Too Many Pom-Poms

Well, here's a decision that backfired on me.

Back in 2018, when I was busily manufacturing my Ornament of That Year, I bought eight different colors of yarn. Way more yarn than I needed.

Gotta have plenty of variety, right?

As I got into the rhythm of production, I figured I might as well just turn every inch of those eight skeins into pom-poms.

No sense in letting the leftovers clutter up the joint, right?

And since I hand out my ornaments to the party people who come to my annual holiday bash, I'd probably give most of them away at the 2019 event. 

That would put the extra pom-poms to good use, right?

Making mad pom-poms seemed like such a good idea at the time that I cranked them out by the dozens. And by the time I was done, I had a backlog of at least a hundred.

Good grief. That's a lot of pom-poms. 

* * * * *

But you know, I think I would have been fine if it hadn't been for that rotator cuff injury.

Remember, back in September of 2019, my dog tried to take me parasailing and I took a bit of tumble. Three months later, as the traditional party date approached, I was still in grit-your-teeth level pain, so we decided to cancel that year's bash.

And we all know what happened in 2020. Another party pooped, thanks to Covid.

So as I sorted through my Christmas gear this past year and came upon my giant stash of pom-poms with nowhere to go, I realized the sad but obvious truth.

I had too many pom-poms.

It was in that moment that I decided to yank them out of cold storage and try to find ways to put my glorious excess to good use. 

First, I gathered up all the members of the muted color clan, ordered up a simple wire wreath frame, and whipped up this pom-pom wreath for my bedroom.

There's no tutorial. I literally just cut off the knots I'd tied to form hanging loops, back in the pom-poms ornament days, and used those longer bits of yard to tie them onto the wire frame. 

I hid the bells already tied to the pom-poms. They were distracting. 

 

And here's a delicious irony. Turns out that it takes a surprising number of pom-poms to make a wreath. So I had to actually go out and buy MORE yarn in matching colors to finish this puppy off. 

After I made the fifty or so MORE pom-poms I needed, guess what I did with the remaining bundles of yarn.

No, I did not make seventeen billion more pom-poms! 

This time, I immediately donated the leftover yarn with zero regrets. 

Making my bed is a daily challenge. The princess likes a proper lie-in.

Also, please note the rawhide bone.

And since this wreath does not scream Christmas, he's been invited to stay up indefinitely. I am very down with his refined palette and cozy winter vibes. 

* * * * *

Now, I was down to a collection of several dozen of the brightly colored specimens. 

As I was out walking my dog one blustery evening, mulling over this pom-pom overpopulation, I stumbled upon several gorgeous felled tree branches, lying literally in the middle my path.

Hmm. I know a sign when I see one. Or two or three. 

So I gathered up the branches and brought them home. Plopped into vases - or wedged behind a pot on the front porch - they served my festive fellows well. 

While most of their bright brethren have been retired for the holiday season, these guys by my front door are now officially rebranded as Valentine's Day decorations. 

They'll be staying till March. 

.

* * * * *

Looking back, I've come round to seeing that the decision to go all in on my original pom-pom production wasn't such a terrible idea after all.

What I've learned is that there's actually no such thing as too many pom-poms.