Pumpkin Pom Pom Garland

Pom pom equals party, plain and simple. That's why I'm so excited about this super easy DIY way to make long yarn pumpkin pom pom garlands that are adaptable for any occasion!! I had seen a tutorial somewhere online for how to make many pom poms at once (I apologize that I can't remember WHERE I saw this to give credit) and I realized that if I made one change and didn't cut one of the strands, I'd have an instant garland! And since it's Halloween time, I couldn't resist making them little pumpkins for this instructable.

Ready for a pumpkin pom party? Let's go!

All you need to make your own pumpkin pom pom garland is the following:

2 skeins of orange yarn
1 skein of green yarn
2 wood clamps OR legs of a coffee table
scissors
masking tape

NOTE: This process is easiest to do using two clamps, but you can also use the legs of your coffee table, assuming they are about 5 feet apart. I'll proceed assuming you're using clamps. If you have any questions about how to adapt this instructable to using table legs, don't hesitate to ask questions in the comment section.

Attach the clamps at opposite ends of a work table, approx. 5 feet apart. Place them so that if the yarn wraps are pulling the clamp uprights in towards each other, the clamp won't move. (like pictured above)

Wrap the orange yarn once around one of the uprights leaving a 4 foot tail and tape the yarn to the table.

NOTE: After taking these pictures, I made the pumpkin garland again for the video and discovered that it works best if you keep the first yarn wrap ABOVE all subsequent wraps. This will be the piece of yarn that you don't cut to be the garland strand and that the pumpkins will hang from. They will hang stem side up if this is closer to the top of each pop pom. Watch the video in Step 2 to see what this looks like.

Wrap the orange yarn around the two clamp uprights 40-45 times, working from the first wrap down.

Once you've gone around enough times, cut the yarn and tie it to the upright.

To make the stem of the pumpkin, add two wraps of the green yarn, right at the top.

Cut 26-30 x 8" long pieces of orange yarn.

Starting in the center, tie one of orange yarn pieces with a half knot at the top of the wrapped yarn and pull it as tight as possible. Then wrap the ends down underneath and tie a full knot, again, as tight as possible. The ends of the piece should be hanging straight down if this is done correctly. (like pictured) The ties will serve as the center of the pom poms.

How wide apart you tie the pieces will determine the size of the pom poms. For the amount of times I asked you to wrap the yarn, a distance of 2" between ties is perfect. If you do them much further apart, the pom poms will be a bit spindly. (If you want bigger poms, I recommend doing 50-60 wraps of orange yarn.)

Repeat the above tying process until the full length of the wraps has been tied off.

Use scissors to cut the tie tails to just less than 1" long.

This is the only tricky-ish part of the process: Finding the piece of yarn that will become the garland strand.

You're going to un-tape the long tail you started the wrap with and dig that same piece of yarn out FROM THE TOP of all the wraps and undo the single wrap you did around the clamp upright. I know these photos show me doing it from the bottom, but as I explained in Step 3, the little pumpkins sit stem side up WAY more consistently once the pom poms are cut if the garland strand is just below the green stem yarn wraps instead of at the bottom. I show it the proper way in the video in Step 1.

Once the garland strand is free, pull it taught while digging in between the first two tie offs FROM THE TOP until you find it and pull it up and away from the rest of the yarn wraps. Place the scissors so that you will cut through the yarn wraps right in the middle of the first two ties WITHOUT CUTTING THE GARLAND STRAND!

Cut the outer side of the pom pom closest to the clamp the same length as the inner side (approx. 1") and remove the scraggly bits from the clamp upright. Retie the garland strand to the clamp.

Continue digging out the garland strand and cutting the yarn wraps in between the ties being VERY CAREFUL not to cut the garland strand until all the poms are cut.

If you do accidentally cut the strand (like I did the first time I tried this technique) don't fret! Just remove the shorter half of the garland and tie the two cut ends of the garland strand back together. You may have to move one of the clamps in a bit to make up for the loss of strand length, but no biggie. Then continue on your merry cutting way.

NOTE: The poms won't be perfectly round with this technique, so if you'd like to give them a haircut and shape them up a bit, do so before you remove the garland from the clamps. It will be much easier than after.

Once you've pulled the garland off of the clamps, use the extra length of yarn (the tail) to space the pom poms out how you'd like.

To make longer garlands, you could try putting the clamps further apart (I haven't tried this myself) OR just make several shorter ones and tie them together.

Now it's time to hang your garlands and get your Halloween party on!

This project is super adaptable to every season/holiday! For Easter, use pastel yarns instead and cut the sides down a little to turn them into easter eggs! There's no limit to the different colors options and occasions these would work for. Get creative!

And remember to please post pics of your creations in the comments section below if you give this project a go! :)