Yes Doc. Those sponges are dyed together. Previously I had pieced the sizes together from bulk sponges from suppliers and the sponges were so bad, I took the item off the market for 10 years. I decided to bite the bullet and have Gosh make me dye lot matching sets. That is what I sell today (along with a video).
Used to be if I ha a 3" next to a 2", you could see the difference. Now, all is perfect.

Mark Wilson's book mentions buying a large sponge and cutting it to shape as balls. It isn't the best way to get really good balls, but it works fine and gets you what you want.

You can also go to a dollar store (if you have one locally - I don't!) and look for things like big pom-poms and do your sponge routine with those.

There are different schools of thought and I do understand what the first couple of posts were getting at about buying rather than making. If you value your time and don't really like making things, it is worth buying the sponge balls instead. On the other hand, I really like making things, so I get a kick out of using things I have made. If you are only doing these things for fun and giggles, make whatever you want for sponges. Call them something else, if you like.

At most fabric stores you can buy slabs of foam padding up to 2" thick. It comes in off-white and pale green. You could make a rough ball shape and call it a giant beetle egg. Or make them out of the white, try to get it really round, use markers to make them into eyeballs. Cut green foam into simple fish shapes and talk about how your aquarium always seems to have more fish in it than you remember buying. Make bars of soap. Look at some of the hand-cut bunnies and try to make something similar. Lightning bolts if you find yellow foam.

The point is that you can make almost anything you like. You are not required to use balls. I like the balls. I prefer them for most uses. But it can be fun to think about different shapes.

-Patrick

While I know you're wanting to make them, at the dollar stores in my area currently there are goggle eyes/clown nose combos in the toy section.

The clown noses are 2" sponge balls with a slit cut in them. Seal the slit with some hotglue and you're done.

Of course, that's four balls at a buck a piece + a hot glue gun. Probably easier just to buy a set! Swap out a big mac or a cup of coffee for a day and you've got a set!

When I was in college (Jeez, I sound like my old man!) and there was something I wanted (usually books) I got it. Especially magic stuff. I justified it by saying I was investing in myself. Of course that was how I justified everything...

Let him eat cake huh?