Craft Lightning: Christmas Pom Pom Branches

To celebrate the season I am kicking off Craft Lightning holiday week — a collection highlighting simple Christmas crafts that can be completed in 15 minutes or less, plus, I feature a roundup of other quick-and-easy craft projects from craft bloggers around the web. My project today was created as part of Michael’s Dream Tree challenge, but I think it may have spurred a pompom epidemic that will be felt in my house through Valentines day!

Before we begin, I just want to say that I’m not in the business of telling people what to do, especially if when it comes to something as personal as holiday decorating (I’d sooner tell someone how to put on their socks than how to do their Christmas tree (and you don’t even want to see the horns that come out of my head when someone tries to tell me how to do mine!)). That said. Ahem. If there is one suggestion that I could give the world, it would be to bust out of the heavy, dull triangle shape of the traditional tree by adding a layer of what I call “frosting.”

What is frosting? It’s the things you add to the surface of the tree to make it less of a cone shape. Branches. Feathers. Big swags of tulle and mesh. Stuff that sprouts out of the tree, not the stuff that hangs off the branches in the tree. I talked about this a little more in-depth while back. Frosting a tree is an absolute game changer. This year I added these pompom branches and you would not believe how much of a difference they make. Look!

Yes there are more ornaments on the right, but the magic happens in the edges. There are no hard lines. Let’s look again.

One is a boring triangle. One is a boo-yow spaghetti monster. Which one would you want to take home?

That was a rhetorical question.

These branches are super fun (AND EFFECTIVE) so I thought I would share how I made them. Let’s go!

One last time: did I mention this was easy? It’s easy. 

MATERIALS

Gold Branches. I used faux, plastic and wire branches from the floral section at Michael’s. One stem retails for $9.99, but they are big so you can get 2 or 3 branches out of each stem. Holiday floral is 50% off right now, and Michael’s currently has a coupon for 25% off (including sale items) so that means you can get one stem for $2.50, which actually breaks down to one branch for 83cents. That’s a great deal! I noticed yesterday that Michael’s also carries a red velvet flocked version of this branch. THAT WOULD LOOK AWESOME. You can also use real branches from the garden, but be wary of using them on a tree in a high-traffic area because when they snap, they snap. Can you tell I learned that one the hard way? Yeah. How many branches will you need per tree? The more the merrier, but I suggest at least an average of 2 per foot of tree. So if you have a 6′ tree, prepare for 12 or more branches. I would go with 18. It’s Christmas.

Pompoms. I have been gradually collecting pompoms for some time, but if you are a beginner, I like this variety bag (again, from Michaels – retails at $5.99 but you can use your 40% off coupon) and just remove the blue ones. Just about anything with a rainbow assortment can look Christmasy when you remove anything blue or black. I think I might have also added a couple mini packs of red for good measure, but it’s very easy to customize your color wave here.

Hot Glue. I strongly suggest using a glue gun with a “warm” setting so you don’t burn your fingers, because your fingers are going to be all up in here, but that’s your call.

Something to keep your braches upright. This process will go a lot faster if you have your branches sticking in a bucket of sand or a heavy vase. Trust me.

Start with a dab of glue on the tip of the branch.

Now stick a pom pom on it. I like to burry the glue bit in the pompom so it stays on there good and snug, but that’s a lot easier when you aren’t worried about burning your fingers (high five to you, warm temp setting glue gun).

If you are using the branches I used, you’ll find there is a fork in the middle. You can use a wire cutter to snip them off, but I found that wiggling them back and forth ten times was equally effective.

When they are done you can stick them in the tree, no wires or hangers needed. Just slip them in as the very last item on the tree and watch the magic happen! Or, skip the tree and make your own little table top tree.

Doesn’t this remind you of those gumdrop branches that used to be popular back in the day?

And here is a tip to remember: If you find yourself with a bunch of glue strings, wait until you finish all the branches, bundle together, then hit them with a hairdryer for 20 seconds. The strings disappear. I know, isn’t that nifty?

Merry Christmas! Looking for other quick and easy ways to kick off the holiday season?

ME TOO! Now for the great crafts from our partner blogs this week…

I’m nuts over these  plaid rag ball ornaments a try over at Mad in Crafts. She is ground zero for the holiday plaid trend so be sure to check her out (no pun intended). Also, Jessica is the person who gave me my new favorite German vocabulary word, backpfeifengesicht = a face that needs to be slapped, so y’all are going to like her if you don’t already.

Speaking of plaid…these plaid ruffle tags from Dolen Diaries are too cute!

This custom photo ornament would make a terrific gift for anyone, but I see the granny crowd going especially nuts for a gift like this. Home gift + cute photos of children = Happy Grannies.

Michelle’s Party Plan It made some festive drink containers and coasters in just minutes.