Awhile ago I bought a container of paperclips that I wanted to do some crafts with. I’ve seen cute little embellished paperclips used as bookmarks or journal markers, so I wanted to make some of my own. So I started brainstorming what I could embellish the paperclips with. And because I absolutely LOVE pom poms, it’s no surprise that was one of the first things I came up with. So I’m going to start things off with a pom pom paperclip bookmark.
I have a few more paperclip bookmarks coming in the near future that I’ve already done. I also have a few more ideas of ones I’d like to make at some point. Hopefully in the future they will become tutorials as well.
What You Will Need for This Project
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Yarn
How to Make a Pom Pom Paperclip Bookmark
Step 1: Make Pom Pom
First we need to make our pom pom. There are multiple different ways you can make a pom pom and you can go with whatever colors/style you like, but for this tutorial I’m going to keep it simple. So I will be using two colors of yarn to make a multicolored pom pom.
Start by gathering whatever yarn you are going to use and your pom pom maker. You can use either a store bought one or make one yourself. Personally, I’ve had the best results using this pom pom maker by Clover.
This brand makes a handful of different sizes, which comes in handy if you need different size pom poms. For this project, I’m using a small size one that gives me a pom pom that ends up being a little over an inch wide when finished.
If you need a little more instruction about how to use this type of pom pom maker, I have a full tutorial that can be found by clicking here. If that DIY method isn’t up your alley, you can also get similar sized pom poms by using either a fork or two of your fingers. Check out the fork pom pom tutorial by clicking here or the finger pom pom tutorial by clicking here.
I chose pink and purple as my yarn colors and want the colors to be evenly distributed. So I am going to take the ends of the yarn of both skeins and wrap my pom pom maker with both colors at once.
From here, follow the instructions of your DIY pom pom method of choice until you have cut your loops and made a pom pom. Regardless of the method, at this point it should look something like this:
Don’t worry if your pom pom looks a little shaggy and uneven. All that will be fixed in the next step.
Step 2: Trim Pom Pom
Most likely you pom pom will be needing a little trim before you can call it done. Simply take your scissors and trim away yarn until your pom pom is to your liking.
If you are wanting a nice dense pom pom, don’t hold back on this step. You might be surprised how much yarn you can actually trim away.
When you are trimming, just make sure you don’t cut the two long strands that you used to tie your pom pom together. You are going need these in the next step to attach the pom pom to the paperclip.
Once your pom pom is how you like it, you’ll probably have a big pile of fluff like this:
It’s probably best to do this step somewhere you can easily clean the yarn bits up afterward, because they can easily get everywhere if you’re not careful.
Step 3: Tie Pom Pom to Paperclip
Take your paperclip and decide which side you want to tie your paperclip to. My preference is to have the paperclip where the inner loop is facing downward. That way you can clip it onto your book pages or anything else. However, it’s completely up to you.
Using the two long strands of yarn, tie them onto the top of the paperclip, making several knots so they are secure. No matter how tightly you tie them, your pom pom will still slide around a little bit. To fully secure it, carefully place a dab of hot glue into your pom pom where it meets the paper clip. After the glue dries, it shouldn’t move at all.
When everything is how you like it, trim the long strands and you are done.
Now all you need is a good book. Or some papers that need clipping.
Final Thoughts
The pom pom paperclip bookmark was a fun little project that only takes a small amount of time. They’re so easy to make that I ended up making several more just for the heck of it.
I made the pom poms for the bottom three clips using the fork method. As you can see they’re a little smaller, but still a good size. The fork pom poms were also completely finished before I added them to the paperclips, so they are attached with just hot glue. So in case you accidentally cut off the long tails while trimming the rest of the pom pom you can still make everything work in the end.
And for anyone who wants to know what these look like when used as paperclips, here they are:
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. I’d love to hear from you! Thank you for stopping by and happy crafting!
