DIY Cotton Ball Pom Pom Garland

Happy holidays my friends!  I hope your month has been less busy than mine has been!  I am seriously wondering if I’m going to get everything done before the big day!  That being said, I did manage to check a few more projects off my list, one of them being this pretty DIY cotton ball garland that recently made an appearance in my Holiday House Walk Tour.

It was so inexpensive and easy to make, I thought I would share the “how to” with you.

If you’ve been reading along, you know that hubby and I recently purchased a home, and funds have been pretty tight as we’ve been using any “extra” cash to personalize our home and make it work better for us.  This means I’ve had to get creative with Christmas décor, making much of it myself and finding the rest for cheap.   I love that pom-poms seem to be everywhere these days, and I looked for a pom-pom garland to help soften up my rustic  Christmas tree, but what I found was waaaaaay out of my price range.  Not one to give up, I figured out a way to get the look without breaking the bank!

All that is needed to complete this project is:

A sewing needle

Heavy duty thread (you could even use thin embroidery thread and needle, but I just used a heavy duty sewing thread and regular needle)

Two 100 count bags of jumbo cotton balls (try to find ones as round as possible)

A couple of hours of time (I worked on this project in the evenings while snuggled on the sofa watching Christmas movies)

A feline-free work space

A whole lot of patience

I basically threaded the cotton balls onto eight foot sections of string.  I found that making the garland in sections helped reduce tangling, although I still had some tangling, mostly because my cat found this project to be very intriguing!

I also started this project using embroidery thread, but when I ran out and was too lazy to run to the store for more, I switched to regular thread.  The embroidery thread seemed to work better; the cotton balls stayed in place a little bit better, but the regular thread works just fine, too.  Tips: it is easier to stick the needle through the middle of the cotton ball rather than through the sides.

Also, it is helpful to tie a knot around the first cotton ball on your string, and around the last one, but it’s not necessary to tie a knot around each one.  Way too tedious!

If you end up with a lot of  “marshmallow” shaped balls, like I did, just rub them in the palms of your hands, in a circular motion until they become round (I told you you needed patience!)

Now, you certainly don’t need to do this step, but I personally like the way it looks.  Continue threading until you have the lengths needed to decorate your tree.  Space your pom-poms about an inch apart, or you could push the cotton balls together, for a more solid looking garland (which will require more cotton balls, and more time).

For a variation of this, you could use different sized cotton balls, ie: regular or small.   I love the way this garland has softened up my otherwise rustic -burlap tree, and I think it looks enough like the store bought pom-pom garland, without spending anywhere near the store bought price.

What do you think of using unexpected items in home décor?  Have you completed a similar project?  If so, I’d love to hear about it (in the comments below).  Until next time….

Amy

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