Puffball Wreath~*

We had a {largely} homemade Christmas this year.  In the process, we made several things that we intend to keep up all year-- for one thing, we are rather proud of them, & for another, we used colors that were not traditionally Christmas-y.  

The item the Things are proudest of, is the puffball wreath we created.  We were all involved in making the puffs {& it involved 3 evenings of Christmas claymation, cocoa & many memorable laughs}, & the end result is really very cute.

So let's break this down so you too can be a proud owner of a fluffy, circular goodness!

1.  Supplies:  

• Pom-pom maker {we used the Clover Pom Pom Maker in 4 different sizes}
• Yarn {we used Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in several different coordinating shades-- any yarn works, but I found that particular brand makes an extra fuzzy/fluffy pom pom}
• Scissors
• A styrofoam wreath in the size of your choice {we used the "flat" kind so that it would lay flat against the wall}
• Glue gun
• Stick pins

Now let's take a closer look at the pom-pom maker.  For the purposes of this how-to, I am using the 3 3/8" size, but all sizes work the same way.

Each piece has four "arms" on hinges: two "arms" on each side separated by a channel {that allows you to cut then tie off the pom poms}.  The pom pom maker breaks apart, to release the finished pom pom.  

To Make a Pom Pom:

  1.  Begin wrapping yarn around both "arms" on one side of the pom pom maker

  2.  Continue wrapping until the entire "arm" is covered.  To make it extra fluffy, you can overlap the yarn--

  3.  Close that side of the maker, feeding the "tail" of the yarn through the slit in the side.  Cut the "tail."

  4.  Repeat the process with the other "arms" of the maker. Once wrapped, feed the yarn through the slit on

       the side and cut as before.

5.  Now with all sides wrapped in yarn, you are going to slide the scissors into the channel between the 

     arms.  Cut the yarn by sliding the scissors along the channels, all the way around the pom pom maker.

  6.  Cut an additional length of yarn from you skein & slide it into the channel around the pom pom maker.

       Tie tightly {but not so tightly that the yarn breaks}.  If you are going to hang your pom poms you can

       use invisible thread or thin ribbon-- whatever works for your project!

  7.  Once it is tied, open the arms of the pom pom maker.

  8.  Pull the pom pom maker apart to release your pom pom

  9.  Now give 'im a haircut-- trim the yarn so that your pom pom doesn't have any stray "hairs"

  10.  And now you have your very own Tribble..er...pom pom.  Sorry...Star Trek joke.  My childhood 

         crushes were Shaun Cassidy, Hawkeye Pierce, and Capt. Kirk...but I digress...

To make the wreath, you'll need a metric ton of pom poms.  So put your favorite show on the computer & start wrapping yarn!

  

To attach the poms to the wreath, we used a combination of glue {cool temp} and stick pins.  Be sure to cover the entire wreath, front and sides!  And vuala!

Obviously there are numerous things that can be done with pom poms-- anything from making flowers {I'll do a tutorial on that later} to making toppers for winter hats.  We used them all over!  In addition to the wreath, my favorites uses we came up with were the garland we made for the mantle:

And decorations we created for a thrift store find; a metal tree we have on our living room wall:

I like the above so much that I intend to change out the colors of the pom poms to match the seasons!  

Look for spring pastel pom poms to be adorning it sometime in March lol~*

Do you have any other creative uses for pom poms?  Be sure to share your ideas in the comments section!

I'll be posting several more crafts over the next few days, so be sure to check back!