DIY a Sushi Pom-Pom Dinner for Two

diy sushi pom pom craft

When I first told Kurt, one of our photographers, that I wanted to make sushi pom-poms for our shoot, the second thing he said was, “What are they for?" (The first thing he said was, “What is a sushi pom-pom?" and I had to explain.) I didn't really have an answer for him other than that I just wanted to make them. I love sushi and I love pom-poms, and I figured that was reason enough.

These poms can be a gift to a sushi-obsessed friend, decoration for your work desk or play food for kids. Plus, they're so stinking cute! Let's do it! Let's make some sushi poms!

Materials and Tools:

How To Make A Maki Roll:

1. Wrap white yarn around one half of your pom-pom maker. Wrap two-thirds of the other half of the pom-pom maker with white yarn. Wrap the last third with some salmon and green colored yarn.

2. With the pom-pom maker closed, cut along the rounded part of the yarn.

3. Take a piece of yarn and tie a tight knot down the middle of the pom-pom maker.

4. Open the pom-pom maker. Trim the pom-pom down into a cylinder shape.

5. Wrap a strip of black felt around your sushi and secure with glue.

To make a maki roll, wrap white yarn around one half of your pom-pom maker. Wrap two-thirds of the other half of the pom-pom maker with white yarn. Wrap the last third with some salmon and green colored yarn. With the pom-pom maker closed, cut along the rounded part of the yarn. Take a piece of yarn and tie a tight knot down the middle of the pom-pom maker. Open the pom-pom maker. Trim the pom-pom down into a cylinder shape.

Wrap a strip of black felt (your “nori") around your sushi and secure with glue.

Yum town!

How To Make A Tuna Roll

What do you call sushi with a tie? SoFISHticated!

You can make a tuna roll just like how you make a maki roll. Tuna rolls are a type of maki roll, after all. Instead of using four different yarn colors, just use red and white yarn when wrapping your pom-pom maker.

How To Make A Tamago Roll

Make a tamago roll by wrapping one half of your pom-pom maker with white yarn and the other half with yellow yarn. When trimming, trim the white part into a condensed rectangle shape. Trim the yellow part into a fluffier, rounded rectangle shape. Wrap a thin piece of felt around the middle and glue to secure.

Hello there, sushi platter, how *rice* to meet you!

Sushi pom poms are *soy* awesome!

Sorry about the sushi puns. Guess I'm on a *roll!*

What other adorable things will you make from pom-poms? Show us by tagging us on Instagram + using the hashtag #britstagram!

DIY Production and Styling: Irene Lee
Photography: Kurt Andre

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

There’s always been a sort of DIY element to the IKEA brand, from building the furniture yourself to IKEA hacks to their bolts of Scandinavian-inspired fabrics to make everything from pillows to accessories. Now IKEA stores are blowing it up with Tyg, a new collection of home textiles that inspires us to get creative with fabric.

The pre-cut fabrics come in 3-meter cuts, or a little more than 3 yards each – just enough to get creative with canvas covers, bags, fashion and accessories. Choose from 20 cheerful, vibrant, and nature-inspired patterns that reflect Scandinavian modern design to transform and personalize your space. Look out for the collection in stores this July 2024!

In the meantime, here’s some inspiration for turning them into something you love! Make sure to bookmark it!

Pencil Skirt

IKEA

"Our collections are a homage to the rich Scandinavian design identity that we cherish and aim to preserve," says a rep from IKEA Sweden. There are also some vintage prints in the mix. Try our easy pencil skirt pattern for a fun summer skirt.

No Sew Belted Tote

IKEA

Storage hack: Use these bold prints to cover boring cardboard boxes and add a leather handle for a chic and practical use.

Low-Sew Ottoman Cover

IKEA

Learn how to reupholster an ottoman and pick fun IKEA fabrics to create a statement piece.

Tote Bag

IKEA

You can never have too many tote bags, right? This floral pattern would make for a cute and colorful market tote!

Hugs + Kisses Pillows

IKEA

Try this animal print in our most adorable hugs and kisses pillows. New to sewing? Try our sewing class!

Overall Dress

IKEA

Practice your sewing skills by making a simple overalls dress! This fabric would be perfect.

Box Covers

IKEA

Wrap them like gift wrap around shoe boxes using a staple gun for another easy storage hack.

No Sew Pencil Pouch

IKEA

A small print like this black and white check is great for small projects like a pencil pouch.

Pillowcases

IKEA

Colorful stripes are perfect for a pillowcase pattern (via PurlSoho), where you just stitch two rectangles of fabric together (standard size is 20 by 26 inches) right sides together. Then hem the opening!

