Every single year Christmas creeps up on me out of nowhere! It doesn't seem like more than a couple of weeks ago that I sat and looked at the diary and counted 12 weeks until Christmas and now here we are with just over 4 weeks to get everything sorted and ready for the big day!
I love Christmas and always plan to do far too many things in the lead up to it, most of which never materialise, but this year I have been a bit organised and managed to sort out a crochet bauble pattern and a step by step blog posting for making a really easy pom pom wreath.
Last year I designed the Blitzen Bauble which sold really well at shows, but posting the plastic bauble proved a little hazardous as many of them broke, so this year I have designed a project that can be fitted over an existing bauble, which are available very cheaply. You can download my new crochet bauble pattern by following this link:
I love Christmas and always plan to do far too many things in the lead up to it, most of which never materialise, but this year I have been a bit organised and managed to sort out a crochet bauble pattern and a step by step blog posting for making a really easy pom pom wreath.
Last year I designed the Blitzen Bauble which sold really well at shows, but posting the plastic bauble proved a little hazardous as many of them broke, so this year I have designed a project that can be fitted over an existing bauble, which are available very cheaply. You can download my new crochet bauble pattern by following this link:
I really love the Anthropolgie stores and could spend hours wondering around inside the Regent St store or the shop on the Kings Road. I have quite a few quirky bits and bobs around my house which have come from the store, but I tend to buy things when they are on sale as the retail prices tend to be pretty steep. Anthropologie always have some really lovely Christmas decorations and I particularly like those that appear hand made. Below are some images of some of their current stock of decorations:
Whilst perusing their store on line recently I came across these wonderful pompom wreaths, but with a price tag of £118 I knew they were way out of my budget.
Pom poms are incredibly easy to make, especially with some of the new Clover Pom Pom Makers and they are a great way of using up bits and bobs of old yarn, so I decided it couldn't be too hard to make my own version of the Anthropologie wreath. I'm really pleased with the results and thought it would make a great blog tutorial - so here goes!
You will need a selection of yarns - I used various brands and weights because I wanted to have different textures and shades within the mix of cream pom poms. This project is quite yarn hungry so make sure you have plenty. You will also need a polystyrene wreath form - I got mine from Hobby Craft. There is a great choice on their web site - I bought the 300mm size for £3.
The first thing I did was make the pom poms. I made 2 sizes using the 'Small' size Clover Pom Pom Makers (there are 2 in a pack).
Each pom pom needs to be trimmed into a nice shape and you will need more than you think!
Using a few strands held together, wrap the yarn around the polystyrene ring.
Using a knitters sewing needle sew the pom poms in place on the front of the wreath form, sewing through the wrapped yarns and securing at the reverse. I used a Clover Chibi needle as it has a slightly bent end which makes sewing at unusual angles much easier.
Once you have filled three quarters of the wreath, make a hanger by crocheting a chain long enough to loop around the wreath and tie or sew in pace to form a loop. Again I used a few yarn strands held together.
Sew the remaining pom poms in place, making sure you don't have any gaps. Below is an image of my completed wreath:
Below are some more wreath ideas from Anthropologie, I particularly like the one with wraps of brightly coloured yarn called Cozy Kindling Wreath
You can use pom poms to decorate your Christmas Tree or create a pom pom garland. The cream garland is from Anthropologie, as is the ready made pom pom braid below:
John Lewis have some great pom pom related stuff in store too, such as the multicoloured bauble below and the fab pom pom tree topper.
I have another polystyrene wreath form and hope to make a multi coloured wreath over the next few weeks. If I do manage to do it I will put the images on the blog, but for now I am going to have a few days rest from making pom poms!