15 December 2012

Handmade Holidays : Pom Pom Wreath

Over the past few weeks, whenever I've had a spare moment, I've been making pom poms. Whether it's those minutes at the end of the day, when everything is kind of organised and the dogs and I are hanging for the husband to get home from work; or while I'm waiting for a bunch of photos to upload to Lightroom or Flickr or this blog; or when I just can't face the to do list - it's been pom pom time! And the end result is this wreath, which is now proudly hanging on our front door. 

Here's how you can make one too:

Step One : Make Your Pom Poms! 
Fairly obvious really. If you make them in stolen moments across a few weeks you'll have a pile of pom poms before you know it, and without the pain and cramps that can come from going pom pom crazy. My wreath was about 24 cm in diameter, and I needed 40 pom poms to cover it (a mix of big and small). I used these nifty Clover tools to make mine. They do speed the process up a bit, a wise investment if you've caught the pom pom fever.

Step Two : Attach Ribbon and Centrepiece 
The first thing I did was attach a ribbon, for hanging the wreath. Then I used very, very thin and bendy wire to attach the centrepiece, the star. You might want to use ribbon or wool for your centrepiece if you want it to be a bit more dangly. If you don't do these bits now don't fret, it would be easy to add them in later too...

Step Three : Plan Your Wreath 
Before I started assembling my wreath, I found it helpful to lay everything out - planning out the colour clusters and placement of the extra bits. I used some baubles in mine, I like the contrast of textures and the extra sparkle it gives the wreath.

Step Four : Beverage
Make yourself a beverage. Macchiatto was my drink of choice for this project (can you spot it?), but maybe you prefer a herbal tea? Or a smoothie? Or something a bit more 'medicinal'?


Step Five : Assembly 
Working your way around the wreath, tie each pom pom in place. Slot your baubles in the appropriate spots - I used very, very thin wire to attach my baubles, it holds them firmly in place.

Step Six (Optional) : Make Emergency Pom Poms 
You might find as you start attaching everything that you have a few little gaps. I did, so I had to go back to Step One for a while...


Step Seven : Ta Da! Step back and bask in your lovely pom pom workmanship!

ps. As I type this the youngest step-son is beside me making more pom poms - the virus is spreading! Huzzah! 

ps. Hi again...crass market research question - would you buy something like this? And if so, what's the most you'd be prepared to pay? (Please be honest, I won't be offended!)


12 comments:

  1. I would totally buy something like that. I love the texture and most things made of wool make my heart beat a little faster! I would happily pay $50 AUD for that delight, but if the colour way was right up my alley, I'd probs pay more - just don't tell the Captain!

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    1. Thanks for that! And no problems, it'd be our little secret ;)

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  2. It's beautiful. It reminds me of coral or sea urchins, The Great Barrier reef etc.
    It would take me an age to make all those pom-poms. I'm a bit of a cheap-skate so I won't name a price! I could see them selling really well though and for whatever you choose to sell them for.

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    1. Thanks Kylie, and you'd be surprised how many pom poms you can make in all those spare minutes across a week or month!

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  3. Such a pretty pom pom wreath! I love your blue and white colour scheme.

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    1. Thanks Teresa! We've done the tree in blue, silver and white too - it's the most coordinated xmas we've ever had!

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  4. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING A TUTORIAL INCLUDING WHERE YOU PURCHASED YOUR TOOLS! I want to feature this on my blog sometime very soon. I'll be in touch. Love your choice in colors.

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    1. My pleasure Jennifer! Happy to share on your blog, you can get in touch on Facebook or email me - jorpins_blog [at] yahoo.com.au :)

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  5. Love the pom poms! If the wreath had coloured pom poms that I particularly liked (I'm a gold and dark red fan for Christmas decorations), I'd pay around $AUD80, maybe more if there were nice ornaments included like gold stars etc (like the silver one you have included. However I do love the silver balls as well, they go beautifully with the pom poms). A matching coloured satin bow at the top of the wreath would further entice me.
    Gorgeous wreath! Have you considered making them and selling them on etsy?

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    1. Oh, gold and dark red - a classy, classic combination! And thanks for your input on price - yes I am toying with the idea of making some to sell on Etsy through 2013 in festive and not-so-festive colour schemes, but considering the amount of work involved I wanted to get a bit of an idea of whether it would be worthwhile or not...it seems like it may work out okay, so stay tuned!

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  6. Ooooooooh I want to do this! Def on my list for next year, it is just so lovely, you wanna touch it and look at it lots!
    I definitely think you should try to sell a few next year, as for how much I would pay is a hard question as crafty gals often want to make it themselves than pay for it so our prices are lower than what a 'normal' would pay ya know? I as a making person would pay around $300 hkd to save myself the trouble, but I think it is worth more like $450-550, like I wouldn't blink twice if I saw it in a shop for that much (weirdly if it were in GBPs, it would be less, I seem to think HKD is like monopoly money so I always spend more :D )

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    1. Ha! Monopoly money! Yes, HK money is most definitely Monopoly money, same with Korean money (but not so much because the exchange rate is way more straight forward, makes it seem a bit more real). Thanks for your feedback on pricing, so true about crafty peeps versus non-crafty peeps (though on the flip side I think crafters also realise how much work goes in to things...), and thanks for the encouragement - I've already got an idea for my first non-festive wreath, which will combine my love of polkadots and pom poms and will be awesome!

      Hope you do make one next year, remember to send me a photo!

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