Hey everyone!  Sorry I’ve been kind of MIA this month.  October is my favorite month of the year and I’ve been so busy planning parties and picking pumpkins with my kids I haven’t had much time for posting.  I’ll try to get a few up this week to make it up to you.

Earlier this year, when my daughter’s forfeited their old bunk beds for a new big bed I decided it was time to give their room an inexpensive mini-makeover.  The girls loved their new color scheme, but the room was a little bottom heavy – it needed some color at the top.  That’s when I came across a cute Martha Stewart tissue paper pom-pom kit in the craft section of WalMart.

The kit came with several do-it-yourself pom-poms in varying shades of pink.  They looked so adorable and easy to make that I decided to pick up a few other colors of tissue paper from the wrapping paper section and make a few pom-poms of my own.

Honestly, the project couldn’t have been easier.  In less than 30 minutes, I had 5 big, fluffy pom-poms to hang chandelier-style in my daughters’ room.  I took a bunch of pictures to show you but I think Martha’s tutorial is a little easier to understand so I’ll add that for you here (you can see her original post by clicking here).

Step 1: 1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.  *I cut mine to several different widths so they would vary in size.  For smaller balls, you’ll want to use fewer sheets of tissue paper.

Step 2: Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes. *I actually found that it was easier to trim my paper before folding it – once it’s folded it’s kind of bulky and hard to cut.  For spiky pom-poms cut your edges like in a zig-zag, for rounded pom-poms cut your edges in curvy or scalloped pattern.

Step 3: Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time. *Be gentle with this step – the tissue paper can tear easily.  If it does, don’t worry about it, the little mistakes won’t show once they’re finished.  I also found that my little container of ‘Take Hold’ (that pink sticky stuff sold in office supply stores to help your fingertips sort through paper) came in very handy.

Step 4: Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.  *I trimmed the remaining wire ends to about 3″ and formed it into a hook shape inside the pom-pom.  Then, I tied a piece white sewing thread to each pom-pom wire hook (I varied the length so they would hang in a cluster).

To attach the pom-poms to the ceiling, I inserted a small, white cup hook into the drywall and tied the strings to the hook.  The pom-poms were lightweight so I didn’t need to worry about pre-drilling or anchoring the hook.  I just twisted it in corkscrew-style.  Viola!  A bright and cheery addition that added the perfect pop of color to my daughters’ room – all for less than $10!  Just thought I’d pass it on.