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  • I'm Kristen, a clumsy but determined home cook and crafter living in the Boston area with my husband, B, and I have an interest in all things food and craft.

    This blog was created to keep track of my various projects and adventures. They may not all be successes, but my goal is to remain unintimidated by whatever engages my curiosity.



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Pom Pom Flowers

I have a thing for flowers that look like pom poms. Mums, allium, chive blossoms, dahlias - love ‘em! Since fresh flowers aren’t always in the budget, and because I have a brown thumb, I started thinking about what I could do to brighten up our apartment with flowers without actually using flowers. Soon, the idea for some sort of pom pom flower started bouncing around in my head, and this is what I came up with.

How to make pom poms? I googled around and found a number of tutorials, including several that use the cardboard donut method, which can be found here, here, and here. Unfortunately, I’m impatient and not particularly coordinated, so cardboard donuts were flying everywhere. My favorite method is found in the pom pom tutorial at Bella Dia. This method makes slightly more yarn scraps, but you can recycle the scraps by using them as stuffing for craft projects, or you can put them in a small fabric pouch and add a few drops off lavender, rose, or another type of essential oil to make a drawer sachet.

Though my method basically follows the Bella Dia tutorial, I have made some slight variations, so I’ve posted my method below.

Pom Pom Flower Supplies

What you’ll need for the project:

yarn
small, sharp scissors
wire cutters
a hot glue gun and glue sticks
materials for the stems (paper or fabric covered floral wire or my favorite, branches or twigs)

Pom Pom Wrapping Yarn

Using your thumb, hold the end of the yarn against your fingers as you begin to wrap the yarn. After a few wraparounds, you should be able to let the end go and continue wrapping. I size my pom poms by fingers: 2 is small, 3 is medium, and 4 is large. Don’t wrap the yarn too tightly, or you’ll have blue fingers and won’t be able to slip the yarn off easily later!

Pom Pom Finished Wrapping

The more times you wrap the yarn, the fuller your pom pom will be. However, try not to overdo it, or you may have trouble in the later stages because there’s too much bulk. For small pom poms, I wrap between 50-75 times; for medium, 75-100; for large, 100-125. Yarns come in many different thicknesses, so you may find that you need more or less wraps to achieve the fullness that you’d like.

Pom Pom Fuzzball

After you’ve finished wrapping the yarn, carefully slide it off of your fingers.

Pom Pom Tie

Cut a piece of yarn that is between 4 and 6 inches long to use as a tie. Place the wrapped yarn on top of the cut piece, trying to center it as much as possible.

Pom Pom Yarnball

Pull the cut yarn as tightly as you can over the wrapped yarn, and tie a knot.

Pom Pom Cut

Using a small pair of sharp scissors, cut the top of the yarn loops th entire way around.

Pom Pom Pretrim

After you cut all of the loops, you’ll be left with a shaggy looking pom pom.

Pom Pom Trimmed

Using your scissors, trim off the longer pieces of yarn until you’re satisfied with the appearance of the pom pom. Fuzzy!

Pom Pom Trim

Fire up your glue gun, and find a place on the pom pom where the yarn looks a tad sparse or where things are a bit flat or uneven. Basically, you’re looking for a good place to glue the stem. Part the yarn to expose the more dense area of the pom pom. This will make a sturdy anchor for your stem. Apply a small amount of hot glue to your choice of stem, and press into the exposed anchor area.

Pom Pom Glued

Ta da! You’ve got a pom pom flower.

Pom Pom Snip

Use wire cutters to trim the stem to the desired length, and have fun figuring out where you’re going to put your flower!

Pom Pom Flower Branches
Pom Pom Flower Package

Posted in Craft, Tutorials |

55 Responses

  1. Craftzilla says:

    Great tutorial! I can see myself making these to adorn gifts!



  2. Tracy says:

    Well how cool is that? I share your pom-pom flower love - great idea here!!



  3. peabody says:

    Those look neat. I suck at craft projects and mine would so not turn out like that. ;)



  4. Kristen says:

    Thanks, everyone!

    peabody - I’m about 50/50 when it comes to both craft and food experiments. And the 50% that fail are usually real messes. ;) Thankfully, this was a success, and I’m sure if you gave it a go you’d be pleasantly surprised by the result!



