Make this adorable rainbow pom pom garland to add a row of fuzzy pom poms to any room. It’s a fun and easy project that is perfect for any level of crafter.
Not long after I made my pastel rainbow felt banner I was already itching to make another one. This time, though, I decided to make one out of pom poms.
I actually had this project finished toward the end of last year. But before I could finish things up I had to set it aside to focus on my holiday projects. Then afterward I took a bit of a hiatus from my blog to focus on my personal life. So it’s a bit delayed, but I’m finally happy to have this one finished.
I’m such a sucker for pastel rainbow colors, so that’s the color scheme I went with once again. I even tried to match the yarn colors to my felt as best as I could. When you put the two banners side by side they make a really good match.
Unlike the felt banner, I wanted the entire length to be filled with pom poms. So I decided to make smaller white poms to fill in the gaps in between each of the bigger ones. I think it makes it look a bit more “finished” than simply having the string showing through.
It took a little trial and error to figure out how many mini pom poms I would need in each section, but eventually settled on three. I debated on using four, but in the end decided to just stick with three.
In the end, the banner measures about 53” from end to end (48” if you’re only measuring the pom poms). That’s a bit shorter than the 6 ft banners that I usually make, but would still make a good decoration in plenty of different places. And of course, if you need it to be longer, you can always add on more pom poms to make it whatever size you like.
What You Will Need to Make a Rainbow Pom Pom Garland
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Materials:
Yarn (for Pom Poms)
Tools:
This garland uses two sizes of pom poms. Larger ones for the pastel colors and smaller ones for all the poms in between.
As usual I’m using my Clover Pom Pom Makers for this project because I just can’t get enough of these little tools. For the smaller white poms I used the smaller one from the “small” pack. And the pastel pom poms are made using the larger of the two from the “large” pack.
In the end, though, size preference is up to you. Also, a pom pom maker like I have isn’t necessary if you don’t have one. If you’re looking for some other methods on how to make pom poms, check out my article on 6 Ways to Make a DIY Pom Pom.
I also really suggest using small, pointed tip scissors with a spring for this project. Trust me that they will save your life when it comes to making pom poms. Especially on a project like this where you are making a ton of them.
I misplaced my pair a few weeks back and even though I have several other pairs of scissors in my craft room there was NO WAY that I was using another type of scissors. Thankfully I found mine before I ended up buying a new pair. But they really are one of my top must have items in my crafting arsenal.
How to Make a Rainbow Pom Pom Garland
Step 1: Make Large Pom Poms
First, start by making the pom poms. You can start with either size but I’ve chosen to start with the larger pastel poms first. I’m using one of my larger pom pom makers that will give me a finished pom pom of about 3.5” after it’s trimmed.
And with that, let’s get started. My instructions here are going to be fairly brief. However, if you need more info and tips on how to use these types of pom pom makers I have a much more detailed tutorial available.
Start by winding the yarn of your choice onto each end of the pom pom maker. Then close it up.
Next, snip your yarn all the way around the outside of the pom pom maker.
Tie a bit of yarn into the middle to secure everything together before removing your pom pom. Repeat this for the remaining colors for the big pom poms.
To finish them up, give them all a little trim to even out the ends. Here’s what they all looked like when they were finished:
As you can see, the size didn’t change much. So I also I didn’t end up with too much fuzz left over. It was only a small little pile even after trimming all six pom poms.
If you look at pictures from my other tutorials on how to make pom poms, you can really see the difference in the amount of trimmings. But thankfully that just meant less of a mess to clean.
I usually trim my pom poms a bit more, but I made an exception this time. I wanted the poms to be a little bigger and it wasn’t a big deal that they weren’t super dense.
Step 2: Make Small Pom Poms
Next, move on to the small pom poms. These are going to be used to fill the gaps in between the larger pom poms.
This time I’m only using white yarn and a much smaller pom pom maker. This one will give me poms that are about an inch and a half when finished.
Otherwise the process is the exact same as when making the larger pom poms. Wrap both sides of the pom pom maker.
Then cut the edges.
Then tie everything off and remove it from the pom pom maker.
Now put on a good movie and get comfy because you need to do this another 20 times. This was by far the most tedious part of the project, so it’s best to have something to keep your mind distracted while you work. Or in my case, I just did a few at a time throughout the day until they were all finished.
Once they are all done, you can admire your pile of fuzzy little poms. For some reason the small ones always come out looking messier than the larger ones.
Just like the previous step, all that’s left is a trim. I wanted the smaller pom poms to be a bit denser, so I trimmed them down a lot further. Don’t be afraid to really get in there and give it a good haircut. Just keep going until it’s nice and dense and round. Here’s a before and after shot:
And then, of course, there’s the leftover fuzz. There’s a lot more this time, partly because I did more trimming and partly because there were a lot more pom poms to trim up.
Having a lint roller handy makes clean up a lot easier if you have one. Those tiny little fuzzies have a way of getting everywhere.
Step 3: String Pom Poms onto Cotton Yarn
Now it’s time to put everything together. Like with my felt banner, I used a cotton yarn for this. It feels a bit sturdier, which is especially important on this project. Pom poms don’t weigh too much individually, but are surprisingly heavy when you string 27 of them together.
First, cut a piece of the cotton yarn. If the pom poms are placed end to end they measure around 48 inches. So you need that much plus enough to tie loops onto each end of the banner. Another foot or so extra should be plenty.
Then thread one end of the cotton yarn through the yarn needle. If you’re having trouble, you can use an embroidery needle threader like I have listed in the materials. As the name suggests, it’s meant for embroidery, but the larger end works wonderfully for yarn as well.
Next, start stringing the poms one by one. For mine I started with three of the smaller white pom poms. then I added the first large pom pom. Then I alternated between three small white pom poms and one large pastel pom.
When stringing on the pom poms the goal is to go through the very center between the loop that has been tied around everything. Sometimes you may need to poke around a bit to find the right spot.
Keep going until all the pom poms have been threaded onto the cotton yarn. Make sure they are all right next to each other, but don’t squish them too much. They only need to just be touching one another.
Step 4: Tie Loops
Lastly, loops need to be tied onto each end of the banner so it can hang. If you look at my picture above I actually tied one of the ends before I started stringing the pom poms. But if you wait to tie both at the end it makes no difference.
Make a small loop at one end of the yarn and tie it into a tight knot. Then using your scissors, snip off any excess as close to the knot as possible.
Before tying up the other end, make sure the pom poms are all spaced the way you want them. If they are too tight or too loose you likely won’t be able to fix it later without stringing the pom poms onto a new piece of yarn.
After checking your pom poms, tie another loop at the other end of the yarn. Again, snip off any excess next to the knot.
And with that, the rainbow pom pom garland is complete! It turned out so cute!
Step 5: Hang Rainbow Pom Pom Garland
All that’s left to do now is find the perfect spot to hang your new rainbow pom pom garland (or whatever color scheme you decided to go with). You can hang it just as you would any other garland.
To hang the garland directly onto a wall, you can use nails, thumbtacks, command hooks, or anything similar that can support the weight of the banner. Overall it’s not very heavy, but you can’t just stick it up with tape or something.
Additional Notes on Rainbow Pom Pom Garland
Like with a lot of my projects, I love to do crafts that are very customizable. And this one was no exception.
The colors can be changed around to match any holiday or color scheme of a room. And the size and number of pom poms can be adjusted to suit your needs perfectly.
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!
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