Tissue Pom Poms

Sorry, no rhyming in this post. It's too late and my brain isn't functioning. I am waiting for the kids' annual Picaboo books (for 2011, GROAN) to upload and figured I'd post the steps to making the tissue pom poms which, if you have been to any party I've had a hand in planning this year, you have seen.

I need smaller pom poms for the project I'm working on so I took my 20x20 tissue paper and cut it into fours.  It is very important that you work with squares. (I think I've told some of you differently when you've called but I actually paid attention this time. Sorry!)

I like the way the mini pom poms look when I use 8 sheets. For pom poms where you  use the entire sheet of tissue, 10-12 look good.

 I don't measure when I start accordion-folding but I stuck a ruler next to it in case more "particular" people want to know.  You know how the tissue paper is folded in the package? Well, DON'T fold against that natural fold!  It will look kinky/ crazy after you fluff it and, if you are like me, it will drive you nuts.  One other note, when you fold your accordion, the last fold may be smaller than the others. That's ok. Just don't let it be too thin because it will look funny.  Take the time to refold and get it right.

 Once you've got it folded like an accordion, I like to fold it in half to get the center.

 I thread some floral wire through the crease and twist it round and round to secure. Then I go around the crease about 3 or 4 times to make it sturdy because my wire it pretty thin. I like thin wire because it's lightweight, I can cut it with scissors and it comes in spools of 200 feet!  At this point you can twist a loop to use to hang these from the ceiling if you want.

 I don't usually draw my scallops onto my tissue but I did for tutorial's sake and stuck a ruler next to it so you could tell where I started.  Yes, cutting through all that tissue is hard!

 Here's what you've got after you cut the scallop on both ends.  I did a really shallow scallop on these. It makes a softer look.  The deeper/ taller the scallop, the more spiky your pom will look.

 GENTLY, start to pull the tissue towards the center.  Try to pull as close to the center as you can on them You can always fix it when you fluff. It hides the wire nicely.

 Fluff one side and then move on to the other.

 WA LA! Fluff and fluff and fluff and smooth the ends of your scallops and fluff some more.  It's hard to fluff when you are hanging them!

 In case you want to know, I just buy the 99 cent pack of tissue from Hobby Lobby. Works great.

 I hung the pom poms I made for Lily Kate's birthday from the ceiling in her room and when we go in there she says, "Mommy, I lub my bowers!"

I've lost count of the number of these that I've made. Hopefully I'll remember to post the project I'm working on!

Picaboo is still uploading.  I guess I'll go peruse Facebook!