How to Make Yarn Pom Poms

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I'm sharing how to make yarn pom poms with just a fork and a clothespin (you'll need scissors and a tiny bit of patience, as well). This is a fun project that kids can help with, too...and pom poms are crazy addictive to make! I'm also sharing a few ideas to use your new pom poms, too. Check out this tutorial (includes a complete video) for how to make yarn pom poms below.

Ahhhh, pom poms. These are one of the yarn crafts of my youth that still make me smile. I shared on my Instagram this past weekend that we worked on both finger knitting (remember finger knitting?) and yarn pom poms all weekend. My youngest had so much fun with all of it. 

While, the traditional method of pom pom making involves using 3-4 fingers wrapped up in yarn...it also tends to cut off my circulation. While purple finger tips are fun and all, I recently discovered this fork method and then put my own spin on it by adding in a clothespin for added security. Check out how to make yarn pom poms below with this simple method.

Yarn Pom Poms

If you love yarn pom poms like I do, than you're going to enjoy this tutorial. And I also have a shortcut tool I shared below, as well, for those of you wanting to use an actual pom pom maker. Don't you love that we live in a world where pom pom makers are an actual thing?

I use pom poms in all kinds of decor. I fill my champagne bowl with a bunch of white ones to mimic the look of snowballs around the holidays. I string them together into garlands. I attach them to drapes, pillows, really anything that is standing still and crying out for a pom pom.

While the tutorial today shares my fork method for pom poms...it works best for smaller pom poms. If you're wanting larger pom poms (like the ones I made for my bedroom pillow, pictured above), you can see the tool I used for this larger style of pom pom below.

If you need to avoid the fork method, I totally understand (it does take a bit of patience). These tools above are seriously awesome for making pom poms, too. Plus, you can vary your pom pom sizes a bit, as well. I used the larger one to make the pom poms on that pillow I showed you above, along with some fun coral yarn. You can grab this same set of three Clover Pom Pom makers from Amazon here.

How to Make Yarn Pom Poms

As I mentioned, I created a video for the fork and clothespin method to show how to make yarn pom poms. You can check it out below. But, if you're like me, you can scroll down for the "slower" step-by-step photo tutorial, which is super thorough.

Chances are, you have all these supplies on hand!

Yarn Pom Pom Supplies:

• scissors (your good, sharp fabric scissors are perfect for this)
• clothespin
• fork
• yarn

Making Your Yarn Pom Poms

• You'll start by cutting one 12" (roughly sized) piece of yarn.

• Slip the mid point of this piece of yarn in between the middle tines of your fork. 
• Secure the ends of the yarn onto the handle of the fork using your clothespin. This will help keep these ends from getting mixed into the pom pom as you create it (which seems to happen to me when I create these without the clothespin).

• Hold the end of a new piece of yarn coming from the skein and start wrapping it around the fork (once you have wrapped it a few times, you'll be able to let go of the end).
• Wrap, wrap, and wrap that yarn some more.
• You'll know you're about done when it looks like a really full fork of spaghetti yarn, about an inch and a half deep onto the tines and about half an inch thick. See the photo below of how full I fill my fork with yarn. 

• Cut your piece of yarn off of the skein and wrap it around the fork to its end.

• Remove the clothespin and bring around the piece of yarn that was attached to the handle. It will tie the pom pom together. Loosely tie it and keep holding the pom pom together with your hand, too. 

• Carefully hold onto the loosely tied yarn and slip the pom pom off of the fork.
• This can be somewhat tricky, so use finesse so you don't allow your pom pom to unravel in the process.

• Finish tying the two ends together. Tie these as tight as you possibly can (I've had pom poms fall apart on me in the cutting stage because they weren't tied tight enough. Do your best not to break your yarn (I've done this, too). 
• If you don't succeed with this method on the first try, don't give up...it just takes a little bit of practice. 

• After your pom pom is tied, fan the uncut pom pom into a circular shape (as pictured above).
• You'll want to keep those two long pieces to use later for whatever you decide to do with your pom poms (don't cut them off accidentally)...you can tie them onto another string or banner, etc. 
• You can see, I also switched scissors here. I love my mom's sewing scissors, but nothing beats my super sharp fabric scissors when it comes to making pom poms (especially the trimming stage). Be sure to have your best fabric scissors at the ready.

• Slip your scissors into the flattened pom pom (as pictured above) and start cutting all the way around) 
• Cut all the way around until all of your yarn is sticking out (pictured below).

• This is the ugly duckling stage of your pom pom. It's super shaggy and uneven.
• But a good haircut fixes everything (in both life and pom pom making, y'all). 

• Trim like crazy.
• I tend to cut these very short, to make them look their fullest. 

• Give your pom pom a good fluff. 
• And then trim any stray yarn pieces that aren't even with the other pieces
• It always feels like I'm cutting them too short, but they're always good, in the end.

POM POMS! Is there anything cuter?

Where to Use Your Pom Poms

• String them together (using their long ends that we left on each one) onto one long piece of yarn. Use as a garland (as pictured above).
• I love to mix my print banners with pom pom garlands. You can grab my free printable spring banner, that is pictured in the photo above, here. 
• You can also add a pom pom between pennants on banners, for extra interest.
• Make white pom poms to use as bunny tails for spring decor. They would be perfect on my free gingham bunny printables here. 
• White pom poms also look like snowballs in the winter. I like to fill containers full of them all over the house (it's the closest we get to snow in Texas).
• I made a bunch of pom poms into apples for teacher gifts here. They're adorable attached to pencil bag zippers.
• This Pom Pom Ice Cream Garland from Lia Griffith is so sweet, y'all.
• And these Pom Pom Animal Faces from Martha Stewart will melt your heart.
• This tutorial from Moogly Blog makes me want to create a ton of cute Pom Pom Topiaries!

How do you make your pom poms?