Fluffy homemade pom poms

I’ve made a small batch of different sized pom poms for Eva. I initially made them because I had some yarn lying around I felt I had to use  (from my attempt at teaching my self to crothet) and I needed something to do with my hands while I watched a movie. The next morning I presented the pom poms to Eva, not really expecting much, but oh was I happily surprised. She immidiatly claimed them as her own and started playing with them – and kept on playing for more than an hour straight. I got to cook a meal at my own (slow) pace, as she played uninterruptedly with these little fluffy yarn balls. I felt very pleased with my self for having made them, so really a win-win for the both of us. If you need ideas on what your toddler can do with the pom poms then have a look at these 6 fun and simple acitivites with pom poms.

If you’re thinking about making these because you want to safe money, then I’m sorry to dissapoint you. Unless you have a lot of yarn lying around that you would not otherwise use, there’s not much money to be saved. You can buy pom poms for very little money in craft stores, dollar stores and similar places, so the amount of money you’d be saving would be ridiculously low. But it is a nice way to use up any leftover yarn that’s just been lying around the house, because you can’t get yourself to throw it away. And you get to make them in whatever colour you desire and you get a say in what quality of yarn you use. And then it’s fun to make your own. It doesn’t take too long to make. I made 24 while I watched a movie. And I sometimes stopped to, well, watch the movie.

You’ll need:

• Yarn
• Scissors (the smaller and sharper, the better)
• Optional: a straight fork (I’ve used a fork for the mini pom poms)
• Optional: a tray for catching all the little pieces of yarn when you trim the pom poms

You could use a pom pom maker instead of a fork or your finger, but I haven’t really bothered to make one or spend the money on one in plastic. Pom poms are super easy to make, so I have yet to find the need for making a specific tool for this purpose only. If I however where to make a whole lot of pom poms in one go, I might reconsider it.

Tip: The pom poms are so easy to make. If you have an older child this is an easy and inexpensive way for them to make a birthday or christmas gift for their toddler sibling. 

How to:

1. Cut a piece of string from the yarn and place it between your fingers or in between the teeth of the fork. This will make it easier to tie the string around the pom pom later.

2. Wrap the yarn around your finger (or your fork or pom pom maker). Keeping the yarn attached to the ball, begin wrapping your fork. I made three different sized: a mini using a fork as well as a medium and larger one using two fingers.

3. Keep wrapping your as many times as you want. The more times you wrap it, the more dense the pom pom will become. I looped the yarn around about 35 times for the mini pom poms, 50 for the medium and 100 times for the bigger ones.

4. Tie the string around the wrapped yarn and tigthen it. Remember to cut off the yarn.

5. Carefully slip off the yarn of your fingers or fork.

6. Tighten the string again and tie it in a double knot.

7. Hold onto the string of yarn that you’ve just tightened and cut through the loops in each end of the bun, all the way around. If you want to use the string to tie the pom pom to something, make sure you don’t cut them off.

8. Hold the strings and shake the pom pom while fluffing it. Or just roll it around it your hands.

9. Give your pom pom a trim with the scissors. The tighter the trim the denser the pom pom. Keep trimming until it is as even and/or fluffy as you want.

 

10. And that’s it. You’re finished! Now just repeat until you have enough for your project. I made 24. Three minis, two mediums and one big in each of the four colours I chose.

I store the pom poms in a recycled glass with a lid, hidden away from Eva in a cupboard. That way I can make sure they stay together, and that she won’t become bored of them to fast. I like to pull them out whenever I need her to play by herself while I do something else close by, like making pancakes or tidying up a bit. She has however already spend an incredibly amount of time playing with the pom poms. Apparently they can be incorperate into a lot of games.