From the sweetgum tree... Crafty folks make Christmas wreaths out of these. I have two wreaths I've made from them. They take a little glue and glitter and make ornaments and garlands out of them. I've even seen jewelry made from them including earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Of course, they trim the sharp spines down to make them comfortable to wear. I've seen them dipped in every color of paint you can imagine! But mostly, folks around here regard them as a nuisance. They get caught in lawn mower belts, they dull lawn mower blades and kids scream bloody murder when they by accident step on them!
Fabulous shot of these! Great light- shows off the texture! I think I would enjoy making some sort of decoration out of these- I can see their appeal....as well as the nuisance- but let's focus on the fun shall we :D
@heidievans73 They are! No doubt! LOL! I can just hear some other folks choice words in my head about how they regard them! ROFLOL! They so made fun of my wreaths, too. I will get a picture of one here before too long... all decorated for a country Christmas. =)
You go girl! I see the beauty in them . . that's for sure. But I can also feel the pain. Great macro shows off the intricacy of these little critters. You've done an excellent job of making these look enticing. Isn't that a sign of a great photographer?!!
@marlboromaam You're not the only crazy one... http://bet1975.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-gum-wreath.html I think it's very pretty...I would like mine in the shape of a large christmas tree....imagine they can be glued on a pre-fab styrofoam tree....make me one of those- with yer balls....lol
@heidievans73 Yes, that's it! Mine are quite a bit larger than that one as I have about 20 trees around here so I've got thousands of these "balls" to work with and I used a wire form instead of styrofoam to support the weight. The heaviness comes from the glue - NOT the balls! Wish I could find a much lighter weight glue to use. And yes! I can make you a tree! How tall would you like it to be and will after the holidays be okay?
@marlboromaam I guess they do look pretty large in your hand. I'm surprised they don't use these for all sorts of crafts and ship them to floral craft stores around the country.....oh look I just found your new career :) Hmmmm I think it's a great idea!!
@heidievans73 ROFLOL! There are probably people who would pay me to pick them up out of their yards, too! Oh, and I meant my wreaths are larger - not the "balls!" Ha ha! I can talk about how big the brass ones are at another time. Heh heh heh!
@marlboromaam So you can not only sell big boxes of your balls you can make some crafty things with them as well and sell them!! You'll be known as "The Ball Lady" hahah JK :D There's really something to this....keep researching!!
Ditto on the textures! Have a sweet gum tree in my apartment complex and it still has beautiful color! I'm still working on the best angle for a good shot of it. No success....yet! Really like the pic!
great detail!! i find these to be so neat! i have never heard of or seen them until you started taking photos of them!! i would be very interested in seeing some jewellery etc made from them! i bet it looks really interesting!!
I don't think we have these here in the Philippines and I don't have the slightest idea how they look like in person. But I easily got attracted to this one. Fantastic light and texture!
Omgosh, the first thing I said when I saw this pic was "OUCH!!",...I've stepped on them way too many times as a kid running barefoot outside! Great photo!
