I’ve always made my own Christmas decorations, usually fairly hastily owing to lack of time. This year, we can safely say that time is definitely not an issue, and I’ve enjoyed making these tissue paper pom poms in the evenings. They are easy once you get started. Obviously, it is tricky to buy art supplies at the moment, unless you order online, and even then delivery takes a while, so this is a project that you should be able to make using the ‘essential’ shops which are open, or maybe scrap paper and string which you have lying around.
For one pom pom, you need a pack of tissue paper. Five sheets makes a smaller, slimmer pom pom, ten sheets gives you a big boy. This silver paper came from WH Smith, but I have found more in Poundstretcher and Waitrose. I have also placed a bulk order of white tissue from an eBay supplier, so that I can make a big heap of these, at less cost. It works out much cheaper that way.
Remove the paper from the pack and open it out, like this:
Cut this length in half.
Take one of the paper halves and separate it into two. Now accordion-fold each of the two pieces. The folds should be around 2cm wide. The separation is done so that when you come to shape the ends of the tissue paper, it is not too thick to trim.
Do the same with the other halves of the tissue paper. When they are done, take each ‘accordion’ and shape the ends with a pair of scissors. You want to make a rounded shape.
Now tie the bundles together tightly in the middle, be as exact as you can, I used a ruler to make sure I hit the central spot. Use a long length of twine so you can hang up the pom poms if you wish. I used some grey striped baker’s twine from Homebase.
You now want to open out and shape the pom pom. Be very gentle, or the paper will tear. Just open each of the folds, starting at the top and carefully separating them all the way to the centre. I found it best to put the pom pom on my knee and turn it, opening out the shapes as evenly as I could.
Make sure that you open the paper right into the centre of your pom pom, so it is as fluffy as possible. Keep going, the more meticulous you are, the puffier your pom pom! I think the word for this process is ‘floofing.’ You want to end up with a lovely symmetrical sphere. I say this but my craft projects are never perfect, as I am so impatient.
The more layers of tissue that you use, the plumper the pom.
Now you are ready to hang and display them. I am going to make a festoon for my doors, and I will heap some under the Christmas tree. You can vary the colours, of course. I like white and silver, but equally, I quite fancy the idea of some hotter colours.
If you want to make a festoon for your garden shed, why not try this with white plastic bin bags? Or use the easier technique for a peony chain from a tutorial that I posted in the summer. Twist these flowers with some outdoor fairy lights for a sparkly garden feature.
