Got a pair of googly eyes?

If you can make a simple pom-pom or tassel out of leftover yarn or string, you can make a cute pencil-topper.

The Yarn Council of America provides a simple how-to tutorial for making the pencil toppers, and you choose a favourite character. Make a cat, dog, frog, or snowman — or go from there to make a custom pencil puppet of your own design.

It could be the perfect happy little surprise gift to bribe (er, encourage) young kids to go merrily off to school…

I remember learning to make pom-poms with my best craft-buddy, Diane, when we were both about eight years old — it’s fun for kids, and it’s easy to do!

All you need is some yarn and a piece of cardboard about 4 inches long and as wide as you want your pom-pom to be — about 4 x 1½ inches is a useful size for most purposes, I’ve found.

Instructions:

Using a double strand of one color, or holding together two strands in two different colors for a two-tone pom-pom, wrap the yarn around the short side of the cardboard. (The more times you wrap the yarn around the cardboard, the fatter the pom-pom will be, so experiment to see how full you’d like it to be.)

To form the pom-pom, slide a doubled-up length of yard between the cardboard and the wrapped yarn, at the center point. Tie a tight knot around the wrapped yarn, remove the cardboard, and cut through the loops of yarn. Fluff it up, then trim off any loose ends if necessary.

Here’s an Idea!

To make a school-bag easy to find in a pile of similar bags, the Lion Brand® yarn people, in their By Kids, For Kids newsletter, suggest tying on a pom-pom. Such a simple, practical idea — like putting a colorful flag on the antenna of your car, so you can spot it in a parking lot!

For more yarn-using ideas, check out Lion Brand®’s free patterns for knitting, crochet, and craft projects. It’s well worth registering on the site to get access to the free pattern section and newsletters.