How to make a pom pom

What you’ll need:

• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Pen or Pencil
• Yarn
• Something circular to trace like the bottom of glass ( I used a red solo cup)

I like to use thick card board, unlike cardboard from say a cereal box, it lasts longer. I used some cardboard from a diaper box. You can tell how thick it is from the layer inside. If you only have a cereal box, that could definitely still work in a pinch!

Step One:

Trace your circular shape onto the card board two times. The size of the circle you trace will determine the size of your pom. I found that the bottom of a glass or a can works great for a pretty standard size pom pom. The beauty of making your own is that it is completely customizable to any size you may want!

You should now have two of the same size circles cut out of cardboard

Step Two:

Draw a smaller circle inside the circle cutouts. You can find another circular object to trace, or you can free hand it like I have. It doesn’t need to be a perfect circle, just close enough.

After you’ve drawn a little circle, draw two lines coming off the circle. It should almost look like a little head with shoulders. Reference the photo below

Step Three:

Cut out the inside shape. You should now have two ‘C’ looking shapes

Congratulations! You’ve just made a pom pom maker, that was easy right? Now to make the actual pom pom 🙂

Step Four

Place your two pieces of cardboard on top of each other so that they are lined up in shape, and wrap your yarn around them

Wrap around the cardboard three of four times, or until it feels full, this may vary depending on your yarn size

Cut the yarn, and the cut an extra piece of yarn about 10 or so inches, we will use this to secure the pom at the end

Step Five

Starting on the bottom of the pom, and being careful not to cut the cardboard, start cutting the yarn. Make an initial cut, and then trying to keep your scissors in between the two pieces of cardboard, cut until you reach the end of the card board pieces

The pom should now start to open up

If you need to see these steps in motion, check out this video

Step 6

Use the piece of yarn we cut after wrapping the pom, and place in between the two pieces of card board. Tie a secure, and tight knot. You should now have a pom pom attached to a long piece of string.

Slide the card board off the pom pom

DON’T cut the long string

I like to hold onto the string while I trim the pom. Carefully cut any uneven bits, and take off small amounts at a time until it feels nice and rounded.

Leave the long string if you plan to attach the pom to a garland, or want to hang it, otherwise you can trim it to match the rest of the pom

There you have it! A quick and easy pom pom maker! No need to go and buy those fancy plastic contraptions 🙂

Tips and Tricks

I love to use chunky yarn, especially with some wool content, I feel it gives pom poms such a nice fluffy look.

You can also experiment with adding different thicknesses of yarns/ colors etc.

Here’s a pom using scrap yarn