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.