A Thrifter in Disguise: Super Sweet Pom Pom Necklaces

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Super Sweet Pom Pom Necklaces

Gingham and Pom Pom Strands

Because every girl needs some pearls... er... Pom Poms!

Yes, yes, I know: yet another post related to the Jewelry and Art Birthday Party. But rest assured--this is the final one! And, in fact, my favorite! Because every time I look at these sweet little necklaces, they make me smile.

The whole time I was planning this party, I knew I wanted to make a pom pom necklace, but I just wasn't exactly sure how. At first I planned to use a bunch of little pom poms strung together by a gingham ribbon... but I soon realized that wasn't possible... we're talking pom poms, not beads. So I was sorta stuck. And so I popped onto Google Images, looked around, and was totally inspired by Michelle of Neon Rattail's tutorial for her Pom-Pom Necklace. You can see I altered it a little, really just the chain, but the genius all comes from her!

Another reason I was so glad to find her tutorial was because I didn't even know this Pom-Pom Garland from Michael's even existed (sorry that was the best link I could find), and using it made my life SOOOO much easier (since I was making about 15 of these necklaces as favors for the party).

The process was pretty simple, I just followed Michelle's directions, and the only difference is that I used strands of gingham ribbon instead of a chain. I had never used jump rings before, and that was the element that really made the whole project possible (and probably the trickiest part-but not too bad! I just don't have a lot of experience making jewelry).

I'm posting a bunch of my "paparazzi" pics below, but refer to Michelle's tutorial for full directions. For the ribbon, you can see that I did a double-strand so that I could keep the consistent line of the ribbon going through the loops and to avoid any choppy ribbon ends hanging out by the pom poms. And that's basically it!

For the party, I put each necklace in pretty take-out box (got those from the Dollar Bins at Michael's--I think they were 6 for $1), and R gave them out to the girls as they were leaving. Those, in addition to their party crafts and pinata candy, served as their goodie bags!

Although the kids did end up with candy from the pinata, I was glad I didn't just fill their goodie bags to the brim with sugar, and instead went with a more custom option. What are some other creative non-candy goodie bag ideas you've used? I'm always looking for more.