From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

Cooper, who is now becoming a-big-cat, has finally demolished his favourite toy (seen here with kitten Cooper.)

In a typical bout of consumeristic frenzy, I searched high and low for a replacement. NEEDS : Yarn pom-pom with bell. FINDS : Nothing. At some point I thought “I have yarn, I have bells… lets craft this thing.”

What You Need

• Yarn
• Cardboard
• Circle shape to trace
• Scissors
• Bell (optional)

Patrick, Kat, and I traced two concentric circles on a piece of cardboard, and cut along them to make a ring with an opening. Then we did it again so we had two rings. We cut a piece of yarn or heavy-duty thread about a foot long and sandwiched it between the two cardboard rings with the ends sticking out at each side of the opening. Using our fingers to hold the sandwich together, we starting wrapping the whole thing with yarn.

So we wrapped…

and wrapped…

and wrapped…

until it was about this thick.

Then, while holding it carefully, we cut between the layers of cardboard, pulling the inside string to gather up the pieces.

and we cut…

and pulled until it made a pom-pom.

We tied up the strings, used them to attach a jingle bell, and gave it a haircut.

Here’s one…

and here are three.

During this adventure I learned…

• Cheap yarn works best for pom-poms.
• It is faster and easier to make a pom-pom than shop for a cat toy.
• I should always employ a quality control expert for crafty inspections.