How to Make Paper Pom-Poms (Tissue Paper, Step by Step)

Lay ten to twenty sheets of tissue paper on top of each other and line the edges up as you stack. Trim the pile down to roughly a 16 inch square so every layer is the same size. Use tissue paper here, not crepe paper, or the folds will not hold their shape.

The number of sheets sets how full your pom ends up. Fewer layers give an airy pom, more layers give a dense, fluffy one. Pick your thickness now, because once you start folding you are committed to it.

Now pleat the whole stack like a fan. Start at one edge and fold up about an inch and a half. Flip the stack over and fold back the other way by the same amount. Keep alternating direction, folding and flipping, until the full square is a long flat strip of even pleats.

Try to keep the folds the same width so the pleats stack neatly. Crisp, matching pleats now mean the petals sit evenly when the pom opens later.

Hold the folded strip so all the layers stay together and cut a shape into both short ends. A rounded curve gives you soft, petal-like edges. An angled point gives a spikier, star-like pom. Cut through the full stack at once so every layer matches.

Whatever you cut here is the shape of every petal once the pom opens. Round for a flower look, pointed for a burst - it is the one place your style choice shows.

Pinch the folded strip tightly across the exact middle so it fans out at both ends. While you hold that pinch, wrap a piece of floral wire or a length of string around the center and twist it tight. This is the knot that holds the whole pom together.

Leave the wire or string ends long. Those tails become your hanger, so a few extra inches now saves you re-tying it when you want to hang the finished pom.

Now the fun part. Peel the top sheet up toward the center, then lift the next sheet on the other side, working outward from the middle a layer at a time. The pom starts as a flat fan and slowly builds volume as each sheet lifts.

Go slow and pull gently. Tissue tears easily, so rushing here is where poms go wrong. Slow hands and one layer at a time keep every petal whole.

Keep separating layers on both sides until the flat fan puffs out into a full round ball. Cup it in your palms, shape the outside, and tease apart any spot that looks flat. A little gentle fluffing is what turns folded paper into a soft, rounded pom.

To hang it, loop a length of fishing line through the wire at the center and tie it off. Make two or three in different colors and cluster them at different heights for that party-ready look.