Wall Organizer

IKEA

This wall organizer is another easy DIY, where you can sew the rectangle around the dowel, or iron the edges with no-sew hem tape. Hand-sew or machine stitch the pockets, making sure to fold under the edges for a cleaner look!

Planter

IKEA

This drawstring planter cover is a cute idea for covering ho-hum planters or vases.

Kids Travel Pillow

IKEA

Traveling with a kiddo? Keep them comfy with this sweet travel pillow pattern from Joann's.

Summer Crop Top

IKEA

A great first sewing project is this crop top in this fun purple check!

No Sew Covered Canvas

IKEA

Probably the easiest way to use this fabric is by staple-gunning it around a canvas for an easy and creative art piece!

Laptop Case

IKEA

Protect your laptops with a fabric case in a bold striped pattern. This fabric would also make a great curtain!

Pet Bed

IKEA

OMG, how cute! Make your pet a bed (via Joann's) in a playful print you'll both love.

Seat Cushion

IKEA

Learning the straight stitch on your sewing machine will get you very far. New seat cushions in every room!

Tasseled Pillows

IKEA

I never met a tassel I didn't love. Add bright colored tassels to this B&W print.

Travel Bag

IKEA

Toss your toiletries in something handmade with thistravel bag pattern.

Pocket Patch

IKEA

Pocket patterns are great for adding to furniture and clothes. This top-stitched one is handy for holding the remote, emergency snack bag, or a small book.

Look out for the IKEA Tyg collection in stores this July 2024!

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Images via IKEA

My best friends mean the world to me, and though I wish I could give them the world, this year, I just want to get them gifts that are as special as our friendship. Whether it’s a personalized pendant, a cute skincare set, or the lip shade they simply can’t stop talking about, I want them to know just how much I care about their companionship! Thus, I’ve curated the ultimate list of gifts for best friends to help you gift your besties something they’ll truly love, especially if it comes from you. These gifts are so good, I really want them for myself, too.

Our 40 favorite gifts for best friends:

Scroll on to see the absolute best gifts for best friends to give in 2024!

Amazon

1. Scent Beauty by Sabrina Carpenter Cherry Baby Eau de Parfum

Leave it to Sabrina Carpenter to influence my list of gifts for best friends. Her "Cherry Baby" scent carries sultry notes of vanilla, peony, cherries, and chocolate, which is the perfect aroma for a night out with the girls.

Summer Fridays

2. Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm

This lip balm is viral for a reason. Your besties' lips deserve all the instant moisture, color, and shine this tube provides. This brown sugar shade looks decadent AF, but you can also snag it in other fun 'flavors' like iced coffee and mint.

Urban Outfitters

3. Camp Snap Screen-Free Digital Camera

For the one that's always documenting the friend group's antics, they'll enjoy taking this unique, screen-free digicam on nights out, weekend trips, and cozy nights in! It captures film-style photos (without the time-consuming film photography process), and it can be used over and over again since it's rechargeable.

SeaVees

4. SeaVees Hayward Platform Shoes

Moccasin-style shoes are super popular this winter. I love how comfortable SeaVees' shoes are, so I might just have to share the love with my besties this holiday season... and snag a pair for myself so we can match, of course!

Dieux

5. Dieux Angel Face Cleanser + Moisturizer Bundle

Dieux is one of my go-to skincare brands for effective products that still take it easy on my sensitive skin. Their Baptism cleanser, part of this giftable duo, provides a nice clean without stripping any moisture from my skin. I also use their Instant Angel moisturizer religiously in the wintertime since things tend to get real dry. I'd say you can confidently gift this set to besties of any skin type.

Anthropologie

6. By Anthropologie Monogram Heart Locket Necklace

Personalized gifts will always feel special. Kick this gift idea up a notch by inserting a little pic of you and your BFF in the locket before wrapping and handing it over!

Urban Outfitters

7. Baggu Mini Nylon Shoulder Bag

I carry this Baggu bag just about everywhere I go. It's perfect for happy hours or dinners since it's small and not too much of a hassle to tow along, but don't let its size fool you: this baby can fit a lot. Your most stylish best friend will be wearing it the moment they open their gift!

Target

8. Jingle & Mingle 5 Days of Rosé Wine Set

You can never go wrong with rosé, baby! This gift set carries 5 personal-sized bottles of different varieties for them to sip on around the holidays.

Kulfi Beauty

9. Kulfi Beauty All Night Out Eye Set

This eye makeup set is complete with a bold eyeliner shade and a shimmery pot of eyeshadow. You get to choose the exact shades of each before purchasing, so this is truly one of the most fun personalized gift ideas. The set also comes with a funky pair of mismatched hair clips – so cute!

