DIY a Cozy Rug Using Pom Poms

Katie Bookser
by Katie Bookser
2 Materials
$15
4 Hours
Easy

Although we’re having a mid September heat wave today, soon enough the temperatures will be getting cooler, and getting out of bed in the morning will be more and more difficult. There’s nothing worse than stepping your feet onto a cold floor first thing in the morning, so I dreamed up the most perfect solution: a fluffy, cozy pom pom rug. I had so many different colors and kinds of yarn taking up space in my craft closet, so I decided to put them to good use!


Watch the video above to see how you can easily make your own, or keep reading for step by step instructions. Enjoy!

You will need a good amount of yarn, I probably used about 3-4 skeins total. I used a few different sizes and colors of yarn but this part is totally up to you.

You will also need a rug gripper pad. Measure out how big you want your rug to be and cut in a straight line. I originally chose 26 inches, but after realizing how many pom poms I would need to make to accomplish this, I cut off another few inches later on in the process.

There are a couple of different ways to make pom poms. I chose to use a piece of cardboard that I cut off of a box. I wrapped my yarn around the piece of cardboard several times. The more you wrap, the chunkier your pom pom will be. Once you’ve wrapped it as many times as you’d like, cut the yarn, and then cut one extra piece that’s about 6-8 inches long. If you don’t have cardboard, you can also wrap the yarn around your hand. Just be sure not to wrap it too tight, so that it’s still easy to slide off.


Slide the yarn carefully off of the cardboard, and lay it on top of the extra piece of yarn that you cut. Tie a knot around the middle of the yarn ball, then flip it over and tie a double knot. Leave the long loose ends on the pom pom because you will be using them later on to secure the pom poms to the pad.


Slide your scissors through the loop of yarn on each end and cut across. This will free up the yarn and allow you to trim it until it’s even. The more you trim, the neater the pom pom will be, but don’t drive yourself crazy over this step.


As you make your pom poms, it’s a good idea to stop every now and then and add them to your rug pad. This way you can see approximately how many more you will need to make. At this point, I realized that I needed to make a lot of pom poms, so I cut my rug pad to be a little bit smaller. In all, I made about 75 pom poms. A helpful tip is to make a good number of large pom poms and scatter them around, because they fill in a lot of blank space. This project is great to work on here and there in your down time, watch a movie, and make some pom poms!

Once you’ve positioned all of your pom poms, it’s time to secure them. The best method that I found was to take the long loose ends of the yarn that were left after tying off the pom pom, and weaving them down into the holes of the rug pad, then back up through another hole. Then, without needing to flip the pad over, you can simply tie a tight double knot with both ends, and snip the excess if you need to. See the video tutorial for a close up of this step. I hid a lot of the end pieces under the pom poms so that if they ever become loose, it will be easy to tighten them up again.

Once all of your pom poms are secured tightly to the rug pad, you’re good to go! This is obviously not a rug that you can wash so I would recommend putting it somewhere where it won’t get very dirty or tons of foot traffic. You can shake it out occasionally to get rid of dust or little things that might get caught up in the yarn. I hope you’ll try this out and enjoy this soft and cozy rug. Your feet will be happy that you do! If you like this project and want to see more, visit my  YouTube Channel. Don’t forget to share your DIY photos with me on Instagram or Facebook, I can’t wait to see what you make.

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Katie Bookser
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  • Bubbles Bubbles on Sep 25, 2019

    I did this last year. What I learned was to buy a really good rug gripper. Mine ended up very limp. Also some one suggested I put glue in center of each pom to hold them together. Love my rug!

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  • Tthed Tthed on Jan 28, 2021

    I am making a similar project - attaching fleece strips to a mat for pet beds. The rubber mat below is from Walmart, very cheap but strong. You could attach the pom poms to this mat very easily.

    Just offering an option. It’s a fun project either way!

  • Anna Anna on Aug 25, 2022

    I haven't made a pom pom rug but it is on my list. When I have made pom poms for other projects, I always lay a piece of the yarn across the top of the piece of cardboard so that when I am through wrapping the yarn it is easy to tie it tightly.

    As I mentioned, I have not made a rug and wondering if there is a type of rug mat that is washable. If so, it seems a yarn pom pom rug could be washed on a delicate cycle. Just pondering. Thanks for this great idea!

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