Tutorial: Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Looking for some fun and cheap frugal homemade party decor?  Look no further! Make yourself some tissue paper pom poms.  These fluffy lovelies add a simple touch of color and cheer!  I made three large ones and two tiny ones for our family gender reveal party.  I ended up leaving the tiny ones down because my daughter thinks they're flowers and loves to play with them and hug them <swoon!3.

Materials:

• 8 regular size sheets of the same color/pattern tissue paper for each pom pom (you probably could alternate colors if you wanted to for a different effect)
• Scissors
• Floral wire (Honestly, I hear twist ties will suffice, and I'll bet string or cheap gift wrap ribbon would work in a pinch.)
• Wire cutters
• Fishing line/invisible string (Any old string will do, but invisible string is way more fun!)

Instructions:

1. Stack all 8 sheets of tissue paper one on top of the other.  I did 4 facing down and 4 facing up (for tissue paper with a print) so the print would be facing out on all sides.  Later, I realized that usually these are hanging above you, so it's probably better to have all the print side facing down.
   
   
   
2. Accordian/fan fold the tissue paper from short end to short end (so that you're reducing the length of the longest side with each fold - hamburger style for all you elementary art peoples, hehe) using a width of about 1.5" per fold.  When you get to the end, it's okay if the last fold doesn't end perfectly even.  When it's all fluffed out, you'll never know!
   
   
   
3. Use some floral wire to wrap around the middle of your folded strip, and leave a loop for hanging the pom pom when finished.
   
   
   
4. Cut a convex (see picture) curve through all the layers on each end of your folded strip.
   
   
   
5. Lay the strip so the paper folds out sideways.  Then layer by layer pull the paper outward and upward toward the center as if you were making it into a cupcake liner with a point in the middle instead of a flat bottom.
   
   
   
6. I fluffed out 4 sheets, turned my pom pom over, and fluffed out the other 4 sheets.
   
   
   
7. Hang from above using your invisible thread, and voila!  Super affordable, fun, and festive party decor!  The size of your pom poms will vary depending on how much you cut off the ends of your folded strip, but had approximately a 15" diameter.  If you want to make tiny ones, simply cut your 8 sheets of tissue paper in half by their length (hamburger style) after stacking and make 1 pom pom out of each resulting stack!