Kieren in the Nursery: Pom Poms

All over the internet, the beautiful internet, I have seen pom poms used as nursery decorations.

They are cheap, simple, attractive, easy to make, and allow you to inject some color into your space.  That's why I couldn't resist giving it a try.  Plus, I knew Husband would be on board since the project was handmade, inexpensive, and could easily be tossed in the trash when we were through with it.

I checked out a few online tutorials, like the one at Martha Stewart. 

First, I hit up Wal-Mart and decided on two colors of tissue paper: white and blue.  For some reason, I'm really loving blue lately.  It's great for a boy and if I have a girl, I'm planning on adding a ton of yellow to the space to compliment it.

Here are the steps:

1.  Lay out your desired sheets of paper and make an inch-wide accordion fold.  I used 8 sheets for most of the pom poms, which made the little ones really full and the large ones less full.  Personally, I prefer the look of fuller poms, but Husband liked the opposite.  It's your choice, really.

2.  Once everything is folded up, secure the middle of your accordion with a rubber band.  A lot of the online tutorials suggest floral wire, but I wanted to use what I had on hand.  I have also seen the use of pipe cleaners.

Note:  This is a good time to attach your thread (what I did), fishing line, or ribbon to the rubber band, if you plan on hanging the pom poms.

3.  You have the choice of either rounding your corners or snipping them off at an angle.  If you do round edges, the pom poms will have a softer look.  I opted for the pointy edges, making my pom poms look a little more weird-constellation/planet-like.

4.  Let the fluffing and poofing begin!  I found out, through trial and error, that I liked the pom poms better when I alternated sides.  Otherwise, I had these weird areas where I could tell that the pom had originally been two halves.  So (though this probably won't make any sense), I would start with the "top" and go left-right-left-right, etc. until I got halfway through, then I would turn over the pom and repeat, until everything was poofed.

5.  I suggest hanging your pom poms somewhere as you finish each one, so that you can finalize their positions once you've made them all.  I temporarily hung mine from the dining room light fixture.

6.  If you want to make mini pom poms, a good way to do that is to cut the accordion in half, which would give you two little balls.  I also made a medium pom by using about 3/4 of an accordion piece.

7.  Finally, the end!  Grab your husband (if you're pregnant) or a really tall stool (if you're a shorty) and hang your pom poms.  We used thumb tacks, which have been working really well.  I only wish they were white or clear, instead of grey... again, using what we had on hand.

In summary, I really like the pom poms!  They are a great addition to the nursery, which, to be honest, is looking pretty sad right now.  Nevermind that I will be 39 weeks along tomorrow!!

My poor child.