If you or your little ones enjoy using stress balls, you will love these colorful DIY stress balls. They turn out super cute and are easy to make.

I always like to keep a few stress balls in my desk drawer and in a few other strategic places around my home. I like to use them during conference calls and my kids love to play with them too!

You only need a few basic items to create your own stress balls. The supplies required for this project include colorful water beads, tap water, an empty plastic bottle, a white balloon, and a bowl.

If you buy a lot of stress balls because you like to use them or because your little ones love them, this project will be a game-changer. You won’t ever need to spend money on stress balls again!

I know you will have fun making and using these stress balls. Here’s to crafting and de-stressing!

Supplies You’ll Need

• Water beads
• Tap water
• Empty plastic bottle
• White Balloon
• Bowl

How to Make DIY Stress Balls

Step 1. First, get your water beads. Take a handful of them and put them in your bowl.

Step 2. Next, add some water. You should have enough water to completely cover the balls.

These will need to soak for a little while.

Step 3. The next step is the waiting step. The amount of time that you soak your beads will depend on how big you want them to be.

I soaked mine for six hours according to the instructions on the package, but honestly, I think that was too long. The beads turned out a little bit too large for my liking.

I discovered that bigger beads tend to break more easily when you are using the stress ball. I recommend creating smaller beads by soaking them for about 1-2 hours in total.

Step 4. Now, put your beads into your plastic bottle.

Step 5. Next, get your balloon. Stretch it over the top of your plastic bottle.

Step 6. Now, turn your bottle over so that the beads are falling into the balloon.

Step 7. You might have to squeeze the bottle a little bit to help them move into the balloon.

Step 8. Once the beads are inside the balloon, tie the balloon up to keep the beads in!

Step 9. Your cute and colorful stress ball is complete. Don’t these turn out so adorable?

How Long Do These DIY Stress Balls Take to Make?

At first glance, it might look like this project takes a ton of time to complete! The truth is that the active part of this project is super quick.

Soaking your water beads is, of course, the most time-consuming part of this project. The good news about this is that, while soaking the beads takes a long time, it is completely hands off.

You can rest or go do other things during this time. Soaking the beads will take 1-6 hours in total.

A little bit of planning will ensure that the project goes smoothly and that waiting for the beads to soak does not become too annoying. For example, you can plan to soak your beads in the morning and then do the rest of the project in the afternoon.

The active part of this DIY stress ball project will take you only 5 minutes! This involves pouring your beads into the bowl, adding water, putting them in the bottle, pouring them from the bottle into your balloon, and tying up the balloon nice and tight.

Overall, this is a really quick project. If you want to make several stress balls, I recommend soaking a lot of water beads at the same time to make completing the project more efficient.

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