We use a lot of pom poms in our crafting, they’re just so much fun! We also have a basket of them on the side which the kids use for pretend snowball fights. They’re so versatile and so easy to make too, so I thought I would show your our favorite 2 ways to make perfect pom poms!
Method 1 – using a pom pom maker
Pom pom makers are our go to when we want perfect pom poms. This brand in particular is great especially when crafting with kids. They’re nice and chunky so are easy to grip and the ridges are a helpful guide as to when the pom poms are ready to snip. if you want to spend a little i highly recommend these clover pom pom makers (availabe here for our American friends) – there is a very good reason why they’re so popular!. We find that these are the best way to get perfectly round and fluffy pom poms but if you’re looking for a fast and free way why not check out method 2 – finger pom poms!
Take your yarn and wrap it around one side of the pom pom maker. Continue wrapping it around until its even all the way across. This particular brand of pom pom maker is super handy because you’ll know its ready when the ridges are totally rounded. But otherwise you can just adjust your yarn to your desired thickness – we usually do 3-4 layers when using dk yarn.
Repeat the previous step on the the other side of the pom pom maker.
Place the scissors inside the gap on the edge of the pom pom maker. Slowly snip all the way around both edges making sure you hold the pom pom maker together securely.
Take a separate length of yarn, slot it through the edge of the pom pom maker then pull it into a taught knot. Bring the two ends of yarn around to the other side of the pom pom maker and tie it into a double knot to secure.
Pull open the two arms of the pom pom maker and separate the two halves. Remove the pom pom, fluff it up, then take the scissors and trim it down removing any stray ends. Your perfect pom pom is finished! These pom pom makers are fab, we love using ours.
Method 2 – making pom poms using fingers.
Wrap the yarn several times around the middle three fingers (you can adjust the amount of fingers you use to alter the sizes).
Once you’re happy with the thickness of your yarn, carefully slip if off of your fingers and onto the table. Take a length of string and tie it around the centre of your entire yarn, flip the pom pom around and tie it on the other side in a double knot to secure.
Pop your scissors into the edge of your pom pom and slowly snip the loops open at their central point. Fluff up your pom pom.
Take your scissors and snip all around your pom pom until you are happy with it. Though the pom poms don’t turn out quite as perfect looking this way they are still super cute, plus its fast and free!
When it comes to the holidays we love to have as many of our decorations handmade as we possibly can. so naturally with Halloween right around the corner we’ve been trying to come up with as many fun creepy crawly themed crafts as possible. I’d seen some really cute Popsicle stick spiderwebs online where the Popsicle sticks are glued into a star shape but when we actually came to make them my 4yo son found it too tricky to twist the yarn around the sticks. He was pretty disappointed as he really wanted to make a spiderweb after seeing them online so we decided to come up with our own easier version. After a good amount of time (and a little frustration) playing around with the Popsicle sticks we eventually came up with this cute diamond shaped Popsicle stick spider web craft. My little guy found them really easy to make and had tons of fun with them too!
Here’s what we used
Popsicle sticks
Yarn
Black Pom pom
Black paper
Googly eyes
Glue
Scissors
Here’s how we made our popsicle stick spider web craft
Take four popsickle sticks and glue them together into a diamond shape, ensure that the two points at the widest part overlap slightly as you can see above. Then take one end of your yarn and tie it on to one of the sticks.
Wrap the yarn all around the outside of the stick frame. Little ones may need some help to ensure that the yarn is pulled tout.
When your happy with your web, take your yarn and wrap it around the longest part of your diamond 2-3 times. It should sit nicely between the lollipop sticks that you overlapped. Once finished chop your yarn and then tie the loose end to your stick frame. Next it’s time to make your little spider! To make ours we cut out four long paper strips and glued them together in the centre to make 8 legs. We then added some googly eyes to a pom pom before sticking it down onto the legs.
Glue your spider on to the front of your string web. Tie a loop through under the string between the overlapped Popsicle sticks and your decoration is ready to hang!
