P O M P O M S !

Hi there friends! We are making tissue paper pom poms today, in preparation for a baby shower I'm hosting this weekend. I love these as bright, fluffy party decor. The instructions and video tutorials that I found online still left me to do a bit of trial and error, so I thought I'd share what ended up working for me.

Most of the blogs and web sites I came across all referenced Martha Stewart's instructions.

I started out as they suggest, with 8 sheets of tissue paper, sized 20 x 30. Accordion fold to a width of about 1- to 1 1/2 inches, so it looks something like this:

I wanted small pom poms so at this point, I cut the folded tissue paper in half. If you want large pom poms, don't halve it. Next, secure the tissue paper in the center, as pictured below. I used a chenille stem (any color; it doesn't show when finished). Other tutorials suggest using a staple or a piece of floral wire. If you plan to hang your pom pom, now is the time to attach string or fishing wire to the chenille stem. 

Then shape the two ends of the tissue paper. I rounded mine:

Flip your bundle of tissue and fan out one half, like this:

Now, pull one layer of tissue up, towards yourself, as pictured below.

Do this with 4 layers of tissue. Then, flip it over and pull the remaining 4 layers. As you pull these 4 layers towards yourself, you'll be pulling them away from the first set of layers, forming a half circle.

Halfway finished, your pom pom looks like a tree! Swivel it around and do the same thing to the other side. (Note: Pull gently. I found that Hallmark tissue paper was more durable during this process. When I used Target brand tissue paper for another set, it kept tearing. You couldn't tell once it was all finished, but it stressed me out. :) )

Once you've pulled apart all the layers, you have a nice full pom pom, that looks like a flower (or if you're using green, it looks like a head of cabbage!) It may need a little tweaking and fluffing to get it filled out evenly.

A variation on this process makes your pom pom more appropriate as a centerpiece. Instead of pulling 4 layers of tissue up and 4 down, you could pull all 8 up on both sides, forming a half circle. This pom pom will be very full, and will lay nicely on your table since it's flat on the bottom.

My coworker has a favorite saying: Clear as mud? If this seems that way to you, you may want to check out some YouTube videos that demonstrate the process. This one was helpful, although the people talking and shouting in the background were quite distracting.

OK, that wraps up my first ever tutorial post! The combination of these scattered around my kitchen and the 60 degree temperatures we're having is making me think SPRING!!!