How To Make Tissue Paper Pom Poms: 3 Different Ways
I was asked to make some beautiful decorations for a baby shower recently and ever the one to over commit to things, I said yes. Lucky for you- I had to relearn how to make tissue paper pom poms in the process, so I can share the details!
Since this decor project wasn’t for me, I didn’t want to go cheap or go too fast so it wouldn’t end up looking sloppy. I really wanted to figure out which tissue paper pom-pom method yielded the best looking decorations.
So, I picked up a few different materials and got to work. By the time I was done, I had enough DIY decorations for twelve baby showers!
But…I also picked up a few tips and tricks on how to make these tissue paper pom poms full, fluffy, and beautiful.
I really wanted to share those with you.
3 DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE TISSUE PAPER POM POMS
When it came time to make the decorations, I decided to try 3 different methods:
- Traditional Tissue Paper Pom Poms
- Tissue Paper Pom Poms Made With Crepe Paper Streamers
- Tissue Paper Pom Poms Made With Coffee Filters
I first started out by making the traditional tissue paper pom poms, which I think were the best looking. They most resembled flowers and had the best fluffy layered look.
The second pom-pom method I tried was with crepe paper streamers wound around a pom pom maker. I LOVED how they turned out. They are so unique looking. They are the perfect paper pom-pom if you want something smaller.
The last method I tried was using coffee filters to make the tissue paper pom poms, which did take a bit more work but have a very unique look about them. The coffee filter pom poms look a bit like lanterns and I feel they have a texture that compliments the fluffy tissue paper flowers nicely.
I will be sharing the instructions for each of these methods below!
HOW TO MAKE TRADITIONAL TISSUE POM POMS
All you need to make tissue paper pom poms are packages of tissue paper and some floral wire. A sharp pair of scissors and wire cutters are the only tools you’ll need.
Tips To Make The Best Pom Poms
- If you don’t have floral or crafting wire, you can tie them off with string.
- You need to start with a stack of tissue paper that is square.
- Small paper pom poms require only 10 layers of tissue paper but, the larger the pom-pom, the more layers of tissue paper required.
The note above about using more layers of paper is where I see other tissue pom-pom tutorials go wrong. Ten sheets of tissue paper are not enough for a large paper pom-pom. Once the size goes beyond 12 inches, you need to add more layers. At 12 inches I added 5 more layers and at 18 inches, I added 10!
Remember, the bigger the pom-pom, the more layers required.
If you make larger pom poms and only use 10 sheets, your tissue pom-pom will now look layered or fluffy but thinned out. We want these tissue paper pom poms to look like super fluffy layered flowers and the only way to get that look is to make sure your tissue paper is layered very well.
In short…don’t skimp.
STEP 1: FOLD THE TISSUE PAPER
Layout the squares of layered tissue paper and fan fold it all the way across in approx 1-inch increments. Don’t worry if this is not perfect. It doesn’t really matter if it’s exactly an inch; you just want to fan fold it all the way across and fasten it in the center (as shown in the photo below) with your floral wire.
STEP 2: TRIM THE EDGES
You can trim the edges any way you wish. Adding a pattern to the edges really gives the tissue paper pom poms a floral look. I experimented and I liked the scalloped edge look the best as they look like big fluffy peonies in the end.
But, you can try anything! That’s the fun part about these tissue paper pom poms. It’s hard to ruin them!
STEP 3: SEPARATE THE LAYERS
Start separating your layers by gently pulling each layer toward the center.
Go slow. The tissue paper tears very easily, so be patient (unlike me!) and keep going layer by layer pulling in toward the center. Do half of the layers toward one side and then flip it over and do the same for the backside.
If you tear your tissue paper, don’t worry about it. You likely won’t see it at all.
If it is very noticeable, you can simply snip that ratty piece out.
HOW TO MAKE TISSUE PAPER POM POMS WITH CREPE PAPER STREAMERS
These streamer puffballs are so much fun to make! All you need are rolls of streamers and a large pom-pom maker, plus a few pieces of string or yarn and a sharp pair of scissors to finish them off.
