Thrifty Thursday PT 2... and a day late!

Yes, Im a day late. It seems like the days are just flying by.

So this weeks edition of thrify thursday is one of my personal favs... diy pom poms! I've made these before and they are soooo easy! Even my 9 yr old niece and very creative/crafty challenged friends have made them. They can be used for any occasion, I've made them for my cousin's baby shower, my son's first bday in lieu of balloons (im alergic to latex and always seem to be the one that gets stuck with balloon duty) and I just recently made some to decorate my house for Easter lunch.

They are like my "go to" decoration because they're so easy, so cute and so cheap!

They are available for purchase at marthastewart.com. For $17.99 you get enough sheets of tissue paper to make 3 large and 4 medium pompoms including wire and instructions.

I on the other hand went to my local dollar store and for $2.50 bought a pack of 20 sheets of tissue paper.

• In step one in the pix above stack 7 or 8 sheets of tissue paper and fold acordian style about 1" to 1 1/2" wide. The more sheets of tissue paper you use the fuller it gets, but i wouldnt go crazy with it either then the center gets too thick and they end up looking strange. You can also alternate the color of the tissue paper, but I would suggest using atleast 2 sheets of the same color before changing to another color. (it just looks nicer)

• Step two, take your floral wire (martha suggests 18" long, I make mines shorter) and wrap around the center of the folded tissue paper and twist tight while still being gentle to the tissue paper. In this step she also instructs to trim the edges into round or ponty edges. Both look great and if youre in a rush not triming them looks fine too.

• In step 3 you start to seperate the sheets of tissue paper pulling them towards the center. BE VERY CAREFUL. Remember you are dealing with tissue paper, be very gentle as to not rip the fragile tissue paper. (ok, i admit i've torn them before. when youre done puff them up really good and you cant tell. just dont hang them at eye level)

• And the 4th and final step, bend the floral wire into a loop to hang from the ceiling or wherever you'll be hanging them from or if making small ones bend around a napkin, cup, etc.

Happy Crafting!

All photo and direction credits are from Martha Stewart, yes... she created yet another good thing.