Pom Pom, Yarn Ball Ornaments

I asked Little J, “What kind of ornaments do you want to make for our tree this year.”
It’s a holiday tradition to have an ornament project. Last year we dried spiced oranges and strung them with beads, hanging some on our tree and giving lots away as gifts.
The year before, we made cinnamon-applesauce ornaments.

He said, “I’d like to make yarn balls.”
I didn’t really know what he meant by this, but the image that popped into my mind was a pom pom.

I was in an after school program when I was school age, and one of the teachers was super crafty. Her name was Mrs. C. You could always find me tinkering away at Mrs. C’s table, under her wing, she nurtured and encouraged my artsy side, and I think is one of the reasons I went into teaching art. She taught me how to make a pom pom. At age 7, I knew how magical and genius this process was.

This project can be entirely experimental. Play with colors and thickness of yarn. You can make really dense, puffy pom poms, or really wispy, shaggy ones.

1. Cut 2 circles out of cardboard. How big that circle is, depends on how big or small you want your pom pom.
2. Cut another smaller circle out of the middle of your cardboard circles, so that it look like a wreath.
3. Fit your cardboard wreaths together like a bagel sandwich.
4. Tie cardboard pieces together with yarn, and start wrapping yarn around the “wreath.” You can change yarn if you’d like your pom pom to be more than one color.
5. When it wrapped enough, wrap it more. The more yarn, the thinker your pom will be, but feel free to experiment with amounts. A pom pom with less yarn might be fun and shaggy. A thick wrapped wreath will give you a carpet like pom pom.
6. Wriggle and Fit your scissors in between the two circle pieces of cardboard that’s now buried in yarn.
7. Cut the wrapped yarn around the outside of the circle.
8. Tuck a stray piece of yarn between the 2 circles of cardboard and tightly tie off the pom pom.
9. Slip the pom pom off of the cardboard wreaths.
10. Arrange the pom pom by fluffing and trimming, until you’re happy with the result.

Little J approves these yarn balls for the holiday tree, but you can use these for anything, in any season. They can be used as pretend ice cream in the summer and snow balls in the winter. You can make a garland out of them. There’s no end to the ideas. What would you do with a pom pom?

Happy Pom Pomming!