  5. Allison says:

    Well, now I will have to go collect some sticks on my way home from work so I can make this lovely project!



  6. Kristen says:

    Allison - yay for free craft supplies!



  7. Notes of Life » Snowball! says:

    [...] Domestifluff - How to Make Pom Pom Flowers [...]



  8. Valerie says:

    These are a great idea!! Thanks for sharing!! And, thanks for all the pictures along the way! They make tutorials much easier to follow, in my opinion.



  9. El yapımı pom pom çiçekler, resimli anlatımı | Hobi Blog says:

    [...] yapımı size neşeli zaman geçirmenizi sağlayacak. nasıl yapıldığını öğrenmek için tıklayınız. habergentr_title = ‘Bu Çiçekler Gerçek değil!’; habergentr_description = ‘El yapımı pom [...]



  10. alana says:

    these are absolutely positively gorgeous! I will most definitely be using this tutorial for my future crafts. Thank you so much for posting it.



  11. Kristen says:

    I’m so glad that everyone is enjoying the tutorial! Thanks so much for your wonderful comments! :)



  12. D.I.Y.: Pom Pom Flowers « Anne Bowman says:

    [...] 5, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized I found these super cute pom pom flowers over at Domestifluff. They are adorable little accents for gifts or would look really cute across a place setting at a [...]



  13. Joanne Tinley says:

    What a lovely simple idea! I haven’t made pompoms for years and I love those. Do you mind if I blog about your tutorial when I’ve made some?



  14. Kristen says:

    Thank you, Joanne! I think it would be great if you blog about the tutorial when you’ve made some.



  15. kate says:

    i heart this! just ADORABLE!



  16. Carrie says:

    Love pom poms! The white with the twigs are my fave. =)



  17. Savvy says:

    I love that lamp. Where does it come from? The pompom are adorable too.



  18. Andi says:

    What a great idea, thanks!



  19. Kristen says:

    Thanks so much, Kate, Carrie, and Andi!

    Savvy - I actually purchased the lamp at Lamps Plus (link goes directly to the lamp). It actually looks like they’re on a great sale right now!



  20. Savvy says:

    Thank you so much. This is a great site. But is that the same lamp? Yours looks like it is shaped a little differently.



  21. Kristen says:

    The lamp base does look a little more “rounded” on the Lamps Plus site, but if you click on the “In Scene” photo, I think it looks more accurate. Plus, in the picture I took there was a dark shadow around the underside of the base, which doesn’t help because it makes the base appear flatter. It’s the same lamp, though!



  22. Megan Adams says:

    Those are super cute! I am making some when I can find the scissors…I love the vase you put them in! I want one! haha



  23. Brandon says:

    I was skeptical when I started reading, but it turned out very neat and looks great as a decoration on the package. I want to try this with hand spun yarn!

    Keep up the great posts!



  24. Sandi says:

    Made them……love them.



  25. Lynn says:

    awesome! it would look really cool if you did multi-colored ones!



  26. Passo a passo de flores de pom-pom | Cacareco says:

    [...] Make pom pom flower [...]



  27. Kristen says:

    Megan - Thank you! The vase is from J. Mendocino, and I love it!

    Brandon and Sandi - So glad to hear that you made them and that they turned out so well!

    Lynn - Thanks! I have tried some multi-colored ones, and they do look cute. I’ve also experimented with using embroidery and crochet thread with the yarn, and that looks pretty neat, too.



  28. Delicadas flores pom pon - Las Manualidades says:

    [...] | Domestifluff Más noticias sobre: Manualidades con Flores, Tecnicas Tags: lana, Manualidades con [...]



  29. avogana says:

    I was just trying to figure out what to do with my small yarn scraps today. This is perfect!



  30. ana says:

    ohhh, cute!!! is perfect!!! ;)



  31. Elizabeth says:

    Thanks for the cuuute idea! My dad will be thrilled when I go get sticks for this–I’ll be crafting and cleaning up the yard at the same time!



