12 Days Of Wrapping: Pom Poms

We know. Pom poms are one of those crafts that have been around for years and years, and we simply can’t get enough of them. They are great to add to scarves, make wreaths out of, hang from the ceiling, and today, they are picture-perfect present toppers.

We’ve seen dozens of tutorials involving cardboard circles, popsicle sticks, extensive exacto-work, pom pom makers, and more but at Brit we’re all about simplicity. We scoured around the studio for a few string-like things and came out with a pretty adorable quintet of gift-ready pom poms using yarn, dry cleaning bags, a t-shirt, tights and string. For wrapping, we used recycled packaging paper that came in a recent Christmas shopping session on Amazon.

Materials:
– yarn
– 1 leg of colorful tights (you know we love them)
– white string
– dry cleaning bags (those clear plastic bags that aren’t really bags)
– t-shirt

If you’re using plastic bags, tights or a t-shirt, you’ll have to cut the item into long strips first. Strips should be 0.5”-2” wide and as long as possible. That being said, these materials are so conducive to pom poms, that even if you have a use a bunch of relatively short pieces you’ll be fine.

Once you have your strips, cut an additional short piece off for tying the pom pom together.

We tried two methods. For yarn, string, t-shirt, and tights, we went the most basic method possible. Simply hold three fingers together sideways, and start wrapping. If you get to the end of a strip, simply hold it in place with your thumb, start the new strip, and make sure your new strip overlaps with the end of the old one. For the dry cleaning bag or plastic bag, we wanted a bigger pom pom so we used a water bottle in the middle – see below.

Get your short piece ready by laying it out on a table. Keeping the loops intact, slide the wrapped material onto the short piece, and tie as tight as you possibly can around the center.

Now you start cutting all the loops. Once you’ve cut through the loops, you’ll have to trim the random long piece here and there. Fluff, and you’ve got a pom pom perfect for present-topping!

Here’s the step-by-step using a t-shirt.

And using a dry cleaning bag and water bottle.

All of these lovely pom poms make great gift accessories or could be strung together to make a wreath, scarf, garland, etc.

Do you make pom poms in your sleep? Send creative pom pom project ideas to hello@hellobrit.com.