These pom poms are so CUTE, but they are on the smallish side. After trimming, they measure 4 inches across. They don’t take very long to make and the crepe paper streamers add a very interesting texture to the paper style pom-pom.
These would make a great pom-pom flower display if you added some wooden stems and dropped them into a vase or two.
STEP 1: TWIST THE STREAMERS
Wind your streamers around your pom-pom maker until the maker is full. I twisted my streamers around and folded as I wound them. It sounds more complicated then it actually is, but I found by twisting, I ended up with better-looking pom poms.
STEP 2: CUT THROUGH THE CENTER
Once your pom-pom maker is full, follow the center track and cut all the way through with a sharp pair of scissors.
Repeat the same process on the opposite side.
STEP 3: ADD STRING AND FLUFF
Wind a piece of string or yarn through the center of the pom-pom maker and tie tightly.
Remove your pom-pom from the pom-pom maker and trim up with a pair of scissors.
Lastly, fluff them up!
They are so cute and very different from other paper pom poms.
HOW TO MAKE TISSUE PAPER POM POMS WITH COFFEE FILTERS
The coffee filter paper pom poms take a bit more work but they ended up looking so amazing, that I made several batches for this event.
For this method, you need a package of round coffee filters (the cone ones won’t work for this project) and some fabric dye.
You only need to use a teeny tiny bit of dye for each package of coffee filters and it takes no time at all to dye them. A quick 10-second dip is all it takes unless you want a more vibrant colour.
STEP 1: DYE THE COFFEE FILTERS
Use a flat bottom pot and add in some hot water. It does not need to be boiling, just hot tap water is perfectly fine.
Add a teaspoon of your fabric dye to the pot of water and give it a stir.
Dye stacks of coffee filters around 50 at a time and dip them into the dye bath for about 10 seconds.
Leave them longer if you want them to have a darker hue.
When you pull them from the dye bath, let them drip a bit and give them a soft squeeze to get some of the dye out.
STEP 2: DRY OFF NEWLY DYED COFFEE FILTERS
Let the stacks of dyed coffee filters rest on an old towel for a few minutes to allow more of the moisture to runoff. Once they are no longer dripping wet, toss them into a cool dryer for about 20 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them.
To help the drying process along, separate your stacks into groups of four or five when you add them to the dryer.
Don’t do different colour batches at the same time and stick to one colour (trust me on this).
Putting the coffee filters through the dryer creates that ruffled look you can see below in the photo. If you do not want to use your dryer, you can lay them out to dry.
But, be warned. They will take over your entire house and stain anything they come into contact with until they are dry.
Note: When you finish drying your coffee filters, give the inside of your dryer a wipe to make sure no dye remained behind. I did not have any dye when I wiped mine, but better safe than sorry. You could also run a clean wet old towel through the dryer for a bit to see if it picks up any dye.
STEP 3: FOLD THE FILTERS
Count out stacks of 10 coffee filters and fold them over.
Add a staple to the center as shown in the photo. This holds your coffee filters together and creates a half-circle. Do this step for all your coffee filters.
Try to keep the staple close to the folded edge, but make sure your staple is going through all the filters.
STEP 4: ATTACH THE STACKS OF COFFEE FILTERS
The next step is to take two of your folded sets of ten and attach them together.
Take two stacks and flatten them as best you can. Place the stacks back to back, so that the crease is lined up, and you can’t see the staples.
Add staples to the top of the stack and the bottom securing the two bundles of coffee filters to each other.
Step 5: FLUFF! FLUFF! FLUFF!
All that is left to do is fluff. You may find that you need to add an extra staple here or there and that’s perfectly fine. You won’t see it, so it doesn’t matter.
These coffee filter paper pom poms turn out so pretty and ruffly!
They look very different vs the tissue paper pom-pom decorations. They’re not so flowery but more like actual decorations. Kinda like those honeycomb ball decorations that you fold out.
Paper Poms Poms Everywhere!
If you have an event where you need to make your own decorations, these paper pom poms are a really easy and inexpensive way to get it done.
Depending on the look you’re going for, you can fill a wall or a table display quickly. They make such an impact!
I tested several methods to make my decorations but these were the three methods that yielded the best results.
