I've been making things almost obsessively lately, so when I saw a kit for these in Morning Glory it was just too cute not to give it a try, even though the instructions were all in Chinese. After a few tries I kinda got the hang of it (although I haven't quite figured-out the right measurements for the 2-color ones) and I thought, hey, this is pretty damn easy, I bet I could do this without the fancy kit (I'm actually pretty sure we did something like this at a holiday program when I was about 6). I've also always wanted to make a tutorial, so since this was easier than pie it seemed like a good place to start.
(I don't know how to use this camera so the color in the photos is pretty bad. Sorry about that.)



The ones on the cover are so much tidier than mine, dammit. D:
The pink things are for winding the wool around to make the pom-poms. They make it a whole lot easier to do the winding and cutting, but they turn-out the same. The kit also came with enough wool to make about 4, green pink and red felt, a green pipe-cleaner and 2 sets of plastic screws for the eyes.



What you need:
Reasonably firm cardboard/ plastic packaging
6 1&1/2 meter (about 65 inches, I think) pieces of  wool (You could just cut it all as one piece, but it's easier with smaller lengths).
1 piece of wool about 15cm long (in the same color)
Green felt for the leaves and either pink or red for the mouth
A green pipe-cleaner
Black beads for eyes, but I didn't have any at the time so I used pins
Glue of some sort
Sharp scissors (Sewing scissors, if you have them)
A craft knife is also useful



1. Draw a circle on the cardboard/plastic. It should be about 4cm across/high, with a smaller circle about 1cm across/high in the center.



2. Cut out two of these circles. Cut a split to the side and hold them together.



3. Tie the first piece of wool loosely around the ring.



4. Tightly wind the wool evenly around the ring, sliding it through the split. Leave a little bit of the cardboard showing on the edges.



The ring should be evenly covered in wool (3 pieces each half, of course.).



5. Where the cardboard is still showing next to the split run the blade of your scissors in between the two layers of cardboard and cut the wool along the outside of the circle. If it's too hard to cut down the middle you can just cut along the edge of the ring, but it's a little messy. If you have a craft knife it'll be waay easier to just use that.



6. You should once again be able to see the whole outside edge of the ring. Take the last piece of wool and slide it in between the two layers of cardboard and tie it in a tight knot.



7. Take the cardboard off. Hopefully you've tied it tight enough, or there's a good chance it'll be falling apart right now. The pom-pom is pretty much finished, but if yours is anything like mine it'll look really, really messy.
Trim the uneven wool as if you were giving it a haircut until it's nice and even.



8. Now the pom-pom should be nice and tidy, so it's time to add stuff to it. Get the stork, leaf, mouth and eyes ready.



9. Twist the pipe-cleaner stork and the end of the leaf together.



10. Poke the other end of the pipe-cleaner in the top of the pom-pom, glue on the eyes and mouth and your done!


Hope that was easy enough to understand. ;D