Colorful Pom Pom Tree

I am LOVING pom poms this year. I think it’s because they just make me feel warm and cozy. This is the time of year when I can’t get enough warm and cozy. I’ve made other pom pom crafts, like my wreath for multiple seasons. Why not try a tree?

This isn’t an especially difficult project, but it is time-consuming. I spent a lot of time watching Hallmark movies while making pom poms. You can use whatever colors you want to get the exact look you’re going for.

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Supplies:

• Pom pom maker set
• Foam cone
• Yarn
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

For the base of the tree, I used an 18” foam cone. You can go bigger or smaller if you want (check out this 24” cone!). 

I have the Clover set of pom pom makers, and I used the three smallest ones for my tree. If I’d made a bigger tree, I would have used the fourth size.

I used the most basic, inexpensive yarn I could find for the pom poms. I actually had seven colors already that I’ve used for other rainbow projects. (Check out my yarn rainbow and yarn painting posts!) I ended up buying four more colors, and thanks to sales at Michaels and JoAnn, I didn’t spend much money at all.

I will say that the Loops & Threads yarn from Michaels is heavier weight and doesn’t fluff up quite as much as the Big Twist yarn from JoAnn.  Just something to consider if it matters to you. I don’t think it’s noticeable on the finished tree. 

Any hot glue gun will do, but I linked to my favorite, a deal I found last year. It uses mini glue sticks, but I used a longer version this time. I went through quite a bit of glue, so I was happy to not be constantly reaching for a new stick.

How to make a pom pom tree

Step 1

Make pom poms. Lots of pom poms. I made a total of 102 for this project. Here’s the breakdown of sizes:

• 11 large 
• 45 medium
• 46 small

For a tutorial on how to make pom poms, see my holiday pom pom wreath post. I make my pom poms as full as I can.

To finish the pom poms, you can trim them down. Sometimes they come out of the pom pom maker not perfectly round, and there are also always loose strands you can trim away. For these particular pom poms, I also trimmed them down to make them seem fuller.

The amount of yarn bits and fuzz left over is pretty incredible. And also just pretty. I stuffed it all into a jar, and I’ll figure out how to use it later. My daughter suggested I frame it.

Step 2

Attach pom poms to the tree.

To attach each pom pom, I squeezed a generous amount of glue onto each pom and then held it onto the cone while it firmed up. There really wasn’t any rhyme or reason to how I did this, except I stuck mostly to the bigger pom poms on the bottom and smaller on top. The placement was strictly based on what I thought looked good.

I did have to go back and make more pom poms, but I figured I probably would.

I’m still debating a tree topper. I have a scrap of pretty cardboard that I was thinking about using to make a star, and I think that might look nice. But you don’t have to do anything! Your tree can be done without a topper.

Happy crafting!