How to Make Pom Pom Holly Gift Wrap

As December seems to be running on gas and I need to be much more organised [early] in my present swapping this year, I've been wrapping and sending presents as soon as I can.  This past weekend, I had the Godchildren's presents to wrap, so wanted to create something fun for them - but this DIY is perfect for kids young and old and a great excuse to bring out the pom poms.

What I Used:

Template

Green Felt

Red Wool

Green Embroidery Floss

Needle / Scissors / Glue / Fork

[right click to save and print from your computer]

For the pom poms in this DIY, I used the fork technique - quick, easy and perfect for consistent, smaller pom poms, as long as you have wool, fork and some scissors - you are good to go.

 Start buy cutting a length of wool that sits through the middle of the fork:

Next, take your ball of wool and start wrapping it from one end around the entirety of the fork - try and keep your wraps of an equal consistency in thickness as you build up the layers:

Once you have finished wrapping your wool [the more times you wrap the wool, the more 'full' your pom pom], cut the end and now take the first piece of wool cut and placed in the middle of the fork and use them to tie a knot around the wool:

....gently remove the wool from the fork and cut through the loops of one side to start creating your pom pom:

 Repeat on the second side, cutting through the loops:

This will reveal a slightly tattered looking pom-pom, but now take your scissors and give the pom pom a quick trim, shaping as you go around:

Repeat these steps to create as many berries as you need.
For the holly, use the template at the top of the post to cut green felt holly leaves:

You can leave the holly as it is, but I added a little detail with green embroidery floss, adding a simple running stitch through the centre and then using the thread to attach to my pom-pom berries:

Add as many leaves and berries as you need, before securing and trimming the thread.....

...and then attach to your gift wrap with glue or double sided sticky tape for a fun gift wrap embellishment that can then be used as a decoration:

It's also so simple in technique that it's a brilliant craft kids can be involved in too - and I have another pom-pom related gift wrap idea coming later this week that they might enjoy.

 These embellishments aren't limited to gift wrap - add a loop for tree or home decorations, or how about creating Christmas hair accessories [like this post] with holly and pom-pom berries instead of bows?  They are also great embellishments for cards or Christmas stationery projects.  To add further detail, you could use this Handmade Decoration post to adapt the technique for embroidering a name to the leaves for a personalised gift tag.  Let me know if you try!

see you next time x