pOm PoMs!!

Let's get pomdiggity..
So tissue paper pom poms are my go-to decoration fav. I have used them for everything like baby showers to wedding dinners to decoration in my little girl's room. They are so super easy, and are really inexpensive, too. They are so fun and make a big impact because they hang down from the ceiling or wherever else you want. And with so many different colors of tissue paper, you're pretty much set for any occasion. All you need to make them is tissue paper, bendy wire (I use silver floral wire that I pick up from Wal Mart for .99), scissors and if you want to hang it.. fishing line or ribbon or whatev.

Do I get too into the Valentine's spirit? Ah.. you know it's just gonna get worse and worse as the years pass.

So here's an idea of whatcha need (not that I didn't just put it earlier?).. I have found that if you're only going to do a few poms, I would buy packs of tissue from either Walmart or Xpedx (Salt Lake) or any other paper supply store. *F.Y.I. Craft stores and WalMart also sells the Martha Stewart ready to go pack of 5 for around 20$ in limited colors.* If you're going to do pom poms in super bulk (like I did for my brother's wedding dinner) I would recommend buying them through Nashville Wraps. They're an online company that you can pick any color you ever dreamt of (my brother's colors were mustard yellow and Burgundy) and tons of it.

So for the bigger poms, I usually use anywhere from 10-15 pieces. The more you use, the more full it will be but it will be harder to fold. Okay, so I guess it's still not that hard... come on.. we're folding tissue paper. I fold it like anywhere from an inch width to an inch and a half accordion style. The tighter you fold it, the harder it is to pull apart once you're done.. but once again.. it's tissue paper.

Once you've folded it up measure (or fold in half) to find the middle and fasten with your wire. I wrap around twice and then just wrap the ends together.

Cut your tips.. you pretty much don't want to leave it how it is cause it looks unfinished once you pull it apart. You get different effects depending on how you cut the end. I usually cut a slant (like above with just one cut), a triangle point (two cuts give you more detail) or round it. You can also do like three rounds.. just kind of mess around with it and I'm sure pretty much anything you do will be cute.

If you're going to hang your pom pom (you can also just set them somewhere) this is where I would tie your fishing line on. Once you fluff it out, it's harder to tie it in there. I just tie it right onto the wire.

So after you've done that, fan out a side.

Then being careful not to tear the tissue, pull the sides apart from themselves. I usually do just one side at a time.

You can do different sizes, too. I took these pink sheets and cut them in half. When I hang them, I like to have variation in size. Also, when you do smaller pom diggities, you don't have to use as many sheets. These ones I used only eight and they filled out just perfect.

So I hang from my light fixtures or from the ceiling or whatever. You can also go on Martha Stewart for different ways to use the poms. I made a gazillion for a dinner, and used them for little decor on the wrapped silverware, as well as wrapped cookies for party favors. It was a lot of work, but inexpensive and so cute!

Go V*daY!