I do not have a lot of tools for cake decorating, and can't really afford to purchase any more right now. Can anyone suggest something I may be able to use in place of the ball tool to do sugar flowers with?

my ball tool broke, and I used a plastic mixed drink stirr, got them from the liqour store, they had colored balls on the end. worked like a charm. and only 1.99 a box. some times you just got to get creative.

Try the modeling clay section of Michaels, Joanns, etc. They sell smooth metal ball tools in a set for a fraction of what online stores charge, even without a coupon

I bought the drink mixers 8/$1.00. The store was clearing out of them. Now I sell them to my students for a $.25. They work great.

Thank you both, I will look into both of these suggestions. If you have any other tools that can be made cheaper by using something else, please share.

Just use your imagination. Look around the house at different objects and try to think of a way to use the item in cake decorating. Look in your kitchen, sewing box, childrens toy box, tool box, $ store, second hand or thrift shops.

I used a melon baller for a while until I got some tools. I just had to watch for the small hole in the bottom

If you need a small ball tool (to make indents for features on people), I use a sewing pin that has a small ball on the end. I pressed the pin into the end of a dowel. I have 4 different sizes.

As Sabre mentioned, If you use the 40-50% coupon at Michaels or Joann's you can get the clay tool for a good price.

Also, maybe a marble attached to a type of hollow stick (so it accepts the marble). Something like a super durable straw maybe?