UPDATE
We now have a video tutorial for these ghost pompoms at our new pompom HQ – Pom Maker blog!
Please check it out. You can enjoy many step-by-step full video pom pom tutorials as well as beautiful wooden pom pom makers and other pom pom making supplies by Pom Maker.
There should be pompoms for every occasion and so here are a few for Halloween! Soft ghost pompoms make great Halloween toys for tiny hands. I’ve also found out that pompoms are perfect for making hideous monsters that bigger kids will have so much fun with.
I ended up making quite a few different ones (they are great to make in your coffee break!) so I’m afraid this has become a long post. There are a few designs to choose from – ghosts, skulls, eye balls and some other Halloween characters.
The easiest ones are eye balls and ghosts and they are really fun to play with after you make them, so I hope you have a go! Skulls are a bit more tricky but I’ve made step-by-step instructions below and even if they come out a bit rough, I think manky skulls are quite lovely!
How to make a ghost pompom
1. First wrap a bit of black yarn for the mouth. For these I wrapped 4 rows wide in 2 layers to create a long howling mouth.
2. Wrap a layer of white over it and then wrap a couple of layers of black yarn for the eyes, slightly above the mouth position. That’s it for the facial features!
3. Now wrap plenty of white yarn all over. Wrap extra long yarns towards the bottom end opposite the face end, this will become the frilly bottom of the ghost. Wrap the other half of the pompom maker in solid white, and again wrap extra long yarns at one end.
4. Put together the two halves so that the long yarns are at the same end, tie up and finish as usual.
Now trim the head of the ghost into a round shape that you like and trim a bit on the sides but do not trim the long bottom end.
Done!
How to make a skull pompom
1. Start by drawing the skull design on paper and divide in half. I also marked the center of the pompom maker as an extra guide. Refer to your drawing as you follow the next steps.
2. Wrap the nose in black. Make a small triangle by wrapping a single layer on top and gradually adding more layers towards the bottom end.
3. Wrap white yarn all over the nose in a couple of layers (but not all the way down where the teeth would be) then wrap more yarn on both sides of where the eyes are going to be.
4. Wrap a good amount of black yarn in this eye area. The more you wrap, the larger the skull eyes you’ll have.
5. Wrap a little white yarn directly below the nose above what will be the teeth area. To make irregular teeth, I’ve grabbed a few mixed strands of white and black yarn and wrapped it together below the nose and extra white yarn.
6. Finish by wrapping white yarn all over in multiple layers. Make the other half of the pompom in solid white and complete. (These steps are explained in the flower pompom tutorial)
7. Trim the head round and trim extra yarn around the jaw to create the skull shape.
Ta-da! This was my first skull and it came out ok. It’s not an exact science and they’ll all have great character! You can create extra character as you trim them.
How to make eye pompoms
You can either make white ‘eyeballs’ without the background color, or make ‘eyes’ with a surrounding background.
Making eyeballs is exactly the same as making flower pompoms. For something even easier, you can make googly eyes too.
Use the diagrams below for the pompom eyes. Again, if you’re new to making pompoms and these don’t make sense to you, start with the flower pompom tutorial for the basics.
To make eyes looking sideways, have the center line vertically like the diagram on the right, starting with the iris off center.
If you make some monster mouths you can have a lot of fun by putting them together. Mix n’ match monster fun!
I can’t put step-by-steps for everything this time but hope you can try different designs and experiment! I’ll continue posting various methods and ideas that you might like. Catch up with me on Mr P’s social pages for the new ones!
I also tried a few characters for Halloween, I quite like the way they came out. No detailed tutorial just yet but I’m playing with them for a future post. Addicted! : )
These are beyond cute. We’re always looking for non-plastic non-sugar treats for halloween bags…going to buy some yarn now!
Glad to hear that they’ll make it into your halloween bags! Pompoms are great for replacing sweets. : )
ok there is waaay too much cuteness in one post! and those running/flying ghosts? i die! you are genius!
Thanks – happy to hear you like them. ^ ^
I can’t stop making pom poms since I saw your letter pompons and now these super cute ghosts…. you are a genius! Thank for inspire us the way you do!
Yay – let’s keep making pompoms : D
These ghosts are so cute! Love them dancing!
