• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • YouTube

How to: My Wedding Craft Party Pom Pons!

December 31, 2010 Leave a Comment

To start off, I wanted to wish you all a fantastic New Year! My fiance and I got an amazing Christmas present last week – we found out we’re moving to Chicago next summer! We’re getting married in just 64 days (holy sh*t) and will be moving in June. It gets better, too! I’ve got some pretty promising prospects on a library internship next summer and will have my Master’s in August.

Ok, I’ll stop digressing now. The other night, I threw a craft party and enlisted some of my friends (who are amazing!) to help me make a dent in the 50 pom pons with which I’m decorating my wedding venue.

from top: wine cork pin cushion, the craft party spread

The Math

50 pom pons x 5 packets per filter x 5 filters per packet =

50 pom pons x 25 filters per pom = 1,250 filters in need of dyeing

I wanted half of my poms in green and half in yellow, so 1,250/2 = 625 filters in each color. Phew!

Supplies

1250 bleached coffee filters

1 bottle of green food coloring

1 bottle of yellow food coloring

upholstery thread (color doesn’t matter)

1 tapestry needle

1 coaster

1 pin cushion (since I threw a party, I gave my guests some old wine corks so they could each have a pin cushion)

Dyeing the filters

In this post, I go over step-by-step instructions for dyeing the filters. However, to dye the absurd amount of filters I needed to dye without taking MONTHS, I dyed them in the sink in bunches of 50 or so and dried them in the dryer. Just make sure to use a gentle dryer setting, and you should use a timer! The ones that I accidentally over-dried shrunk like clothes.

Producing Pom Pons en Masse

My darling mother came to visit me from North Dakota last week, and she helped me figure out how to make these beasts more efficiently. I should have thought to ask for her help earlier on in my pom pon prototyping experiments. After all, she’s the one who taught me how to craft. :)

She came up with the idea of having my party guests sew packets of coffee filters together, rather than assemble whole poms. It turned out to be great because not everyone is comfortable with sewing, especially using a paper material.

How to Make a Packet of Filters

  • Take 5 filters from your laundry basket.
  • Fold them in half and in half again, and layer them in alternating directions (see picture). Use your coaster to hold each filter in place as you fold.
  • Thread your needle, doubling the thread and tyeing a knot securing the two ends together. Punch a hole through all 5 layered filters. Sew back through the hole you punched a couple times.
  • Punch a second hole through your filters, and sew back through the new hole twice again.
  • Punch your third and final hole, making a triangle of holes in your filter. Sew a couple of times through this last hole. Secure your thread with a couple of knots and cut your thread.

Assembling the Packets in to Poms

Using 5 completed packets, start sewing them together. That’s it! You just have to, pardon the Tim Gunn reference, make it work. Just make sure not to sew too close to the end of the packet of filters. You’ll end up with packets raining down from the sky and your future pom pon garland will look like crap.

Once you’ve sewn 5 packets together, you’ll notice how flat-looking your poms are. Fluffing them is as easy as unfolding them at the crease. A picture is worth a thousand words:

I have yet to assemble my full pom pon garlands, other than the party decorations below, but my plan is to use fishing line. I’ll post full details when I reach that point. For now, my wonderful party guests helped me finish assembling 190 of the 250 packets of filters I needed.

I need to end this absurdly long tutorial and get back to assembling poms! Happy New Year!

Filed Under: DIY Wedding, How-to Tagged With: coffee filters, dyeing, food coloring, heidedwed, party, pom pons, poms, Sewing, wedding crafts

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « How-to: Sushi-Inspired Day Bed
Next Post: Fun New Year’s Crafts! »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • Coffee Filter Garland RoundupCoffee Filter Garland Roundup
  • How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 2How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 2
  • How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 1How to: Make a Coffee Filter Garland Pt. 1
  • Picks of the WeekPicks of the Week

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

UPDATES BY EMAIL

Monthly highlights sent to your inbox.

Find Me Elsewhere, If You’re There

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
❤️ Email for pattern support
👇🏻 Book, Patterns, Tutorials

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Sunday stitches with June. ☺️ . Yarn: @brookly Sunday stitches with June. ☺️
.
Yarn: @brooklyntweed Arbor
Pattern: in-progress by yours truly 
.
#handsoccupied #intarsia #colorworkknitting #intarsiaknitting
When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
.
What does your dream knitting day look like? 
.
Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
.
#knitflix #knitting #knittingwithfriends #intarsia #handsoccupied #knitsocks #chicagoknitters
Are you looking for some late summer reading picks Are you looking for some late summer reading picks? Here are 3 fresh titles for makers of all ages - full reviews are on my bl0g, along with a giveaway for a copy of Knitstrips! The 🔗 is where you’d think. 😉
.
To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) / Knitstrips by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar (@ik_knitstrips) / This Long Tread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
. 
#summerreading #bookshelf #readingrecommendations #handsoccupied #booksformakers #craftbooks
New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
.
To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
.
I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
.
(^ I heard a rumor that if I tell you to exit this app, no one will see this post, so plz forgive the song & dance just in case it matters. 🙈)
.
#handsoccupied #summerreading #booksformakers #booksforcrafters #books #knittersofinstagram #craftbook #knittingbook
I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
.
Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
.
#stopswatchandblockit #intarsia #intarsiaknitting #handsoccupied #knitincolor #knitdesign #handknits
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy