How to Make a Pom Pom

   

     There are a lot of reasons you may need to make a pom pom.  They are cute accessories you can add to any craft project that you may be doing.  I make them often with my crochet projects.  Here are a few of my items that I have added pom poms to.

     Notice that there are all different sizes though.  I have a couple of different ways in which I go about making these pom poms that can create different styles and sizes.  

     The first way is to use a fork.  This pom pom will come out on the smaller size.  I've used it for tails of my stuffed animals, like my bunny.  

1.  First you need to get yourself a fork, and a small amount of yarn in any color. 

2.  Then wrap the yarn around the fork about 45 times or so.  Make sure you leave space in the front and back of the yarn in order to do the next step. 

3.  Cut the yarn.  Cut a piece, around 6 inches, and weave it through the middle prongs and tie it tightly.

4.  Pull it off the fork, and cut through the loops on each side.

5.  It will still have a funny look so you'll need to fluff it up, by rolling it in your hands a little, and cut the longer pieces.  

ALL DONE!

     The second way to make one, and the one I prefer, is to use cardboard pieces. 

1.  Cut a circle out of cardboard like this, and then cut another one identical to it.  If you're looking for an specific sized pom pom, you may have to play around with these because the size of the cardboard circle doesn't really show what the size of the pom pom will be.  Here are two different sized ones that I have used.  As you can see, they are pretty beat up, but that's because you can use them over and over again.  

2.  Next you just start wrapping the yarn around both pieces by going through the slit that was made.  If you want a multicolored pom pom, then just keep switching colors back and forth so it disperses nicely.  

3.  Just keep wrapping until it is nice and full, the more you wrap the fuller the pom pom will look.

4.  Cut the yarn.  Cut another long piece of yarn and put aside for now, you'll use this in a little bit. 

5.  Next, you will be cutting the yarn, in between the two pieces of cardboard. It can get a little tricky so just make sure you hold everything together while you are doing this.  You don't want to remove the yarn from the cardboard just yet.  

6.  Take that long strand of yarn you cut in step 4, and place it in between the two pieces of card board.  Wrap it around and make a knot a couple of times.  I sometimes wrap it again and make new knots, to make sure that it is on there nice an tight.  

7.  Once the knots are made, the pom pom is held together, so you can remove the cardboard pieces. 

8.  Cut of the pieces that may be a little long.  I leave the two tails that I used to tie the pom pom together.  Those tails are what I use to attach the pom pom to the hat.  

     I think the second way I described to make them create a nice looking pom pom, but the first way is quicker and easier if you need a small one.  Try these steps out and let me know how it works for you!