Thanks! ^ ^
Oh me, oh my! They’re all so awesome! I love them. Thanks for coming up with so many clever and fun ideas!
Thanks Melissa!
these are amazing, would LOVE to see a video tutorial
Thanks, I wish I could do video tutorials but it’s completely beyond the time available to me at the moment – sorry! Maybe one day ^ ^
mrprintables, we want to collaborate and make these video tutorials with you. Check out our YouTube channel: Joanne’s Web
You’re a pompom genius!
Your giant squid tree is Fantastic! Wow
So so so cute!!!! Your dancing pompom ghosts made my day
: D
Very cute idea…but I am not sure how you did step three and four for the ghost pom pom…. 🙁 a video tutorial would be very helpful…
Video tutorials are a bit difficult for me to manage at the moment but thanks for the feedback! Hope you can try the steps from the description and photos! ^ ^
I remember, as a kid, I would gather yarn from anyone who could not outrun me. I had this cute pom pom maker, and made pom poms like a madwoman. Quite a few elders smoked pipes, so I would swipe pipe cleaners from them. Before fluffing out and trimming the pom pom, I would run the pipe cleaner through the middle of the pom pom, twisting more pipe cleaners on as I went along. Large poodles, tiny mice, people, kids, jewelry, my creations were endless. I would also run yarn through to make necklaces. Seeing how you constructed your pom pom maker makes me want to run around the neighborhood, swiping yarn from anyone who answers their door! Thank you for reminding me. Susie, Port Huron, Michigan USA
Wonderful memories… Thanks for sharing! Let’s knock on all the neighbors doors – I need more yarn! ;D
In elementary school, we once made big, black pompoms with four black pipe cleaners threaded through the center. They made for creeptastic spiders with oogly eyes glued on them. I can see myself experimenting with patterns to provide more realistic patterns on the spiders (black widow, or brown recluse come to mind). 🙂
I love spiders and what a brilliant idea to make them with all their different patterns! Pleas share (if you’d like) if you make some! 😀
I’ll have to keep that in mind. Right now I’ve got all my projects scattered in moving boxes between two homes, so it can take a bit. 🙁
Adding a string to hang spiders or ghosts from the ceiling is something we always did, too. You can string multiple, different sized ghosts together for a mobile-type of decoration. I used to do that with drop shaped paper cut-outs in red, with rounds for faces on them. The kids in my school loved drawing and coloring faces on them to make elves for Christmas.
I really need to get my scanner working, don’t I? 😉
No worries! Nice to hear the stories : D
These are incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! Such talent!!!! How in the world do you know what color to wrap where?!?!?!?!?! You have literally left me speechless!! God bless! 😎
Thank you for the kind comment. ^ ^ Hope you give it a try – it’s fun to see the shapes coming out!
TUTORIAL NEEDED <3 hard to understand 🙁
I’m confused too. I don’t understand what you mean by putting the two halves together. Need more construction pics.
@jessicasimons:disqus @disqus_6QqwoQ6uOO:disqus Hi! I have already explained the basic steps (like how to put the two halves together) in the flower pompom post, so I don’t want to repeat the same thing in every pompom post. If you can’t understand this tutorial, please see the flower ones to understand the basics, as mentioned above! Here> making-flower-pom-poms-diy-pom-pom-maker
Wow, I love them. I was looking at them trying to see how were they done, knitted, crocheted? No, they are pompoms. Now, I am off to share them as they are too good to be kept a secret.
These are the cutest things I have ever seen. I have different size pompom makers that I will try them on
Fan-Freaking-Fantastic! Thanks for the how-to’s!
I would love if you shared the wrap pattern for the monster mouths one day… I tried to figure it out on my own and I may have wrapped too much yarn? anyway, the result had no definition 🙁
I will keep trying, though!
Huuuuuuh i don’t get it o.o am i really so stupid ?! I tried it 3 Times and now its only a biiiiig Mess in my room ,__,
Now i give up -.- all the Time it looks soooo stupid 🙁 my Fingers hurt and i don’t know whats wrong 🙁 i tried it 6 Times now
Oh my.. genius!! They are so cute!!! I especially love the skull. Great job!
可愛い
OMG hilarious. I am SO going to try this!
You are a real pom pom master!
Please hurry with the instructions for the kitty…my grown-up History teacher daughter would love this.
These TRULY are GENIUS!!