Fabric pom-poms

I put up these shelves in my kitchen to handle the overflow of mugs from my cupboards. But for the longest time, I haven't been able to find something tall and skinny to put in the middle of everything.

Then I saw a very interesting idea on the Prudent Baby blog - DIY fabric pom pom hydrangeas. Imagine the possibilities- flowers that don't die, and that my kitty, Lily, won't try to eat. She loves to eat flowers, so we have to hide them in our bedroom and keep the door closed while we're at work.

The women who write the Prudent Baby blog picked up the idea for pom pom hydrangeas from the Clover booth at a Quilt Market event in Minneapolis recently. Clover makes a pom pom maker which isn't that expensive, but when you're wanting to try something right now, sometimes you have to improvise. So, for my version of the pom-pom, you just need some fabric, cardboard and scissors. There are lots of other tutorials for how to make these in a low-tech manner, if mine doesn't work for you.

What you need: 

1/2 yard fabric - I used unwashed pale blue for one hydrangea, a mix of unwashed yellow fabrics for another and a mix of tan muslin and shiny gold sheer fabric for the last one, it's my favorite.

Rotary mat and cutter (you can use scissors, but it'll take much longer)

small wooden dowel

cardboard

Cut out two cardboard circles. The outside circle had a 5 inch diameter and the inner circle had a 2 inch diameter. These made poofs that were a little smaller than 5 inches all around.

Gather your fabric and any helpers. Fold it in half, selvages together. Cut 3/8 inch strips starting at the bottom folded part going up through the selvages.

Put the cardboard circles together and start to wrap the fabric strips around it.

Wrap, wrap, wrap. The more strips you put on, the fluffier your pom-pom will end up.

Next, take a pair of scissors and put the blade through the fabric in between the two cardboard circles. Cut the fabric, making sure it doesn't fall off.

Next wiggle a piece of thread or another skinny piece of fabric in between the two pieces of cardboard and tie.

Slide the cardboard off and fluff the hydrangea. At this point, it would make sense to follow the advice of the ladies from Prudent Baby and further secure the pom-pom with wire. I just stuck the small dowel into the bottom of the pom-pom and stuck it in the vase. It worked for me!