If you’re wondering what some of the things we’re doing to get ready for the birthday party this weekend include, here’s one of them. We are making two dozen tissue pom poms that are going to decorate the backyard and the deck for Olivia’s birthday party. Bright colors, sunshine, poufy, goodness is going to be everywhere. Yellow, teal and magenta. Those are Olivia’s colors of choice.

Why did I choose tissue paper pom poms? They’re easy to make - and they’re cheap. For $12 you’re going to get some awesome bang for your buck with twenty-four poufy balls. Plus, once you’ve practised you can learn to make them in about three minutes. Under an hour for some fantastic party decor? That’s a steal!

Tip: Shop at the Dollarama. One package of tissue is enough to create two balls - all you need are tape and scissors for supplies. To string them you can use twine, string or whatever you have on hand. I used some string from a sample pack of Baker’s Twine that we picked up and chose assorted colors.

My favorite part of these? Even imperfect, they look fantastic!

Tissue Paper Pom Pom Balls

• Divide the package of tissue paper in half
• Take half of the package, line it up and fan the paper, back and forth until the entire sheet is in a fan
• Take a strip of tape and wrap it around the middle
• Cut the edges to a point, or a rounded circle depending on the appearance you want
  Use sharp scissors, the tissue paper is quite thick
• Hold one half of the tissue and start fanning out the other, pulling from the bottom of the tissue slowly to avoid ripping it
• When one side is ‘floufed’ I attach a piece of string to the middle with tape (as it’s quite difficult to do once the ball is formed)
• Flouf the second side

Tip: it’s easiest to flouf the ball for the best appearance when it’s hanging up.