Inspired by our earlier paper plate spider web craft, this laced paper plate pumpkin is a real cutie. We love these lacing crafts, they’re so relaxed and often we make ours whilst lounging out on the sofas. My little guy particularly likes them as they give him a lot to focus on and think about. It may seem a little early to start on the Halloween crafts but we have so many that we wanted to share that it’s never too early to start!
Heres what we used
Orange (or painted orange) Paper plate
Orange yarn
Black felt or card
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
How to make our laced paper plate pumpkin craft.
Take your paper plate and cut out a large circle from the centre, leaving just a small edge of the inner plate.
Now take your hole punch and make several similary spaced holes around the inside of your paper plate.
Take a good length of orange yarn and sellotape one end to the back of your paper plate. Then take the other end of your yarn and begin threading it in and out of the holes. You could either follow a pattern of going from one side to the other or you could thread it at random as we did. Once you have threaded through each hole. Take the loose end and sellotape it to the back as you did before.
Now take your black felt (or card) and cut out the shapes for your pumpkin’s face. Use a dab of glue and attach it to the front of your laced yarn.
To hang your paper plate pumpkin simply punch a hole in the center top and tie a loop through it. Your laced paper plate pumpkin craft is finished and ready to display!
How cute are these little key rings? We bought a huge ball of white wool a little while ago and I’ve been trying to figure out something to use it on for a while now. Then, the other day I made some tassels to go on a cushion and my son was instantly obsessed with them. He used them as ghosts to play with alongside his scooby doo toys and that’s how we ended up inspired to make these cute little yarn tassel ghost key rings. They might look a bit tricky at first but once you have them figured out, it takes less than five minutes to make each key ring. Although, we only use one as a key ring at the moment as the others are tucked safely away inside my son’s favorite mystery machine toy!
Heres what we used
White yarn
Googly eyes
Black gems
Bows
Cardboard
Scissors
Keychains
Glue gun
How to make our tassel ghost key ring
First you’ll need to take your cardboard box and cut out a rectangular shape. You’ll want the height of your piece to be the same length as you want your tassel to be.
Take your yarn and starting at the bottom, begin wrapping it around the center of your card. You’ll want to make sure that your yarn is secure but not so tight that it bends your card. Continue doing this until you reach your desired thickness and then cut off the yarn at the bottom – the same side as which you started.
Cut off another length of yarn and fold it in half. Tie the center point into a loop as you can see above.
Use the two loose ends of your loop to tightly tie it around and double knot at the center of your wrapped yarn.
Slide your yarn sideways off of your piece of card and then turn it inside out so that your loop is outside and at the top as you can above.
Place your scissors through the inside of your loop and then snip the loops open. I find the best way to get even lengths is to pull the scissors and loops downwards as I snip to ensure I’m at the center of each loop.
Take another length of yarn. Tie it just below the top of your tassel to make the head of your ghost.
Finish off by decorating your ghost with some eyes, a mouth and any cute little decorations that you want to add! Aren’t they just the cutest?
I’m absolutely buzzing to share today’s craft with you! Okay, that was a terrible joke but aren’t these little yarn wrapped bumble bees just the cutest? We had loads of fun making these little guys and it was a great way to talk to my son about how important bees are for out eco system. These little guys are so sweet and easy to make which makes them perfect for at home and for preschools too.
Here’s what we used:
Toilet roll
White paper
Eye stickers
Black paint
Yellow/orange wool
Scissors
Glue/tape
Take your toilet roll and cover it in black paint before putting it aside to dry.
Take your white paper and cut out two wing shapes and fold a small tab at the bottom of each one. Once your Tp roll is dry use these tabs to glue your wings about 1/3 of the way up your Tp roll.
On the opposite side, make a small snip at the back of your TP roll. Push one end of your wool down into this snip and secure it with fast drying glue or tape.
Wrap your yarn upwards along your bumble bee and stop about 2cm away from the end. Then, wrap your wool back down towards your starting end and secure the loose end by pushing it through the slit and again using tape or glue.
Finish off your adorable little bumble bee by sticking on two eyes. Doesn’t he look great?
