Day 4 - Pom Pom Making

Well its now day for of my 365 A Craft A Day The Bronny Way challenge and all I have been able to do today was make pom poms! As some of you may know, I run a little facebook page called Bronny Pom Poms and with each order, I attach a little pom pom to the bag. So I have made about 50 of these today. Once you get into the swing of making them they are easy peasy!

To make your own little pom poms you will need:
Wool of your colour choice (To make one the size I do, I use 2 lengths of my arms held outwards from finger to finger)
A piece of wool to tie it with
Scissors
2 Cardboard Circles or a Pom Pom Plastic Pom Pom Maker (You can get these on eBay)




I am going to try and explain how to make them as simple as I can but I apologise in advance if I waffle.  First cut out your 2 cardboard circles if you don't have a plastic pom pom make. To do this, draw around a circular object which will be the size of your pom pom. Then draw a smaller circle inside this. Cut it out so it looks like the yellow donut circles above. Cut your wool. I pull the wool out til I get my arms length and then double it. This is to give it a manageable length. Double it over again and tie a knot in the end. This is to make it easier and not pulling though too many strands.

Place the two circles together (if you have the plastic ones, make sure the grooves are on the inside). With the knot end, place it on the circles and wrap it round on one side, then wrap it round on the other side of the strand (see picture to the right).

Keep wrapping the wool round over and over again making sure you keep it tight. If you don't keep it tight the pom pom will fall apart. When you come to the end of your wool tuck it in the previous loop to make sure it doesn't unravel. (see pic to the left)




Start again with another piece of wool and do the same as the previous piece. Keep doing these steps til the ring is completely covered in wool. Trim off any parts that are sticking out and it will look something like the picture to the right.




Make sure you have the piece of wool to tie the pom pom up with to hand before you do the next step. Take the scissors and snip through the middle of your 2 circles at the same time as holding on to the middle of the ring. If you let go of the ring then all the wool will come out. Snip carefully and take your time. See pic to the left to see what I am trying to explain.





When you have finished cutting all the way around, still holding onto the middle you should have something that looks like this on the right.





Next get your piece of wool to tie it up with, place it in between the two circles and very carefully, tie a knot. The knot has to be ties tightly to keep it all in but not too tight that it snaps. This has happened a few times to me and involves a few bad words when it does happen.... It will look like this on the left.




Once you have tied it, you can now take the circles off the wool by sliding it off like the photo to the right. This turns it into a pretty pom pom!!






When it comes out of the circles it looks a little flat, just ruffle it up and there you have your perfect pom pom like this on the left!!







Now you know how to make them, why not do them with different colours, bigger sizes or even cut them into different shapes? I have made hearts and alsorts by carefully snipping them after the pom pom is made. I have even made a strawberry!! Add it to your handbag, keys or anything laying around to snazz it up a bit! Go on, experiment and have a go!!