This is my last post about my cousin's wedding!  I'm still hoping to create a few tutorials based on all the things I learned during this project, but that probably won't happen for a little while.  I figured a picture of the Conga line would be the perfect ending note.

The last thing I made for my cousin's wedding were large pom-pom flowers.  Again, I used Martha Stewart as a jumping off point with this Pom-Pom tutorial.  Pictured above is the demo I made to show my cousin.  I decided immediately that using 2 colors was not the look I was going for.  I made the rest of the flowers in a single color which I think helps it look more like a flower. 

Here is a demo of the smaller pom-poms I made for the paper flower wreath.  The technique is exactly the same.  There are a 101 tutorials on the web about how to make pom-pom flowers.  It's a crazy simple and basic craft.  I remember making these as a kid for different occasions.  The only tricky part – which can make or break your pom-pom – is how you fluff them.  

This was my favorite video on how to fluff the pom-poms.  She does a really nice job explaining what she is doing and why.  If you are going to make these flowers, I highly encourage you to watch a few videos on fluffing techniques.  It will make this project so much easier and more enjoyable if you do.

                                photo by Greg Griffin

I shipped these to Toronto pre-fluffed.  They were still flat and  very easy to mail.  The ends got a tiny bit smashed, but since they were going to be fluffed up anyway, it didn't make any difference to the end result.  During set up, I showed my handy helpers what to do and they took over all of the fluffing.  We attached these to the paper garlands about every 6 feet or so.  This is a very inexpensive and fast way to decorate a large space.  It instantly made the reception hall much more festive and beautiful.  I'm so pleased with how they turned out. 

Making paper flowers for my cousin's wedding was such a great and challenging project. We have been pen-pals since we were 12 years old and it was very important to me that I did something meaningful for his wedding.  

I will definitely make more paper flowers in the future. This was a completely new craft to me and I loved learning all about it.  Working with paper is very enjoyable and you can get some amazing results.  The possibilities are endless.  

I wouldn't recommend mailing paper flowers like I did.  They didn't do that well in the mail and the stress alone almost killed me. Plus I had to spend a lot of time trying to get the flowers to look like they did before they were mailed.  This is definitely the craft you would want to keep close to home.