Tag Archives: yarn

The Many Wonders of Pom Poms

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Leslie | 2 Comments

I’m truly smitten with pom poms. At one time, I thought of them only as hat toppers, like the one I made for the hand-knit hat then four-year-old Ana is wearing above. I’ve since become aware of the amazing versatility of pom poms – necklaces, garlands, bows, even yarn flower bouquets. Let’s talk about the many wonders of pom poms.

Different Methods for Making a Pom Pom

I first learned how to make pom poms by using a cardboard template like this one.

It’s easy as can be to cut out a cardboard template, wind the yard around it, tie a loop through the center, and then cut the pom pom free. I describe the steps in this post that shows my daughter and her friend making pom poms over the holiday break.

I’ve since learned that you can use a fork as a template to make a mini pom pom, and even just your fingers.

But to make a whole slew of pom poms, and if you’re in love with them like I am, you’ll want to make a bunch to use in many ways, you will soon grow weary of the cardboard method. Why am I not surprised that an actual pom pom maker exists in the world? Lucky for me, and lucky too that the Clover pom pom maker is not very expensive. I bought small, medium, and large sizes.

You use it the same way as with a cardboard template, only it’s sturdier so it will hold up to many uses. Because you can fold open the hinged sides of the circle, it’s easier to wind the yarn around one side then the other.

Making Small, Medium, and Large Pom Poms

Ana and I made some pom poms at the same time using different sizes.

She gave her little sister a mini pom pom to use for her baby doll as a necklace…

and made a couple of larger ones to use as a necklace for herself.

I used few as a bow on a gift.

Making a Flower Bouquet with a Bunch of Pom Poms

My main goal, though, for making many pom poms in one go was to make a flower bouquet to take to my neighbor’s baby shower at the Del Ray Cafe.

One after another, I wound yarn onto either the medium or large-sized pom pom maker while watching a movie. By the end, I had made an impressive collection of untrimmed pom poms.

Ana helped me trim each one with tiny scissors.

She gathered some sticks for me from the yard and I found the perfect sized vase for the larger bouquet, plus another small vase to use for the tiniest pom pom flowers.

My glue gun gave out, so I used craft glue and attached the pom poms one by one to each stick.

And there before our very eyes, our pom poms turned into two colorful and cheerful bouquets of flowers.

I have my sights on making a spring wreath or garland next. Some of my extras will always go to the neighbors’ cats. Seriously, to me pom poms rank up there as one of the best crafts. At their most basic, they require very few supplies. Plus, anyone can make a perfect pom pom on the first try, and they’re just so darling, who can resist.

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Posted in Arts & Crafts

Tagged arts and crafts, clover, pom poms, yarn

Keeping Kids Busy During Holiday Break

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

When the kids are hanging around the house during holiday break, it’s always a plus to have some projects up your sleeve for them to do. Laine Hardman, a professional organizer with Tidy Up Now, and I have come up with a list of simple crafts and organizing jobs that you can propose on the spur of the moment. These don’t require a lot of specialized supplies or too much hands-on instruction either.

Crafts

The old-fashioned paperclip necklace. I grabbed a colorful box of paperclips from the drugstore and after about a two-second demo, the girls were on their way. They enjoyed creating patterns with the different paperclip colors.

Silver beaded jewelry. This is a Todd Oldham idea that I remembered from his fantastic Kid Made Modern book. It’s a modern twist on the old macaroni noodle necklace project. You start with rigatoni noodles and some tin foil.

The kids roll the tin foil around the noodles and rub the sides to accentuate the groves.

Then they have shiny “silver” bling to work with.

After that, they can use string or embroidery thread to make necklaces and bracelets galore.

Pom Poms. You need some yarn and a template. You cut the template using cardboard by tracing a large circle and a smaller circle inside. You need to cut two of the same size for each pom pom. The size of the template dictates the size of the pom pom. You can make many sizes. With the template, you cut a slit in one side where the yarn will pass through.

Next, you wind the yarn around and around the circle, making it nice and thick.

Then, you slide scissors between the two template circles and cut the loops all the way around.

Next, you wrap a separate long piece of yarn around the center of the two templates and tie it snugly.

Remove the template and voilà. You have a pom pom to fluff up and trim with scissors as you like.

If you really get into making these, you can buy a pom pom maker in several sizes. I’m told you can make loads of pom poms very easily. Pom poms have so many fun uses like garlands, flower bouquets, head band embellishments, wreaths, and more.

Organizing Jobs

Laine put her kids to work doing some tasks that are a big help to Mom and Dad, but that they enjoy too.

Plastic organizing containers. Sort the plastic containers: bottoms in one pile, tops in another pile. Then, match up each bottom container with the appropriate top.

Any top without a bottom, or bottom without a top can be recycled. (Where did those missing pieces go?) Also, consider donating or recycling any excess if you find that you have too many of one size. If you end up with one extra larger-sized bottom, it could be used to hold the tops. Stack smaller containers inside larger ones.

Replace the containers to your kitchen cabinet.

Sorting pens, pencils, crayons, and markers. You’ll need some plastic pencil boxes or small plastic containers long enough to hold a pencil. Gather all the pens, pencils, crayons, markers, and colored pencils in the house. Sort them by type: crayons in one pile, pens in another, etc. As you’re sorting, toss any crayons that are very small and/or broken.

