Featured Guest: Maria Nerius
Hi everyone. We’re adding a new feature to the Clover blog – guest bloggers! Today we’re excited to share a project from craft extraordinaire Maria Nerius. Maria is a designer for FaveCrafts.com and calls herself “a Clover tool freak and pom-pom queen”. “I have everything Clover!” she says. “They’re great tools that make crafting fun and easy.”
Pom Pom Flowers
by Maria Nerius
Have you started your Spring Cleaning yet? It’s an annual tradition here at Nerius House & DogHouse Studios. The house gets sparkling and the studio, well, the studio gets organized. I am a collector of craft supplies. You name it, I can probably find it somewhere in my studio. I don’t always know right off the bat what I’m going to do with a particular craft supply, I just know I must have it and I will use it.
During my recent Spring fling of cleaning, I rediscovered an old hat box and inside was yarn. This yarn was very thin and lightweight almost like a floss or thread. If it’s yarn, I must make pom-poms! And even though this was not the type of yarn typically used for pom-poms, I decided to experiment because something told me this yarn would make awesome pom-poms. So out came my Clover pom-pom makers and I was wrapping my heart out. However, because of the yarn, my pom-poms turned out a bit flat. So I added more yarn. Still kind of flat. This was disappointing. I just knew this yarn could make a good pom-pom.
As I held my flat pom-poms, I thought they looked like flowers in a Spring garden. Bingo! Who said a pom-pom couldn’t be a flower? Now, I was excited, so I began to experiment in color combinations. I have to tell you, I find pom-pom making rather addicting since I got my Clover pom-pom makers. It’s quick, easy, and no-fail! Of course I had to get my friends in on the act and before we knew it we had acres of flowers. We turned them into pins for Easter gifts. And you can also use the pin as a pendant for a necklace!
The one thing I’ve learned after more than 25 years of crafting is that there are never really mistakes, just happy accidents showing you something new! I didn’t end up with traditional pom-poms, but I discovered a garden of cheerful flowers while doing my Spring cleaning this year. And that’s really what creativity is all about, making the world more colorful and bright!
Materials
Yarn thread (fingering weight cotton or wool yarn will also work)
Clover Pom Pom Maker
Scissors
Floss
Flower center embellishment (buttons were used)
Glue
Pinback
Weight or heavy book
Optional: silk leaf
Instructions
- Select the size of flower you want to make and pick your Clover pom-pom maker. I experimented with all the sizes from extra small to large and loved all of them. Wrap, cut, and tie-off pom-pom as instructed. The pom-pom will be a little flat (not fluffy like it would normally be). Place thumb onto center and flatten completely. Place a weight or heavy book on top of flat flower for a couple of hours.
- Trim and shape flower. Relax and enjoy the process as your flower blooms. Glue a button or other center embellishment to front of flower. If you want to add a leaf, do so at this time adhering it to the back of the flower. Glue pinback to back of flower. Enjoy.
- The flower on the necklace is attached by pinback and is a solid color of yarn. The purple flower pin is a combination of violet hues of yarn.
