DIY Cheerleading Pom-Poms

Near the end of the school year, my six year old came home from school, just BEGGING to go to summer cheer camp. I just couldn't bring myself to pay the exorbitant fees associated with it, and so I planned my own cheer camp for her in our backyard.

No cheer camp is complete without pom-poms, however, and rather than pay $10-$15 for a set of pom-poms, I made her some pom-poms in her favorite colors for less than $1 each!

These pom-poms take less than half an hour to make (for a pair), are easy on the budget, and are GREAT for your little cheerleader!

• 2-3 thin plastic 54" x 108" tablecloths in different colors (2 tablecloths are sufficient if the pom-poms are a solid color)
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Electrical tape

The most efficient way I found to do this was as follows.

• Remove tablecloth from package and unfold it partway so that it is spread out to its full LENGTH but is still folded across the WIDTH. There should be four layers of tablecloth at this point. Folded like this, the tablecloth should be about 12 inches wide.

• Use scissors to make a cut the entire length of the tablecloth along the remaining folds so that there are four long layers 12 inches wide, stacked on top of each other.

• Place the ruler alongside the tablecloth and cut across to the ruler every 9 inches

• A stack of 25-35 rectangles is needed to get a full pom-pom. If using multiple colors, layering them at this point makes for a more even distribution of color in the final pom-pom. Rather than separating each individual layer, layer the sheets in their sets of four since they are already in these stacks

• After deciding how to layer them, line them up in one even stack.

• Place the ruler alongside the stack of rectangles.

• Using scissors, cut strips about 1 inch wide and 4.5 inches long down the entire length of each of the 9 inch sides of the rectangle stack to create a fringe. There should be about 3 inches of un-cut material remaining in the center of the rectangle stack.

• When all the fringe strips are cut, scrunch together the center of the pom-pom in an accordion fold.

• Using a 4-inch strip of electrical tape, tape the center fold together tightly.

• Add 2 to 4 more strips of electrical tape until the handle is about 3 inches wide.

This step is the most time consuming part of this project. It may seem like a lot of extra work, but even if you were to buy a pre-made pom-pom for at least five times the price, they are usually sent “un-fluffed,” so you’d have to do this step anyway.

• Working in sections, take two strips at a time and pull the two strips in opposite directions (see picture). Repeat on all the strips until the entire pom-pom is full and poofy.

• Be careful not to pull TOO hard since the plastic is thin and will stretch and tear if the pom-pom is “fluffed” too vigorously.

The second and third pictures show how the pom-pom should look when fully fluffed.

Give your pom-poms to your pint sized cheerleaders and Go! Team! Go!