Craft Alert: Pom Poms

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Two green, miniature pom poms. Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

The delicately wired alarm system at the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters is not always set on “craft mode.” Sometimes it just goes haywire when there are updates about The Virus or Killer Hornets. Or, sometimes it interferes with the smoke detector system in the house, which goes off at 4:30 a.m. That happened last night, and this member of the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team took off running and screaming. If there had been an actual fire, I’m pretty sure I did everything wrong. Nate tried to prevent me from opening a door and possibly running right into flames, but I was bra-less and heading for the stairs.  Then, I went back inside the house to put a bra on.  Once I realized I was actually safe, I didn’t trust that feeling, so I went outside again to run around the perimeter of the house and shout, “Our roof had better NOT be on fire!”

Therefore, the last thing the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters needed today, was a resounding “craft alert.” I pulled that alarm anyway.  The alarm itself basically consists of me banging pots and pans while shouting:

“Today, I’m making pom poms!  Possible hazards include, but are not limited to, the following:  sharp scissors and rummaging. There will be lots of rummaging. Wear a mask maybe? N95 grade? A shield—get a protective shield.”

Actually, because I hadn’t slept well, I was a little distracted and found some cowboy-themed “miniatures” I had bought at a crafts store before we moved to Washington state.  We had gotten them for a container garden project that Alex was doing, but we never used them.  So, I put them around the base of a plastic succulent plant—to give it a little backstory because that’s just what that plant was missing: A backstory.  As you can see from the picture below, this is the backstory:  Professor Plum visited a dude ranch and murdered Colonel Mustard with a pair of pistols and a boot. He buried the body under a broad-brimmed hat.

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Succulent plant, with cowboy-themed miniatures resting on the “soil.” Photo by Cecilia Kennedy

Once that distraction was out of the way, I was able to find a website that gave a tutorial for making miniature pom poms.  The link for the tutorial is here, from the HGTV website: “Make Picture-Perfect Pom Poms in Minutes.”

Just as the title of the tutorial promised, I did make a couple of pom poms in minutes.  I could have made more, if I had wanted to, but I didn’t want to. Instead, I wanted to see what I could do right away with the pom poms. Apparently, there are many uses for miniature pom poms.  One picture on the HGTV website showed a woman wearing pom pom studded sandals.  In another picture, the pom poms were decorating cute little birthday packages. I ran with those ideas and came up with a few of my own:

–Sew them onto face masks for added pandemic whimsy.

–Stick them in your bra drawer as a reminder to wear a bra during an emergency.

–Create a backstory for a potted plant: Pom poms with a dark past.

Your Turn:  What’s a quick craft you enjoy?  Or, have you ever used miniatures to decorate potted plants?

 

 

 

 

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

28 thoughts on “Craft Alert: Pom Poms”

    1. Ah! Good question! On the Internet, I only found instructions for keeping cheerleading pom poms untangled and “fresh.” These are definitely not cheerleading pom poms. I guess you just have to make new ones–a lot. Thankfully, they just take “minutes.”

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  7. Hello Cecilia – I enjoyed your story, but am unable to think of a scenario where I’d need yarn pom-poms. OK, not true, a couple of scenarios did pop in my head, but I’m going to do my best to forget them. But I really like your idea of pom-poms with a dark past, and hope you’ll create a tale like that.
    It’s not a craft project, exactly, but I did decorate with miniatures once – we the only people seated outside on a little patio, surrounded by shrubs, and there were only a half-dozen tiny lights on the trellis, so almost too dark to see what you were eating. Which was giant shrimp, but it was kind of a snooty place, and I think they called them prawns. The waitress brought a couple more candles, but then forgot we were out there for a while, so while we were waiting, I took all the severed shrimp heads, and decorated the tips of the shrubbery. It looked pretty cool, all those tiny glassy eyes reflected in the candlelight. Maybe a little creepy though. Would’ve been better with pom-poms.

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  8. You should TOTALLY sew those onto your face mask! It’s like mardi gras for your face! People will love it! (And my parents, who love SW themes, would love those miniature cowboy figurine thingies. I should get them a succulent to put them in!)

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  10. Love this! I tried making pompoms a few years ago and it was so hard! Maybe I should try again with your tutorial! Also, it would mean a lot if you checked out my blog. I review crafts on there 🙂

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