Years ago I went through a phase where I was making yarn pom poms. I used a card board circle with the middle cut out and then wrapped in and out of the circle. The winding took forever. I made a few for the Christmas tree and then made a pom pom mat for the floor (which picked up every speck of hair and lint…. bad idea).
Recently, I saw these plastic pom pom makers on Pinterest. I found a website with templates that you create out of cardboard that do the same thing. Here is what my four sizes look like. For each size, you have to make four to make one pom pom. I traced four of each size onto cardboard and cut them out.
This is the website I went to to find the free templates to download and print. You have to scroll down a bit to find them.
*For the baby bird, penguin and fox below, I used the smallest template for the head and second smallest template for the body.
*For the mama, I used the second largest for the body and second smallest for the head.
Start with four cardboard templates of one size. The arch portion is slightly bent.
Match the backs of two of the templates together.
Pull them together and start to wind your yarn.
Don’t worry about the end; it will get wrapped over.
Continue wrapping until the yarn is even across.
Cut the yarn close to the template.
Take the other two templates, line them up back to back and start to wind the yarn again.
*If you want to make a pom pom 1/2 one colour and 1/2 another, use a different colour of yarn for the second pair of templates.
*If you want to create just a belly of colour (1/4 of pom pom), wind half in the original colour and 1/2 of the new colour. I am making a white belly for my bird so I will do half of this one in white and the other half blue.
Continue winding until the yarn is even across.
Snip the yarn again close to the template.
Flatten out the flaps on both of the pom pom halfs
Position the halves so the flaps fit against each other.
Clip with binder clips, paper clips or tape.
I started using tape but got tired of having to cut it each time. Clips work much better.
It helps to position the clips as pictured so you remember to cut between the clips.
Start to cut the top layer of yarn, working your way down toward the cardboard circle.
Once you see the crack, position your scissors in between and continue cutting.
Cut the other side of the circle the same way.
Cut a piece of yarn (one of the colours you used) and position it in line with the crack.
You want to tie a knot where the colours meet.
Remove the clips and carefully pull off the cardboard to be used again on another pompom.
If you are making a pom pom animal and want to connect this pom pom to another, keep the two pieces of yarn that you just tied attached to the pom pom.
Trim all other excess yarn.
This is what one pom pom 1/4 white and 3/4 blue looks like.
(on this one I trimmed off the yarn for attaching).
I decided to make a blue bird. I created another one exactly as above because I accidentally trimmed the connecting yarn.
For the head, I made another pom pom the same way as above except I used a size smaller set of templates and used only blue for both halves.
I took the yarn strands left on both pom poms and tied them together. This ties the head to the body. Cut off those tying strands.
Here is the finished bluebird. I cut out felt for the beak, wings, tail and feet. I hot glued them on then added tiny black beads for the eyes.
Pom Pom Penguins
I made a total of five babies and one momma. Great resource for using for Five Little Penguin songs, fingerplays or book props.
Follow the same step as above except that for the head AND body pom pom you do one side white and the other side black. Two templates together wind in black. The other two together wind in white.
I use felt pieces and just guessed at sizes for the pieces. Small black beads were used for the eyes.
Pom Pom Foxes
For these I did 1/4 cream yarn and 3/4 burnt orange. For both the head and body, two templates together were all orange and the other two half cream half orange.
When tying through the cardboard circle, the head had to be tied in the middle of the cream yarn so it fit onto the body in the right spot. Tie the body where the colours meet.
Again, I cut and added the felt pieces guessing at sizes. I added a piece of crafting wire between the doubled tail so it could bend.
I decided to make five babies and one Mama. They could be used with Five Little Foxes jumping on the bed or as a book prop.
There are so many different animals and birds you could make using this method. Older kids would be able to make them without any difficulty.
I think the next project for me will be to use up some of my leftover white yarn and make some pom pom snowmen.
If you are have a hard time producing I fluffy pompon, carefully hold it over a boiling kettle…..watch out not to burn yourself. 👍