Colourful, cuddly and full of irresistible homemade festive charm, this candy cane pom pom Christmas wreath is the perfect winter project for the newbie crafter.
- Difficulty
- Time
- Supplies Needed
With pom poms seeing a resurgence in popularity at the moment, there’s never been a better time to get in on the fluffy action!
And this Christmas Wreath combines the vibrancy of the candy cane colours with the pom poms’ fuzzy cosiness to make a fabulous woolly welcome for any door this winter season. We’ve even included some pom pom tutorials if you need a little help getting started.
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behind the scenes
Why a Candy Cane Pom Pom Wreath?
Don’t you just love the fun cheery red and white stripes of candy canes? They just ooze Christmas spirit and brighten up any dark December day. Add a hint of dark green and you’ve got the perfect festive scene; traditional in colour but modern in tone and style.
And with crafting, traditional colours and wreaths wrapped up in one fluffy package, this pom pom Christmas wreath creation is bang on trend too!
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But the best thing? It’s so simple!
Pom poms are great fun to make and very straightforward as well. Kids of all ages can get involved (can you remember making them as a child – I know I did!). You only need scissors for the last part so it’s easy to get younger children involved in the yarn wrapping before handing over the reins for the final fiddly stage.
It’s a wonderful relaxing activity for in front of a Christmas movie or whilst catching up with friends. We think it would make a fabulous project for a craft-enthusiast tween or teen.
Getting Started
But before you can make a pom pom Christmas wreath, you’ll need to know how to make pom poms. It’ll only take a couple before you’re fully in your stride.
If you need a little guidance getting started, we’ve created a How To Guide below.
If you’re a seasoned pom pom maker, click here to skip ahead.
gettin’ fuzzy with it
Basic Pom Pom Tutorial
I hadn’t made pom poms since my childhood and let me tell you the pom pom maker is a game changer!
The cardboard circle method you may well have learnt at school still does the trick just fine but these clever little semi-circular tools turn the process of pom pom making into the work of minutes and make bigger projects far more manageable.
They are most definitely worth the investment in my opinion and actually very good value for money given how much they can be reused.
There are several different types are on the market but these are my favourites.
How to make a pom pom with a pom pom maker
1. Getting Started
Secure the wool over the first semi-circle with your finger and start winding the yarn round, using a reasonable tension to ensure you end up with a full fluffy pom pom.
Work your way back and forth from one end of the half circle to the other, ensuring that you cover the whole area but don’t get any wool caught on the end up-turns.
2. Transferring Sides
Keep going until the wool is approximately the same thickness as the up-turns (perhaps a touch more). Then push that semi-circle into the centre piece of the pom pom maker to secure it and feed the wool around to the other semi-circle and start again.
3. Finishing The Disc
Once the second half has been completed, use your finger to create a loop with the wool and cut the yarn off leaving about 5-7cm extra. Feed the end through the loop and pull to secure.
Then push that semi-circle into the centre as well so you have a complete woolly disc.
4. Cutting The Yarn
Turn the pom pom maker through 90 degrees so it looks like a wool tyre. Holding tightly to ensure the semi-circles don’t move out of position and cut the wool around the central line with a sharp pair of haberdashery scissors.
Ensure you also cut the wool where it crosses from one semi-circle to another. (And, of course, do be careful not to catch your fingers as you go.)
5. Tying The Pom Pom
Cut a reasonable length of wool and feed this around the middle in the pom pom maker.
Let it slide into the gap between the two plastic discs and pull tight – you should hear a click.
Time to use your muscles now as the tighter you can pull the wool at this point, the more secure your pom pom will be.
Once it is as tight as you can make it without snapping the yarn, tie approximately three knots to hold the wool in place.
6. Trimming The Pom Pom
Pull the semi-circles of plastic back out from the centre and undo the pom pom maker to leave your finished fluffy ball.
Give it a good rub with your hands to shape it and then it’s time to give your pom pom a hair cut! This will remove all the longer lengths of wool and give it a good symmetrical shape.
If you want to use the longer lengths of wool used to tie the pom pom for hanging or attaching then keep them in position. Otherwise cut them down to the same length as the rest of the pom pom wool.
Multi-coloured Pom Poms
If you’d like to create a multi-coloured speckled pom pom, simply use the 2-4 coloured wools together and wind them around the pom pom maker as one. The video below shows you in detail.
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Equipment Needed
- Pom pom makers. As mentioned above, these are my favouries and very reasonably priced –> here.
- Good sharp needlework scissors. I would strongly recommend these ones from Kai –> here.
- Wool. For this wreath, I used approximately two 100g balls of yarn for each colour. I used Hayfield DK wool which was easy to work with and keenly priced and mixed these three colours: white, signal red & bottle green.
- Wreath base. In order to facilitate the 3D effect of this pom pom wreath, I used a polystyrene base and I wanted to create a big opulent wreath so opted for the 35cm diameter –> here.
- Hot glue gun & glue sticks. Such as this one.
- Ribbon to hang the wreath if desired.
let’s get crafty
5 Steps To Make Your Pom Pom Christmas Wreath
1. Prepare lots of pom poms
For the 35cm wreath, I would suggest approximately:
- 10 large one-colour pom poms in each of red, white and green.
- 6 large red & white speckled pom poms
- 6 large red, white & green speckled pom poms
- 2 small pom poms of each of the colour combinations above, i.e. around 10 small pom poms in total.
2. Layout Your Rough Design
Place the pom poms around the wreath base in a rough design. Check for a good mix of colours throughout and make any extras you think you might need. (Bear in mind that the pom poms squeeze together a bit more when glued in place so you’ll need slightly more than you might expect).
I like adding a couple of small pom poms pairs in lieu of one larger pom pom at a few points in the wreath, which adds a little more interest and style.
3. Position Your Ribbon
If you’d like to use a ribbon to hang the wreath, I’d recommend putting this in position before you start adding the pom poms. Glue it to the base to hold in position.
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4. Glue Your Pom Poms In Place
Work your way around, attaching the pom poms with hot glue to the base. Add a generous blob to each pom pom in turn and press firmly into position, holding in place until it feels secure.
5. Finishing Touches
Once all the pom poms are attached, have a good look at the wreath.
Are you there any little gaps to fill or areas with need for a bit more mixing of colour? Make and attach pom poms to fill the gaps as necessary.
Leave to dry completely and then enjoy displaying your new Candy Cane Pom Pom Christmas Wreath!
Did you do anything different with your pom pom Christmas wreath? Let us know in the comments below – we love to hear about your creativity! Looking for more homemade Christmas décor inspiration? Check out our other ideas here.
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And be sure to tag #jollyfestive in your photos. We love to see which Christmas activities you’ve been enjoying!
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