  32. Missy says:

    I made these this weekend and they came out amazing! Thanks for the detailed tutorial. It made it so easy for me to walk thru it step by step myself.



  33. arta says:

    What a great idea, thanks!



  34. Pom Pom Flowers | The Best of DIY says:

    [...] [...]



  35. DIY Tuesdays: Pom Pom Yarn Flowers | Vintage Glam Weddings says:

    [...] make! I specially love the one above with twigs as stems - don’t they look like cotton balls? Domestifluff teaches how to make them step by [...]



  36. Emporio Craft.com » Blog Archive » Para qualquer ambiente… says:

    [...] original aqui- em [...]



  37. Aprende a hacer flores pom póm de lana says:

    [...] Domestifluff encontrarás un manual detallado de como se pueden realizar, como así también de los materiales a [...]



  38. Things I made this weekend « MEET THE JACKSONS says:

    [...] pom-pom flowers (my latest obsession, shown here on my new dressing table); [...]



  39. Ryan says:

    We used to make plastic pom-poms the same way except we wrapped colored plastic around a piece of wood with 2 grooved ends for the twist-tie to go through and the other side was for the scissors to cut through. We made hundreds to decorate the cars in the wedding party



  40. Craftspotting and Thank You says:

    [...] at Domestifluff over the past few months! I’m so flattered that people are enjoying the pom pom flowers and retro utensil stencils, and I hope to have many more crafts for you in the coming weeks and [...]



  41. Just Found 4/1/2009 says:

    [...] ….Pom Pom Flowers [...]



  42. 101 DIY Projects and Ideas | Stylish Events says:

    [...] 21. Pom-Pom Flowers via Domestifluff [...]



  43. Sandy says:

    Thank you for putting this up. My grandmother always put these on the slippers she crocheted for us and I couldn’t figure out how to make them. :)



  44. I wanna be creative says:

    Totally addicted to making these whilst watching tv (I even brought wool specially for this after seeing this tutorial!). Thanks so much for sharing.



  45. cindy says:

    I tried and tried and tried to make these but I could not shape them into a perfect circle. I think I’ll have to try again because I want to use them everywhere! :)



  46. Nathalie says:

    Your flowers are so cute: thanks for the tutorial!



  47. little t jane says:

    sooo sweet & just darling. thank you kindly heaps for this fantastic, clear tutorial. i totally need to try this, now! ;D



  48. pom pom says:

    [...] I forgot how I came across this fantastic tutorial… [...]



  49. Kristen says:

    Thanks so much, everyone, for the great feedback. I’m so happy to see that this tutorial is still one that people want to try. And I love everyone’s pom pom stories!

    Cindy - I’m sorry to hear that you’re having problems getting the pom poms to be circular. Sometimes I have to keep trimming the bits of yarn to get a nice circle. From time to time I still end up with a side that’s uneven or flatter, and I just glue the flower to the stem on that end. Perfect fix! ;)



  50. sarah: paper + stitch says:

    oh, what a wonderful idea. I’ve made pom-poms before, but never thought to attach to stick as a flower. brilliant!! now, my quest for billy buttons is over - this is a much better substitute! Thanks!!



  51. Fat Ninja says:

    I LOVE this tutorial! I didn’t do too well with the pom pom maker I got from Japan, but your tutorial is so easy and I just had to blog about it :)
    http://fatninjainyoface.blogspot.com/2009/06/diy-pom-poms.html



  52. myDIYweddingday says:

    These are great! I can’t believe how good the yarn looks. Linked to them from my blog, thanks!



  53. Noelia says:

    I just posted a picture of my version of your flowers over my Blog ! Thanks a lot! They look amazing !



  54. DIY: Pom-Pom Flowers Using Yarn « Bridal Index says:

    [...] DIY: Pom-Pom Flowers Using Yarn In Decor, Flowers, diy, fabric flowers on June 20, 2009 at 7:42 pm Domestifluff.com’s: Pop-Pom Yarn Flowers [...]



  55. DIY Wedding Details: Pom Pom Flowers | Inspirations & Creations - Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog says:

    [...] at Domestifluff found via One Pretty [...]



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