Geronimo Inspired Pom Pom Tutorial

Jessie & I share a brain. No, seriously. We have the same thoughts, at the same time, from thousands of miles away. It is creepy. Jessie even told me one time that she was going to start wearing a foil hat so I couldn't read her thoughts anymore. This project resulted from one of those creepy/cool mind sharing moments. 

We were on the phone chatting about future projects this past March and our conversation went something like this...

Me: " I think I might have come up with an idea that will be great for the helium shortage..."

Jessie: "That is so funny you should say that, because I had an aha moment last night too!"

Me: "Awesome, what is it?"

Jessie: "Well, you know how everyone LOVES Geronimo balloons.  I just got these really giant tissue pom poms in, what if we......."

Me: (cutting her off)  " HOLD UP! Are you suggesting that we turn giant pom poms into...."

Jessie & Me: (at the same time): "GERONIMO POM POMS!!"

So, of course, we had to make this project happen!! 

Here are all the supplies you will need for this project 

1. rotary cutter or x-acto knife

2. 1/4 inch ribbon in a coordinating color

3. washi tape

4. cutting mat

5. ruler

6. tissue paper in pretty colors & mylar

7. twine in a coordinating color (not pictured)

8. scissors (not pictured)

9. glue gun (not pictured)

10. extra large tissue ball (not pictured)

11. glitter tape (not pictured)

12. fishing line (not pictured)

13. push pins (not pictured)

DIRECTIONS:

First let's start off by making all the tassels we are going to need......

Take a piece of tissue paper and fold it in half. Make sure the crease is at the top.

Now make a vertical cut down the center

Take one of the pieces of the tissue paper you just cut in half and place it onto your cutting mat. Make sure that the crease is on top, and grab your ruler. Place your ruler about an inch down from the crease & about  a 1/2 inch away from the edge {see picture}

Using your rotary cutter, start cutting strips about 1/2 inch apart......

.........and keep cutting until you have this!

Next, open up the tissue paper. 

From the top center, start tightly rolling the tissue paper towards you.....

...........Until it is completely rolled up

Next, pick up the tissue paper with both hands and start twisting forward with your left hand and backwards with your right hand, so the center gets nice and twisted.

Now, bend the part you just twisted to make a "U" shape. Add a small dab of hot glue to one side

Quickly, before the glue dries, attach the other side to the glue by crisscrossing the fringy ends & creating a loop.

Once the glue dries, add a piece of washi tape {a piece long enough to wrap around twice -- about 1 1/2 inches} around the base of the loop to secure it.

Now, do that a bunch more times {in a couple fabulous colors} until you have piles of tassels

Now let's get these pretties strung!

You'll need to cut a piece of ribbon (I used 1/4 inch thick) the length you want your tassel garland to be (I cut mine 2 1/2 ft long). I recommend that you pick a ribbon color that is similar to the color palette of your tassels so it blends in.

Next, cut a piece of twine about two inches long (I also suggest using a twine color that matches your ribbon for blending purposes). Grab one of your tassel and thread the twine through the loop.

Once threaded, tie your tassel to your ribbon. Be sure to start adding tassels about 3-4 inches from the top. You need to leave bare ribbon at the top to attach to the inside of the pom pom.

       

Once you have double knotted the twine, clip off any excess.

   

Continue to add tassels to your ribbon until you have added two of each color.

 Now, tape your ribbon garland to the wall.*

* I liked working on my garland vertically because I liked seeing how the tassels were falling. I also found it easier to rotate the tassels this way.... and just plain easier to work on. If you don't like this method, go ahead and tie all your tassels on, and then proceed with the following steps.

Grab the first three tassels. Rotate them so that you have one tassel on each side of the ribbon {one to the left, one to the right & one in the back}

Next, bunch the three tassels together

       Using glitter tape, secure the tassels together until.....

........it looks something like this

Now, start adding more tassels*  Pay attention to the placement and postion of each tassel, so that you don't find yourself with all one color on one side, or find that the front looks great but the side view and/or back don't.

*for those of you that already added all of your tassels, this is a good time to adjust the individual tassels so that they hang the way you want them to.

Keep adding until you have one long beautiful garland!

   

To attach the garland to the pom pom, simply staple the ribbon to the first notch.

I feel terrible that I forgot to take a picture of how I threaded the fishing line to the pom pom, but I will do my best to explain it. Locate the piece of string used to hang the pom pom. There should be a little hole punch where the string is. Clip the string and thread the fishing line through the hole. Double knot, and you are finished!**

Now have a party & celebrate!!

Stop back by later in the week to see how we created those pink ice cream cones, as well as other creative cone related ideas!!

source guide & credits

concept: jessie senese & stevie pattyn of shop sweet lulu

tutorial, styling & photography: stevie pattyn

supplies: extra large tissue pom poms, tissue paper, washi tape, glitter tape {in brown sugar} & twine: shop sweet lulu

**notes : I hung my poms by tying push pins to the end of the fishing line and pressing them into the ceiling. Not the classiest way to go about it, but it is what I did!  LOL.

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