Party DIY: Tissue Paper Pom Poms

The long-awaited tissue paper pom poms have finally completed and I have mastered it well enough to write up a tutorial - original source taken from www.bohoweddings.com but adjusted to the materials I can get my hands on. 

I have experimented with crepe paper and given its filmsy structure, it is rather difficult to handle during flipping and folding concertina style and especially when fanning out individual sheets. I would recommended crepe paper for those who likes texture on their pom poms, otherwise - considering that only the shape and unruliness of the papers will be noticed - I would still go for tissue paper.

Also, remember to do this without switching on the fan or at any place with wind. Even the slightest breeze can blow the papers over and you will have a hard time arranging them back together. 

Be generous with the length of twine and nylon string during cutting as it is always easier to handle longer strings than realizing you need 1cm more halfway through.

Materials you will need:

• 8 sheets of coloured tissue paper (about $3.20 each from Art Friend)
• Garden twine (one ball for about $3.30 from Art Friend)
• Tough paper scissors
• Nylon bead strings (from Daiso)
• Long ruler
• Smooth and flat table/any surface (I used the floor)

STEP 1. I am doing a dual colour paper pom pom to create gradient of blue by taking 2 sheets of baby blue tissue papers and 6 sheets of normal blue colour. Using a long ruler, measure a 2" gap and fold across. You can use the ruler to press down the sides gently or use your hand (shown in the 4th grid). Continue folding while making sure that the gap stays consistent.

You would have reached this stage where there is only 1" gap left to fold. Well... obviously I didn't intend to calculate the gap width using the given dimensions (20" x 26") so I gauged 2" would be good to have a fan large enough. Back to this situation; how do I rectify it? There's no need to... just go ahead and fold over! Who would notice the gap once you have fanned out the sheets and whose counting anyway?

STEP 2. Find the centre and use the long ruler to anchor nicely while you fold the left portion to the other side. The ruler helps to keep things steady and leave a faint mark so the twine can be tied over to hold the fan together. I did a double knot with the first one holding the fan a little taut, then the second knot secures the first knot.

STEP 3. Use the nylon string to loop under the twine and tie double knots at one end. Adjust the length of the string to the height you want to suspend your pom pom. 

STEP 4. I almost forgot this step! Cut a quadrant at both ends of the fan and make sure the ends are cut cleanly so as to enable easy fanning out. For the prototype, I fanned 4 sheets of paper gently on one side and did the same for the other side. 

Don't worry about squishing the pom pom; they'll do just fine. Most important part is to cover the bottom part by fanning the sheets straighter because you don't want your guests to see the "butt" of the pom pom.

STEP 5. I used the plastic bags which used to contain the tissue paper to store my "fans" so it can be protected while I bring it to my party venue next week. Neat way to recycle huh?

Party DIY: Perfect Circles

Who am I kidding to post DIY tutorials when I know that nobody visits my blog? Anyway, I wanna share something very useful for amateurs dabbing onto party crafts materials. Yes, yours sincerely.

My 21st birthday party is coming up next Saturday and I havr started planning the decorations a month before. I know right... so kiasu. The most important decoration in a party is the birthday banner. So I decided to drop by the two shops along Middle Road that sells party decorations. Guess what? They are horrid!!! *bloodcurdling scream* The designs are either for 12 and below or baby showers or wedding anniversaries. The only decent ones were in pastel colours and silver but the words are "IT'S A BOY/GIRL!" or "HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY". I decided to give up and invest more money on a prettier banner through DIY.

STEP 1. Buy scrapbook papers (12" x 12") of a light background that can be compatible with black or greyish black ink. The colours can be yellow  beige, light blue or any light shade of the colour of your birthday theme. I chose yellow for the banner to go along with black fonts.

Depending on the length of your banner - I go by each alphabet - buy one paper for every 4 alphabets. My banner is "HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY" so I bought 4 pieces with the "st" representing one alphabet.

Note: Inkjet printers are unable to print WHITE INK. I heard it's a great challenge for most printers and can only be done by really expensive ones. Unless you have a coloured background and place white fonts over it - the printer will regard it as an empty space.

STEP 2. Get ready a pair of scissors that can handle the thickness of scrapbook paper. Wait... Do you have a box of set squares back in secondary school? If yes, you are (damn) lucky because there is no need to buy an 3 inch circular craft punch! Use the item that you use to draw arcs back in school days.

STEP 3. If you have a packet of photo paper lying around (4" x 6"), pick one out as your template. The packet should state the photo paper dimensions. Trace out the template on the side of the scrapbook paper you wish to use so it can guide you during cutting. My arrangement is two vertical rectangles side by side starting from the upper left corner; one horizontal rectangle at bottom right corner and one vertical drawn right beside it. You should be able to draw 4 rectangles per paper.

STEP 4. Cut out all rectangles and leave them aside. Choose the font you want and play around in Microsoft Word to see how they look like. 

Fonts used: Bebas, Josefin Slab, Libby

Once you have finalized, select Print > 4" x 6". Go back to Home and you should see that the document size had changed. Using one page only, type the first letter of your alphabet and enlarge the font such that it is centralized. This is a test run so you can use the photo paper (previously used as a template) to print out a sample.

Centre alignment with font size 200 using Josefin Slab

STEP 5. Once the photo is done, use the sharp part of the set square item to anchor at the middle of the alphabet. Adjust the gap between your anchor and pencil and see if a perfect circle can be drawn within the paper. 

Don't worry if you can't see it because the pencil doesn't work on glossy photo paper but works on normal paper.

Remember NOT to adjust the gap anymore as you will need it for many many more alphabets.

If the font is too big or a perfect circle cannot be drawn, go back and adjust and reload a new photo paper or any 4" x 6" paper as your sample.

STEP 6. PRINT OUT EVERY ALPHABET! Draw circles - the line should be drawn dark enough for you to cut - on each alphabet after locating the centre point. Cut out everything and tie them up together by glueing with ribbon or garden twine!

STEP 7 (optional). If you would like a fancy banner, use some fabric tape or crotchet or lace tapes and go over the sides.

P/S: If the ink appear light, fill them in with black marker but be very careful not to fill over.

Good luck! :)