Dame

10. Dame Massage Oil Candle

This soothing candle melts down into a sweet-smelling massage oil that's easily dispensable, thanks to the pointed spout on the glass. This is a great gift for your single and partnered pals alike, whether they're using it to wind down themselves or for sexy time with their S.O.!

Life is Good

11. Life is Good 'I Deserve A Little Treat' Boxy Crusher Tee

Everyone deserves a little treat. Wrap up this awesome (and comfy!) tee alongside your bestie's favorite snack, sweet treat, or freshly-baked dessert to totally nail their gift this year!

Compartés

12. Compartés Pistachio Sea Salt Chocolate Truffles

These aesthetically-pleasing truffles could be the perfect sweet treat in question!

Nordstrom

13. OSEA Super Glow Body Set

I know anyone in my close friends circle would be happy to be gifted some nice skincare goodies. This luxe set from OSEA comes with a body wash, oil, and serum to keep skin looking and feeling happy!

Subscribe to our newsletter for even more holiday gift ideas!

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

Around the B+C office we have been full-on embracing the latest hygge trend, from IKEA hacks to stovetop potpourri. We’ve absolutely loved finding ways to incorporate this Danish tradition in our day-to-day lives. Before the chilly days leave us completely behind, we wanted to bring you one more way to hygge up your space. We’ve seen these amazing, super chunky knit blankets all over the internet, but when we saw the price tag (some for as much as $300!), we immediately jumped into DIY mode, knowing that we had to find an affordable way to get our hands on this luxurious blanket. ENTER hand knitting, very similar to its cousin arm knitting but done tabletop instead of on your arms. All in all, this blanket took under two hours to make and was SO easy — it takes zero knitting experience!

How To Make A Hand Knit Blanket

Materials:

Instructions:

*Not pictured* The roving that I purchased and linked to was incredibly thick, so I split it into two pieces by pulling it apart at the middle, v easy. If you get skeins of chunky yarn, you will not need to do this. You also don’t have to split the roving; it really depends on how chunky you want your blanket to be, so feel free to experiment and find the right weight for your desired look.

Begin by measuring out the tail of your yarn, roughly one arm length for each stitch. This does depend on the length of your arm, but measure out at least 20 arm lengths.

Create a slipknot for your first stitch. Make a loop around the thumb of your left hand, and pull the tail through the loop, creating a slip knot.

Slide the first stitch onto your right arm, making sure you keep it loose enough that you’ll be able to slide it back off.

Make a loop with the yarn from the tail, and feed a piece of the working yarn (attached to the ball) through the loop, creating another loop.

Take the loop created from the working ball of yarn and slide it onto your arm next to the first stitch. This is how you’ll create all of your starting stitches. Repeat until until you’ve used all the yarn from the tail you measured out, sliding each new stitch onto your arm.

This is what your arm should look like as you’re creating your stitches!

Once you have all 20 stitches on your arm, slide them off onto the surface/table you plan to work on. I ended up with slightly more than 20 stitches, because I have uber long arms :)

Take the working yarn and feed a small loop through the first stitch on the left hand side of your row.

TA DA, so easy! Repeat this to each stitch.

Repeat again going right to left.

Keep going back and forth, making loops inside the previous stitches, until you get to your desired length.

To finish off your blanket, take two of the top stitches all the way to the right and feed a loop of the working yarn through them.

Repeat this step until you have reached the left side of the blanket.

Make a knot with the remaining looped yarn.

You now have the world’s coziest blanket, and you made it with your own two hands!

Oh so cozy.

Puppies loved it just as much as people did around the office!

Her modeling debut! A natural!

COZY AF!

Share your hand-knit blankets with us! Post them on Instagram and be sure to follow us on Pinterest for more DIY inspo.

DIY Production + Styling: Cassidy Miller

Photography: Kurt Andre

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

This post has been updated.

Our favorite dancing queens (Meryl Streep included) might be returning to the big screen for a third encore of Mamma Mia! and we’re already rewatching the first two movie musicals in preparation.

In an interview with Deadline in May of 2023, Mamma Mia! franchise creator and producer Judy Craymer said a third movie musical is in "earliest stages." She also shared that she has come up with a way to bring Meryl Streep back again.

"I don't want to over-egg it," she said of the unofficial news, "but I know there's a trilogy there…and I do think Meryl should come back, and if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna."

"Of course I want to do it," Streep said during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival (via Deadline). Sounds promising to us!

Is Mamma Mia 3 happening?

Universal Pictures

Yes, Mamma Mia 3 is in its early planning stages! Christine Baranski just told The Hollywood Reporter that she's met with producer Judy Kramer, and that Kramer has plans for the third movie. "She gave me the narrative plotline of how it’s going to happen," Baranski says. "That’s all I can say! But, it’s not like, 'Oh, I wish it could happen!' Judy Kramer makes things happen. She made number two happen, and it was a phenomenal hit. I wouldn’t put it past Judy Kramer to get everybody back together."

