DIY with The Neon Tea Party: Mexican Marigold Pom Pom Garland How-To

We're excited to have our favorite crafter, Marisa of The Neon Tea Party, back this month with our DIY Series!

This month, Marisa is here with a fun
Cempasúchil Pom Pom Garland How-to

¡Hola Artelexia community! This is Marisa Morrison—crafter, pom pom expert, and founder of The Neon Tea Party back for our second DIY post with Artelexia!!

It is officially October and for both Artelexia and The Neon Tea Party, that means we only have one holiday on our minds: Día de Muertos! There is no holiday I love crafting for more than Día de Muertos as there are so many awesome, colorful projects you can make to help celebrate the occasion.

Since this year has been the Year of the Pom Pom for The Neon Tea Party, we knew we had to create something that fuses our favorite craft with our favorite holiday, which is how we came up with the idea for a Cempasúchil Pom Pom Garland!

Cempasúchil (marigolds) are native to Mexico and are commonly used to decorate ofrendas (altars) for Día de Muertos. In keeping with Aztec tradition, some families also create paths of aromatic cempasúchil petals from their homes to their ofrendas to guide the spirits with the scent of the flowers.

This non-perishable iteration of the season’s ubiquitous orange garlands can be used to decorate your home, ofrenda, or Día de Muertos themed fiesta this year and for years to come!

You'll need:

• Mexican acrylic yarn* in Mandarin orange (at least two skeins), Neon Yellow (called “Fluorescent Green”) and Hot Pink (called “Mexican Pink”)
• Loome pom pom & tassel tool* or cardboard
• Wooden beads - 52 large round + assorted smaller decorative ones
• 5” circle cut out of cardboard or a cereal box
• Embroidery floss*
• Plastic tapestry needle*
• 6’ strand of worsted weight (standard) yarn
• Scissors
• Bowl or placemat to catch trimmings

*Supplies marked with a * are included in The Neon Tea Party’s Pom Pom & Tassel DIY Kit!

STEP ONE: Pom Poms

For this project, you’ll want to make 24 large orange pom poms and three large neon yellow pom poms.

You can find all the steps for making perfect pom poms here in The Neon Tea Party’s free video lesson, How to Make Pom Poms!

For these poms, wrap yarn 140 total revolutions on the wide side of your Loome tool or a 2.25” piece of cardboard. Follow instructions here to learn how to properly tie and trim your pom pom.

Fluff out your pom pom pancake and flatten it so that the interior pom pom string is concealed. Cut a 2.5” inch circle from a piece of cardboard or cereal box, place it on top of your flattened pom pom and trim around the perimeter so that the flat pom pom is nice and round.

Repeat until you have 24 orange poms and three yellow poms!

STEP TWO: Tassel

Secure tail of pink yarn in a notch on the wide side of the Loome tool. Wrap yarn around Loome 40 revolutions. Secure yarn in the same notch as the beginning tail and cut yarn close to the Loome. Take a new piece of yarn and push it through the space in the center of your yarn.

Bring the yarn to the top surface of your Loome, opposite the side with the cut tails. Tie a single knot (like the first step of tying your shoes) then gently remove yarn from Loome. Tighten knot and secure with a second knot. Trim both strands of tied yarn to be even.

Cut open all of the bottom loops of your tassel.

Open up your tassel and rotate the top strings 180 degree so that the knot is now on the underside of your tassel.

Wrap a new piece of yarn slightly below the top of your tassel 3-4 times. Pull on the yarn as you go to compress and create the tassel’s head.

Secure wraps with a double knot and let the excess yarn hang down with the rest of your tassel. Trim tassel so that the bottom is even.

Repeat once more to create a second matching tassel!

STEP THREE: Assembling Your Garland

Thread your 6’ strand of worsted weight yarn onto your plastic needle. Push your needle under the top loop of your tassel and tie the two ends of the yarn together in a tight double knot close to the tassel. Trim off excess yarn tail and string on assorted small wooden beads.

Add your first orange pom pom to your garland by pushing your plastic needle through the exposed center of the pom. Add two large wooden beads followed by another orange pom pom followed by two wooden beads and so on. Add a yellow pom pom after every six orange pom poms.

Once all 27 pom poms and wooden spacer beads have been added, string on smaller wooden beads and your second tassel to match the other end of your garland. Secure the second tassel to the end of your garland with a double knot close to the tassel and trim off excess yarn.

And there you have a gorgeous, reusable Cempasúchil Pom Pom Garland for all your Día de Muertos festivities! Feel free to get creative and change up the length, add different accent color poms and tassel, add more beads--whatever suits you!

Don’t forget to check out The Neon Tea Party’s free pom pom lesson! And if you have any questions about the DIY, be sure to drop your comments below or message me directly at @theneonteaparty. If you make this project, be sure to share and tag @artelexia and @theneonteaparty so we can see what you’re crafting!

Find more pom pom DIYs here on TheNeonTeaParty.com. Thanks for poming out with us!

Peace, love & neon,
Marisa

The Neon Tea Party is on a mission to prove that everybody (yes, you too!) can craft and encourage you to get in touch with your creative side. TNTP provides fun DIY ideas, kits, and classes to help you make on-trend, globally-inspired products that will add joy to your home and wardrobe. Marisa Morrison is the color-loving, globe-trotting, llama-collecting, DIY-obsessed founder of The Neon Tea Party. When she's not making pom poms or emailing with craft party clients from her mud cloth covered desk, you can find Marisa scrolling Pinterest for fresh project inspiration, cooking dinner for her family and friends, or scheming her next exotic vacation.