Pinterest Test Drive | Paper Pom Poms

My son's hockey club had a Fun Fest this past weekend at a local park. Each team could do whatever they wanted to try winning a team spirit award. I wanted to make decorations but not spend a lot of the team's money to do it. I liked the idea of hanging pom pom poofs from the canopy but I didn't like the prices I was seeing at the party supply stores for the pre-made ones. Naturally, I turned to Google and Pinterest to find a DIY version.

Source: bigboxdetox.com via Christine on Pinterest

I ended up using this one from Kristen at Big Box Detox. I loved the way mine turned out but it is not quite as easy as it looks in the tutorial. If you give this a try, here are my observations:

*Cutting through that many sheets of tissue paper is tougher than it seems. The paper might tear if you're not using your sharpest scissors.

*In the post, it mentions using pipe cleaners in place of yarn to tie off the center of the paper. Don't. Instead, use the pipe cleaners to make a nice loop at the end of the thread. The pom poms will be easier to hang.

*I had two different sizes of tissue paper 16 1/2 x 24 and 20 x 20. The smaller sheets were much easier to work with. (The orange paper is from Target, the blue from Party City)

*Make your creases as sharp as possible. 

*Tie the center firmly, but not too tight.

*After you make the fan and tie it off, separate the fan blades a bit. This will make it easier to peel up the tissue paper pieces with as little tearing as possible.

If I do this again, I'll try three colors instead of the two. I also think I'll cut the tissue paper in half and try making mini poofs. Happy crafting!