Pom Poms Up!

I have seen fabulous tissue poms all over pinterest, in magazines, and at parties on the blogosphere.  Every time I look at them I think how amazing they look and how they add that something extra to wherever they are scattered or hung.  An extra pop of celebration!  I thought I'd try my hand at making a few and here is how I did it:

The fabulous thing about this project is that you can make the poms any size and any color!  Whatever color or pattern you choose, have about 8-10 sheets of tissue.  Also get a ruler, a pair of scissors and some floral wire.

Lay out the tissue paper on a flat surface and place the ruler beside it.  Fold the tissue paper up about 1.5" from the bottom.  You can make choose to make the fold somewhere in the 1 inch to 3 inch range.

Continue folding the tissue paper accordion style a consistent width creasing as you go.  Once this is complete, measure out 16 - 24 inches of floral wire depending where you are going to use your poms.  If you are going to sit them on a table, cut your wire 16 inches or so.  If you are going to hang them, cut the wire 24 inches or longer.  Fold the wire in half and place around the tissue paper.  Twist wire so that it is snug against the tissue.

Once your wire is around the tissue, you can take your scissors and cut the ends of the tissue to a point, or a curve or you can leave it straight edged depending on what look you desire to create.  The rounded edges give the poms a more floral look and feel.  The blue and red ones in the last photo are examples of this.

Next, separate each layer of tissue pulling away from the center one at a time.  I alternated sides and once the front half was fluffed, I worked from the back.  Use your fingers to separate each layer in the center. 

Also, don't worry if the tissue tears a little while you are separating the layers.  No one will know but you!

Once all of your layers are separated, fluff the layers to get the pom looking exactly as you want it.  

Scatter around the house and enjoy the pizzaz that they give to the party!