Martha Stewart Tissue Pom Fiasco

My nephew recently turned two, and as he now lives halfway across the country, I relished my time with him while he and his mom were in town for a quick visit recently.  Over lunch, my sister reminded me of a certain disaster surrounding the baby shower I helped host for her and who am I to withhold a self-deprecating story from you ladies?

For those of you who know me, you know I like to farm out my brilliant ideas to people who can make them happen and then all is well with the world.  In prepping for my sister’s baby shower, however, I was going to need to do some of the projects myself.  Isn’t that the way it always seems to go?

First up, these ultra-cute tissue pom poms featured on Martha Stewart. She claims they are joyous bursts of color dancing above the table. And really, everyone needs some joyous bursts in their life . . . how could I resist? So I set to work to see just how easy these color-bursts were for us non-crafty people.

I gathered the supplies - 20×30(ish) inch tissue paper, floral wire, and scissors:

I then took eight sheets and folded them accordion style, making sure to crease them well:

Next I twisted some floral wire around the center and cut the ends so they would be rounded:

Then you are supposed to separate the sheets from the center in order to make the big poofy pom pom. This one didn’t quite make it:

This is a smaller version of the red:

I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome, so that project got scrapped and the leftover tissue was used for future gift wrapping. Sorry, sis, no bursts of joy for your shower.

My synopsis? If you’re crafty and good with your hands, this should theoretically be an easy project. Everyone says so. If you’re like me and like to plan, design and leave the execution to others, I’d recommend hiring out someone artsy to do it for you.