showering babies: pom poms aren't just for cheerleaders

we just knew we had to fill a room with poofy pom poms to celebrate with cory & the babe.  i think that every party from now on may be filled with poms.  why not?  they take about 2 minutes to make, are adorable & bright, fun & inexpensive. 

me and rachel became prom pom queens one saturday night and cranked these out in a few minutes.  here's the pile of them sitting in the corner of our den.  i liked them just sitting a pile.  they are that cute. {again, dark scary pictures are mine and the bright pretty ones are from the day-of, courtesy of {rachel}

we made large poms to hang over the table and little baby ones to sit around {sort of like centerpieces}

the picture below on the left is always my fave of martha stewart's poms.  i love the color combo.  below that is a picture only tutorial of 'how-to'.

.here's my commentary to their pictures.

1.  lay a stack of tissue paper out.  i saw some recommendations of 10-14 sheets of paper, we did 8 sheets of paper so we would have two sheets left for tiny poms {the package came with 10 total}.  the more sheets you do the fuller they will look so you can keep that in mind and play it by ear.  lay out your stack of paper 8-14 sheets thick and fold it accordian-style {on the short-side}. 

2.  tie the around the center of your folded paper with floral wire.  i saw recommendations to also make a loop our of your floral wire to hang the thread threw.  we just tied string through the middle along with the wire.  at this time you can also cut around the corners if you wish.  we made some ends into points, some rounded and left some as they were.  i think the pointed poms were our favorites.

3.  next, just pull back and spread out each layer of the tissue paper carefully separating and fluffing them.

4.  you should have a gorgeous fun party prop.  hang it up. set it out.  smile & smile at your cute decorations.

note for hanging pom poms:  i thought that scotch tape should hold up light & fluffy tissue paper but it wasn't very sturdy.  i would maybe suggest using a tack but i'm not sure if everyone would want to tack their ceilings, matles, etc.  another option could maybe be to do something with 'command' strips or hooks?  just a thought.  it's always nice to learn from other people's mistakes.

.now go have a blast making tons of poms for all your friends with bumps.