apple, pushing carefully to come out at the blossom end of the apple (you may want to help things out a bit by inserting a large nail into the blossom end to help make a track for the wire). Push the wire through the apple until the hook end nearly embeds into the top, making sure to leave room for it to hold the apple strongly. Remember, you're working upside down.

A good way to control your efforts is to shove the long wire end into a strong cardboard box bottom as you begin to insert stems into the apple.

Now, your creativity comes into being. Layer your herbs and greens as you see fit — perhaps in a circular pattern going either up and down or around the perimeter, or maybe staggered — but go for volume and varied texture. With a toothpick, pierce the apple near the stem end and insert a strong sprig of your choosing — rosemary, lavender, or evergreen. Continue piercing and inserting thickly until you're happy with your design, then switch to your next selection. If some of your stems are not strong enough to insert into the apple, wire them to a toothpick and insert them that way. Keep turning the apple, and occasionally turn the box upside down so you can get a feel for the way it will look hanging up.

When the apple is about 1/3 covered, it's time to add the sage bouquets; layer them thickly around the apple and firmly push the wires holding their stems into the apple at an angle.

Now you'll have a sparsely covered apple with plenty of room to tuck in brighter items, like cotoneaster with its bright berries, for instance, little bouquets of lavender flowers, yellow Santolina blossoms, etc. Once the ball is covered thickly and in a pleasing manner, look at it from all angles for tuck-ins, such as cedar fronds with their tiny pine cones, silver bells, or little red velvet bows. After turning the ball right-side up, curve the protruding top of the wire into a circle or hook for hanging and encircle with a golden bow (to be changed to bright red at Christmas time, along with the addition of a clump of mistletoe).

Drape some vinca to hang prettily in graceful streamers if you wish. Your finished ball should be about eight inches in diameter, a lavish, sizeable focal point to hang in an open arch or doorway.

To make your ball last through the holidays — from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day — spritz it regularly to keep it fresh. After it dries, you can still keep it, adding seasonal dry flowers such as Statice, strawflowers, baby's breath, and such, from time to time.

Editor's note: For many years, Valle Novak has written gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. "Weekend Gardener" and "Country Chef" became renowned for their humor, information, and common-sense advice on how to do everything from planting to cooking. She left behind many columns to delight her many fans. This is one such column, originally published on Oct. 26, 2008.