Watch the full tutorial video above. :)

I made Cute Little Virus PomPoms inspired by Covid-19 because making my fears into a cute puppet is both therapeutic and fun. I hope this project is helpful to you too! :)

You can make the PomPoms from old yarn scraps or embroidery floss - I bet you probably have some in your home right now.

In addition to this project, I also made a DIY "Wack-A-Virus" game that these Cute Virus Pom-Poms fit right into - you can make it too with this instructable. :)

I hope you enjoy making this project! If you want to see more, follow me here on Instructables and on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Happy Making and #KeepCalmAndMakeSomething!

<3 Natasha

Circle Template.pdf
Download

Supplies

Embroidery floss or thin yarn (A few shades of green, brown/black, and red)
A long needle with a large eye (for embroidery floss)
Scissors
A bowl or bucket to catch yarn shavings
A PomPom Maker like a Loome or other U-Shaped pom-pom maker
A Printer to Print the Circle Template (download below) or a round object that is about 1 inch in diameter (like a coin, Keyring, bottle cap, etc.) to use as a template instead

(optional) Googly Eyes
(optional) Hot Glue Gun & Hot Glue

Step 1: Choose & Prepare Your Yarn

Choose your yarn/floss. You'll need:

A few shades of green
A dark accent color like black or brown
A bright red accent color

If you haven't already, wind your floss around a bobbin or piece of cardboard to make it easy to unwind in the next step.

Step 2: Wind Your Floss

Secure the ends of the threads in the teeth of the Pom Pom maker
Wind the floss around
- To make the PomPom green with only specks of dark, leave the dark color out periodically. It's best to leave it out a few times throughout the winding process instead of all at once to distribute the dark color evenly. This will give the PomPom a speckled look.
- When you're done, the ball of yarn/floss should be about 1-inch wide and very plump. I stop winding when the floss feels like it is too tall and wants to "fall off the mountain" in the center. If you'd like more clarification about how many "winds" to do, Google the weight of your yarn/floss and the word "PomPom" - there are tons of charts available online. :)

Step 3: Tie & Cut the Pom-Pom

Cut about 1 ft of yarn/floss
Tie the "waist" of the PomPom with a single knot.
Turn the PomPom over and tie a double knot on the back. Make sure the "waist" is centered vertically.
Tie two more single knots to secure the thread, and trim the threads about 1.5 inches from the knots.
Remove the PomPom from the PomPom tool.
Use sharp scissors to cut through all the loops.
Flatten the PomPom as shown.

Step 4: Trim Your PomPom

Place the circle template in the center of your flattened PomPom.
With sharp scissors, trim about 1/4 inch around the circle.
Fluff the PomPom and flatten it again perpendicular to the way you flattened it the first time.
Trim around the template again. Repeat this until there are few threads to trim.
Fluff your PomPom into a sphere, and give it one last "haircut", cutting away any loose hairs and making a perfect sphere.
Repeat all prior steps to create the number of PomPoms you are making.

Step 5: Make It Look Like a Germ! (Gross!)

Locate the dark accent threads in the PomPom and pull them out slightly one at a time. This will start to create the hair-like silhouette of the virus.
Thread a large-eyed needle with red floss/yarn. (A longer needle is easiest)
Insert the needle into the PomPom and pull the thread through - let the tail hang out.
Then, insert it again in a different spot and don't pull the thread tight - leave a red loop about 1/2 inch above the surface of the PomPom
Insert the needle again and again into the PomPom making red loops all over, looking for places that don't have red hair and distributing them across the surface.
Trim the needle off of the thread, and trim each of the red loops to make hairs about 1/4 inch above the surface of the PomPom.

Step 6: Repeat and Embellish

Add red hairs to your other PomPoms
As an optional step, use the same technique with some metallic embroidery floss. It looks nice and catches the eye with some sparkle!