I've changed my design just a bit. I'm using glass beads for the eyes which is much better. At the bottom of this post, there's a tutorial for those interested:
Chickies! I have grown a bit obsessed with making the perfect pom-pon. Why? Who knows? That's just the way I am. Once I get an idea, I work on it until I'm bored. Hopefully, inspiration will hold out for me to make a bunch to give out for Easter. Pom-pons are surprisingly tricky. I googled and found a plethora of pom-pon "makers" which I am way too cheap for. Then there's the traditional method of cutting out 2 cardboard circles-blah,blah,blah--it's so time consuming I don't want to even type it. What works like gangbusters for me is using a stick. Okay, it's a spatula handle--but stick-like in its essence. For the larger poms I used the sheath to my microplane. I think the reason these work so well is that you can wrap a ton of yarn along the length and it's all relatively the same length.
TUTORIAL:
Materials:
Wooden sticks (see instructions), two slightly different sizes.
Cheap acrylic yarn (Red Heart is great for this project)
Scissors
glue that tries clear
orange or yellow felt
black glass beads
straight pins
Find a long slender object, like a wooden spatula handle, paint stirrer, dowel rod, etc. It has to be perfectly straight so the yarn can slide off.
First, tie a 18" gathering string (just a piece of the yarn) to the handle on one end. The other end is secured with your hand, but you could tie it there,too.
Then wrap and wrap the yarn down the whole length of the handle. That's the key--you get lots of similarly sized loops this way so that it's nice and full. Okay, so you keep wrapping. Wrap more than you think you should!
Once it's wrapped, untie the gathering string and tie the ends together over the yarn wraps in just a simple knot (this is a temporary knot!).Then slide the whole shebang off the handle and tighten the gathering sting as tightly as you can and secure with a double knot. It must be very tight--get someone to help you if you have to. If this knot is loose, then the chick will fall apart. After the knot, it's going to look like a yarn doughnut.
Then you cut all the loops and shape it with the scissors. To get a nice full pom, you'll have to trim alot. Don't worry! Just try to make it as round as possible.
Make two different sized poms (by using different sized sticks). One's the head, one's the body. Tie them together tightly and secure the knot with some glue.
To make the beak: The beak is a small felt triangle that has two corners glued together. It's best to make the beaks ahead of time so the glue is dry. Beaks should also be placed first because they dictate where the eyes will go. Part the yarn and run a vertical line of glue down in the pom. Then place the beak--you can secure with a straight pin.
The eyes are black glass beads. Find the best placement for the eyes and part the yarn to apply the glue. Then using a straight pin, place the eye carefully. You can use a pin to secure the eye until the glue dries.
Wow. I am boring. But happy ;)
