Happy December everybody, how have we got here this fast? My city centre has their Christmas tree lights on, my xmas shopping is in full swing, and I’ve watched a few cheesy Christmas movies already. There’s still plenty of time to make some decorations though, and I have a great guest post here all about pom poms, which I hope will inspire you. Over to the lovely Hannah at Jolly Festive to chat about her beautiful Pom Pom Christmas Tree Project. You can find my post all about kid’s Christmas books here.
Pom-pom craft projects are brilliant. To be honest, that’s not a sentence I ever
expected to find myself writing. Years
of making pom poms with those cardboard circles, alongside our Guiding volunteer
Mum, traumatised me. Not because they
were hard to make. But because they seemed to take an eternity and the constant
feeding of yarn through that central hole made my eyes go squiggly!
Unlike Lauren, I wasn’t blessed with particular crafting
talents nor patience, and so for me, crafting needs to be simple with success nearly
guaranteed. Especially in the run-up to
Christmas, when time is a particularly precious commodity.
So newbie crafters out there, or those looking for a stress-free project, this one is for you! Even better, this Christmas tree will make you look like you’re punching above your crafting weight as it really is quite the showstopper despite its simplicity! Plus you get to use a hot glue gun -what better way of saying ‘Welcome to the Crafting World’ than that!
Christmas Trend For Pastels
My sister Jo and I have always been more interested in
festive themes and traditions than the average person. Indeed we can both wax lyrical about
Christmas non-stop every day (hence why we started a Christmas blog!). However even we were taken aback to learn quite
how much wider world events shape the decorations on our Christmas trees.
It’s easy to assume that the festive season stands apart
from the rest of life, a constant in a changing landscape. But as we immersed ourselves further into
this festive world we discovered that Christmas also moves with the times.
Quite rightly many of us are thinking more carefully about the ecological impact of our festive décor with an increasing trend for shopping locally and reusable festive treats, such as refillable advent calendars and crackers, and ornaments that can be repurposed year-round. The uncertainty and worry of the last two years have translated into a return of traditional Christmas icons and classic seasonal colours, with nostalgia playing an even bigger role than usual in shaping our festivities.
Alongside these themes, another trend is emerging. Whimsy. Fuelled by a lack of festivities, cultural experiences and holidays, we are more determined than ever to embrace the wonder and cheer of the Christmas season and enjoy a few moments away from the toils of daily life. Bright colours and glitter balls remind us of celebrations and parties, beach and sea life ornaments allow us to reminisce about holidays in easier times, and pastel colours represent that gentle romantic fairy-like world where magic and happy endings really do exist.
So, when we were looking for a project to share, bringing
together this youthful pastel trend with the playfulness of fluffy pompoms
seemed fitting. And why not in the shape
of a Christmas tree? The festive season is
pretty much upon us after all!
Pastel Pom Pom Christmas Tree
The result of this tree creation is really quite striking. I love the way the two-tone pom poms can be created with a nod to those vintage inverted glass bauble styles our grandparents had on their trees. They look like fluffy ornaments hanging on their own purpose-built design!
The flexibility of colours allows for so much individual
preference and personality to shine through.
We used around nine pastel colours in total but you could easily tailor
this to match your general Christmas décor theme. Or use up whatever leftovers
of yarn you have lying around.
The star on top is so simple, and it felt satisfying to use
the offcuts from the pom-poms as stuffing, reducing the waste a little. But for me, the finishing touch is in the
lights. Any battery-powered LED lights
on a thin wire will do to wind around and in between the pom-poms. But selecting some with a more unusual or
muted bulb will add to the overall gentle flow of the tree and we were thrilled
with the ones from IKEA that we used.
Having the 6hr timer meant that there was nothing to do until the
batteries ran out as well!
For a full tutorial on how to create the Christmas tree
including step-by-step guides for each of the pom-pom designs, please do head
over to Jolly Festive: https://jollyfestive.com/pom-pom-pastel-christmas-tree/.
We look forward to welcoming you there.
We can’t wait to see what other
crafting ideas Lauren has in mind too - she’s almost persuaded us on some origami
(paper stars are another big Christmas trend for this year!).
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