But, if anyone has a suggestion on a better way to make tissue paper pom poms, drop a comment and I will be happy to test your method!
And, if pom poms are your thing (because apparently, they are my thing now), I also have a pom-pom heart wreath post you can check out!
How To Make Tissue Paper Pom Poms: 3 Different Ways
Tissue paper pom poms are easy to make and don't take much time to pull together. But, did you know that you can make tissue pom poms with things beyond tissue paper? We have instructions for crepe paper streamer pom poms as well as how to make paper pom poms with dyed coffee filters.
Materials
Tissue Paper Pom Poms
- 1 pack of tissue paperÂ
- Floral wire
Crepe Paper Pom Poms
- 1 roll of paper streamersÂ
- Large pom-pom maker
- String or yarnÂ
Dyed Coffee Filter Pom Poms
- 1 pack of 250 coffee filters
- Fabric Dye
Tools
- Wire Cutters
- Scissors
Instructions
Tissue Paper Pom Poms
- Layout your square of layered tissue paper and fan fold it all the way across in approx 1-inch increments. Fasten it in the center with the floral wire.
- You can trim the edges any way you wish. Adding a pattern to the edges really give the tissue paper pom poms a floral look. I experimented, and I liked the scalloped edge the best as they look like big fluffy peonies in the end.
- Start separating your layers by gently pulling each layer toward the center. Go slow as the tissue paper tears very easily. So, be patient (unlike me!) and keep going layer by layer pulling in toward the center. Do half of the layers toward one side and then flip it over and do the same for the backside.
- If you tear your tissue paper, don't worry about it you likely won't see it at all. If it is very noticeable, you can simply snip that ratty piece out.
Crepe Paper Streamer Pom Poms
- Wind your streamers around your pom-pom maker until the maker is full. I twisted my streamers around and folded as I wound.
- Once your pom-pom maker is full, follow the center track and cut all the way through with a sharp pair of scissors.
- Repeat the same process on the opposite side.
- Wind a piece of string or yarn through the center of the pom-pom maker and tie tightly.
- Remove your pom-pom from the pom-pom maker and trim up with a pair of scissors.
- Fluff them up!
Coffee Filter Pom Poms
- Use a flat bottom pot, and add in some hot water. It does not need to be boiling, just hot tap water is perfectly fine.
- Add a tsp of your fabric dye to the pot of water and give it a stir.
- Dye stacks of around 50 at a time and dip them into the dye bath for about 10 seconds.
- Leave them longer if you want them darker.
- When you pull them from the dye bath, let them drip a bit and give them a soft squeeze to get some of the dye out.
- Let the stacks of dyed coffee filters rest on an old towel for a few minutes to let more of the moisture runoff. Once they are no longer dripping wet toss them into a cool dryer for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them.
- To help the drying process along, separate your stacks into four or five groups when you add them to the dryer.
- Don't do different color batches at the same time. Stick to one color.
- Putting the coffee filters through the dryer creates that ruffled look. If you do not want to use your dryer, you can lay them out to dry. Be warned. They will take over your entire house and stain anything they come into contact with until they are dry.
- Count out stacks of 10 coffee filters and fold them over.
- Add a staple to the center as shown in the photo in the blog post. This holds your coffee filters together and creates a half-circle. Do this for all your coffee filters. Set up stacks of 10 and staple them in half.
- Try to keep the staple close to the folded edge, but make sure your staple is going through all the filters.
- The next step is to take two of your folded sets of ten and attach them together.
- Take two stacks and flatten them as best you can. Place the stacks back to back, so that the crease is lined up, and you can't see the staples.
- Add staples to the top of the stack and the bottom securing the two bundles of coffee filters to each other.
- All that is left to do is fluff. You may find that you need to add an extra staple here or there, and that's perfectly fine, you won't see it so it doesn't matter.
Notes
- When making the dyed coffee filter pom poms, give the inside of your dryer a wipe to make sure no dye remained behind. I did not have any dye when I wiped mine, but better safe than sorry. You could also run a clean wet old towel through the dryer for a bit to see if it picks up any dye.Â
