Pom-Pom Bunny DIY

Spring is upon us!

(Maybe?)

Although we did just get dumped on with snow in Minnesota, Easter will be here in about one month whether the snow melts or not. So, this weekend I spent some time making an Easter wall hanging. I went back and forth about sharing on the blog, because I don’t know if I totally love it or not yet… As with many of my original ideas, it looked way better in my head. Hopefully somebunny will find this tutorial useful…

Materials I used:
-Various colors of yarn
-2 metal hoops, one 8 inch and one 5 inch (found at craft stores, too!)
–12 gauge beading wire
-Wire cutters
-Scissors
–Hot glue gun

I’m always thinking about creative ways to use leftover yarn. I have several balls that aren’t really big enough to crochet with, but they’re definitely not small enough to just throw away. That’s what brought me to make this bunny out of pom-poms! In all, the project required me to make about 50 of them. This could be done with any colors, but I decided to alternate between my “spring-colored” leftovers, and a variegated pastel skein. Making pom-poms is actually quite simple! For this project, I wrapped yarn taut (not loose, but also don’t cut off your circulation) around 4 fingers- about 35 times for each pom. As you’ll see below, to complete each pom, take the yarn off of your fingers and lay it on a strand of same-colored yard. TIGHTLY tie in the middle 2 times, then flip and tie 2 more times on the back side of the pom. Next, cut the loops of yard that were created on both sides.

Lastly, fan it out into the pom-pom shape!

In order to make sure the spacing and fullness of the craft is to your liking, I recommend making batches of a handful of poms at a time and placing them on your metal hoops as you go. I used wire cutters to cut my hoops, and used the pom-poms like beads, stringing them on through the middle of each pom.

For the tail I made an XL pom by wrapping all of my colors onto my four spread fingers (spreading your fingers will make it wider and going around many times will make it more full). I slipped this onto the bottom of my larger loop.

Once the two hoops were filled, I used wire cutters to cut the beading wire into 2 pieces about 16 inches long. Bend and play with the wire before cutting to make the ears as long as you’d like.. Just be sure to add a few extra inches for connecting the ears to the head.

Next, I used the hot glue gun to cut an additional 2-3 inches of beading wire to connect the body and head. Use whatever method words best for you–maybe you’re more into the twisty-tie style of connecting. I connected the head and body loops by tightly wrapping the wire around the two. I used a combination of the methods for the ears. The hot glue was used to secure the wires and prevent them from sliding around.

Bend the ears however you please. This was the most frustrating part of the craft for me. I went with one ear bent because it gave a bit more dimension to the bunny.

And ta-da! The little guy is ready to hang. I have to say it is growing on me!