Pom Pom Ballerinas

Thank gosh for creative mamas who have come before! Seriously, I saw this little DIY project pop up a few times around the holidays and thought it would be such a fun project to make for the girls for Valentine’s Day/as a new baby arrival activity. What is fantastic about this idea, you can totally make it your own! Whether you have littles obsessed with fairies, ballerinas, toy soldiers, whatever, the ability to really make this your own exists & can be tailored for whatever purpose they will serve (future party favors or gift wrap details anyone??)

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What you will need to make these pom ballerinas:

  • Wooden clothespins (Hobby lobby has 30 pc bag or Amazon for 100 pc bag)

  • Acrylic paint & paint brushes

  • Sharp scissors

  • Yarn in color(s) of your choice (I used Yarn Bee brand from Hobby Lobby)

  • Pom Maker (specifically used size 4.8 cm for this project)

  • Pink and brown markers for facial details

  • OPTIONAL* 3/8 cm round wooden ball (ballerina buns)

  • OPTIONAL* Hot glue (for the ballerina buns)

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Here’s the step-by-step for creating these adorable ballerinas!

  1. First, paint your ballerinas! As I mentioned before this is totally where you can own what you want to do with these little cuties. I kept it simple and outlined their hair, painting it brown to match our girls, and gave their facial details using sharpie markers. Fair warning, sharpies can bleed on the wood so paint pens would have been better, but in this case it served its purpose. Also, for the ballet shoes I kept it simple and just did basic ballet slipper design on all. Recommend having a box available to let the girls sit and dry (confession, totally used a puzzle box that was sitting on our dining table in the act of making these, but as you can see in the photo a plastic bin worked just fine as well!) Also, if you opt for ballerina buns paint your corresponding wooden round ball with matching hair color to hot glue later on :)

  2. Second, while your ballerinas are drying it’s time to make their pom tutus! I had seen this pom maker recommended numerous times and opted to give it a go for this project (and future projects). Seriously, so easy once you get the hang of it! Make sure you have sharp scissors to cut through the yarn but otherwise follow the instructions provided and you’ll have some super cute pom tutus ready to go! For this project specifically, when you are at the point of trying your string down the middle to catch the pom, don’t tie super tight. Allow some wiggle room to slide your ballerina into place and tying tight after to secure her tutu.

  3. For those who want to add the ballerina bun simply super glue to the top of her head and add a little detail to cover the gap (ribbon or yarn bows worked great!)

  4. That’s it! Make sure you tidy up their tutu as you’d like (can trim to be even, or create a fun effect trimming accordingly). The tiny dancers are ready to take the stage!

Seriously, these were a lot of fun to make and can again be customized however you’d like! Would love to see what you and your littles come up with! Use hashtag #booksbythebus when sharing on social media.

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