Universal Pictures

A third installation was first mentioned way back in 2020, during a Collider interview with Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried said she was on board — and at the time, she thought the rest of the star-studded cast would be too.

"Listen, every single person in that movie would say yes in a heartbeat because we want to hang out with each other," Seyfried told Collider at the time. "That's what we talked about last time, like did we ever think that we'd end up here again on an Island in Croatia?"

When will Mamma Mia 3 come out?

Universal Pictures

We don't have an official answer about when to expect this highly anticipated sequel. The project is in the "earliest stages," according to creator and producer, Judy Craymer. Cher also revealed to Entertainment Weekly that everyone is "talking about it," but she doesn't "know when they're going to do it."

Has casting information been shared about Mamma Mia 3?

Jonathan Prime/Universal Studios

While nothing's been made official, Amanda Seyfried just said something that made my heart skip a beat. She told ABC News she loves Sabrina Carpenter's music and dropped this admission: "If Sabrina Carpenter wants to play my daughter, I’ll make it happen."

But before she admitted that, the actress said something else that made me raise my eyebrows. "Everybody says it’s gonna happen, but I mean, I haven’t seen a script."

Cher is also eager to return to the beloved franchise and is rooting for Meryl to make an appearance again. "I keep saying, 'Meryl, you've got to come back,'" she said (via Entertainment Weekly). She also said she's told her, "'It'll be fun. You'll have a good time. You'll be able to sing.'"

I don't know what it'll take, but hope someone gets a script in Amanda Seyfried, Cher, and Meryl Streep's hands ASAP!

What is the first Mamma Mia about?

Universal Pictures

The first film follows Donna (Streep) and Sophie (Seyfried) as mother and daughter living on a remote Greek island. When Sophie is about to marry Sky (Dominic Cooper), she sets out to learn who her real father is after discovering it could be one of three men (played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, and Colin Firth).

Who does the second Mamma Mia follow?

Universal Pictures / NBCUniversal

Mamma Mia 2takes viewers back to 1979, where young Donna (Lily James) embarks on a series of adventures throughout Europe following her Oxford University graduation. On her journeys, she makes the acquaintances of Harry, Bill and Sam – the latter whom she falls in love with. In the present day, pregnant Sophie dreams of renovating a taverna while reuniting with her mother's old friends and boyfriends on a Greek island island.

TBH, we’re pretty happy that Mamma Mia! is far from over, and we can’t wait to see what the franchise has in store for us next. Stay updated on all the latest entertainment news with Brit + Co.

This post has been updated.

There's nothing ~normal~ about how much we love Normal People's Paul Mescal & Daisy Edgar-Jones. While it turns out we're not getting a Normal People season 2 (yet), the two actors are starring in some of 2024's biggest blockbusters (Twisters and Gladiator II, namely), and we've been soaking up their presences ever since.

Paul recently exhibited his ongoing friendship with Daisy at the Gladiator II premiere in Los Angeles. While he approached Brittany Broski on the red carpet for an interview, he recognized her from her recent 'Royal Court' interview with Daisy:

"You were with Daisy!" he chimed in excitingly. We just love this power duo!

Enda Bowe/Hulu

Daisy Edgar-Jones also revealed that she's remained incredibly close to Paul Mescal after their time on Hulu's Normal People. "Paul is one of my lifetime best friends," she says. "He’s an incredibly grounded person and I am too, I think, so it’s nice to be able to have those touchstones and those people you can laugh about it with and be lighthearted with. We met when I was 20 and Paul was 22; I’m so excited to see where we’ll be at 32, 42, and what life will bring us."

But the coolest thing is that not only is Normal People special for Paul and Daisy, but they've also been able to see the effect of the show on its fans.

"The thing I love people saying the most is, 'It made me contact my ex,'" Daisy continues. "Especially when much older people say, 'I just wanted to reach out to the person I was with when I was 17 just to say you were a big part of my history and thanks for being part of who I am, the tapestry of my life.' And that I really love, because I’m a massive romantic."

Daisy recently revealed they bonded over their training for Twisters and Gladiator II.

"I did running lessons — isn’t that crazy?" she told Variety. "Actually, Paul [Mescal] and I were laughing about it, because he was training for 'Gladiator II' and I was training for 'Twisters,' and obviously he had to be huge and I was like, 'Don’t worry, I’m going to be right up there with you.'"

Let us know your favorite Normal People moment in the comments and check out 5 Leading Ladies We'd Love To See In A Paul Mescal Rom-Com.

This post has been updated with additional reporting by Meredith Holser.