Also, discard any pencils (colored and regular) that are too small to easily grasp. Sharpen any remaining pencils. Now here is the fun part: test all the markers and pens on a scrap of paper, throwing away any that are dried out.

When all this is done, put all remaining pens, pencils, markers and crayons in a plastic container by type. Consider tossing or giving away some items if you are finding that you have a surplus. Label all containers either with text or a printed picture of the item.

Find a home for the newly-organized supplies. The kids will be thrilled the next time they want to color with markers and they know exactly where they are!

Sock sorting. First, launder all socks in the house. I am not going to pretend to solve the mystery of what happens to the missing sock after the laundry is done. But, at the end of this task, the kids will have their socks in order with each sock having a match. First, ask the kids to remove all socks from their sock drawer and find each sock’s mate. Gather unmatched socks and, if you are sorting more than one drawer, check if that sock has a match in the other drawer’s extra sock pile.

Only return socks that fit, have a match, and are in good condition. If the socks are still spilling out of the drawer, consider donating the excess. All extra socks can be repurposed as dust rags or puppets.

Alphabetizing the spice racks and sorting the tool box. Katie and I created these organizing tasks for Jack and Ana one day during spring break last year. They did a great job and had a lot of fun in the process.

Do you have any other spontaneous crafts or household jobs that kept your kids happily occupied during the break?

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Posted in Arts & Crafts, Living with Kids

Tagged crafts, kids, necklaces, organizing, pom poms, yarn

Three Handmade Ornaments to Give or Keep

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

When I heard the call for handmade ornament donations from the Del Ray Artisans for their Fine Art & Craft Holiday Market, my creative wheels started spinning. I’ve contributed a few of my creations to the sale, and in the process, came up with some projects that the kids could do too. In fact, these projects are suited to a range of skill levels: easy requiring very little crafting know-how to slightly more involved projects requiring simple crochet, hand sewing, knitting, and embroidery work.

Yarn Basket with Tiny Knitting Needles

Using scrap yarn, I followed this free Ravelry pattern. I didn’t bother with a gauge and used whatever worsted weight scrap yarn seemed appealing. After doing the first one, I improvised a bit on the length and height of the baskets until it looked right to me.

With more scrap yarn, some fingering weight (thinner), I rolled tiny balls and glued the ends down with craft glue. The girls helped me glue tiny beads to the ends of toothpicks. I broke the toothpicks in half so they’d fit in the baskets nicely. They’re delicate but precious and will hopefully sell well at the Holiday Market.

Simple Embroidery Hoops

We have tons of embroidery floss from Ana’s many friendship bracelet kits, so I thought this project would make a nice addition to the Del Ray Artisans holiday sale. I bought several of the smallest embroidery hoops I could find and thought we could use some of the felt we already had from the advent calendar project.

It’s hard to draw a design on felt, I discovered, so I did the lettering free-hand using simple running stitches. As a result, my circles are a bit askew. I guess I’ll keep this one for our tree! I think it might be easier to use colored backing instead of felt so you can trace a design on it first.

Nonetheless, I tried my hand at making Rudolph with red ornaments in his antlers. I think this one turned out better.

DIY Kids: Woven Stars

This is an idea from one of my favorite kids crafting site, Crafty Crow. After trying out the idea, we colored the cardboard using silver spray paint. We only sprayed one side of a cereal box and then cut out the circles. After that, I scored the outside with small cuts every half inch or so.

Ana and Nadja each took different colors of embroidery floss and wound it around the circles, making star designs.

We added a little loop on the top and we now have some unique little ornaments for our tree.

If you want more ideas for holiday projects to do with kids, here are some old school crafts we did last year.

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Posted in Arts & Crafts, Holidays

Tagged embroidery, felt, handmade, holiday, kids, ornaments, yarn

Giving Thanks: Cards Your Kids Can Make

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Leslie | Leave a comment

I insist that my kids send thank you cards for gifts they receive. I love getting thank you cards from their friends too. I don’t care really if the parents write them or the kids do. They don’t have to be fancy or even timely. After Nadja’s recent birthday, I gathered some craft materials and together with her big sister made three different designs. (I later wrote the thank you note and Nadja signed them.)

Pin-Punch Card

The “pin punch” job is popular in Montessori classrooms for learning letter shapes. The children use a small awl to trace a letter by punching holes. To make the card, you write the word backwards on the inside of the card.

It takes precise work and intense concentration.

Ana did a few letters too.

When you use this technique to make a card, you get the cool texture on the front of the card that spells out “Thanks.” (Later, Nadja added some doodles before hand delivering the card to our neighbors.)

Rubber Stamp Card

This card is as simple as can be. When you have to make multiple cards assembly line fashion, it’s perfect. I bought my stamp and stamp pad at Paper Source and you can find them in most craft stores like Michaels.

We cut some card stock we had on hand into folded cards and then stamped them with the Thank You message on the front of each.

Lacing Card

I used the push pin to mark holes for the letters. The girls picked out the colors they wanted to use from our massive stash of embroidery thread (thanks to Ana’s friendship bracelet hobby). I threaded an embroidery needle and they took turns lacing the letters.