I love the way bordering a cake with fondant balls looks, but it takes me FOREVER to make all the little balls by hand, and they are all different sizes, etc. Does anyone have a trick to making these? Thanks!

I am sure others will have better suggestions on how to make these but what I do to get the balls to be the same size is to roll out the fondant and then use one of my round cutters to cut out circles and then I roll them up. It is still a pain to roll them up but at least they are the same size.

To make them uniform in size, roll out your fondant to an even thickness using spacers or a pasta machine. Then, use an appropriate sized cutter to cut the amount of fondant you need for each ball. Then, roll it up.

I've never tried it, but have been curious about those clay bead rollers in the jewelry making section of the craft store. Anyone have any experience or opinion on those?

I too would be interested in this, since I also get different sizes. Other than using a mold (like the pearl one - which might make them too small) the only other thing that I can thing of is using my cookie scoop. But I think it would make them way to big for this (although it makes the perfect size cookie)

FYI - you don't have to use a round cutter because you're going to be squishing it all up anyway. Any size cutter that yields the amount of fondant you need is all that's required - whether star-shaped, leaf-shaped or chihuahua-shaped!

I use a very large round icing tip...like about a 16, 17, or 18...or an oversized 2A for larger balls. Roll out fondant and quickly stamp them out with the tip...

I like to use a bead roller made for polymer clay. They come in different shapes and sizes but always make a perfect shape.
Here are some examples:

It really depends on what you want this beads for. There are molds that would speed the process of making them.
Edna

Thanks for this information, i'd been wondering how to make those little balls faster and easier.

Thanks everyone. The bead rollers look really neat. I might have to try that one out!

I just bought the bead rollers at Hobby Lobby, bit I'm having a hard time making the round beads, any tips? anyone?

I like to use a measuring spoon, usually a 1/2 tsp.
I push some fondant in the opening, level with my thumb, go around the edge with the same thumb so the spoon itself cuts away the excess, then I pull out the blob and roll.