How to Make DIY Valentine Pom-Pom Pillows

Valentine’s Day is a few weeks away. It’s time to get serious about decorating our homes with some sweet romantic crafts. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by adding a touch of Valentine’s magic to your home decor? I’m sharing how to make DIY Valentine pom-poms pillows.

I love creating DIY projects anytime, but especially for holidays and special occasions. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite times to make fun crafts. In the past, I’ve used paint, stencils, tiles, tissue paper, and fabric to make a variety of cute Valentine’s decorations.  

Today is a brand new first time project – making Valentine pillows with pom-poms. It’s an easy craft and very affordable.

Today is also the first Celebrate the Holiday of a new year. I bet you can guess our theme for the month – you’re right, it’s Valentine’s Day – home decorations, DIY projects, party ideas, and recipes.

I’m so happy to host eight bloggers for this collection of Valentine ideas. I know you will enjoy the ideas and the inspiration. You will see the complete list at the end of this post.

If you are joining me from Libbie of A Life Unfolding (and her pretty cocktail), welcome to this sweet blog hop. Please visit each participant.

This post contains affiliate links to products used to create this project. If you should order any item from this site, I may receive compensation, but you do not pay a penny more. Your purchase is greatly appreciated as it helps support the continued publication of this site.

Why Valentine Pom-Pom Pillows? 

Crafting has always been my happy place, especially when it comes to adding a personal touch to special occasions. Valentine’s Day is no exception, and trust me, creating pillow covers is a fun way to decorate your home for this sweet holiday.

Do you have to “saturate” your home with Valentine colors? No. Even a simple, but beautiful arrangement of flowers on the coffee table in your favorite Valentine’s color will make a statement. 

It’s nice to add a little extra something to spread the love.

As we all know, throw pillows are one of the best home decor accessories we can use.

Pillows can be made from scratch in beautiful fabrics and trims to give your home a designer look without the designer price. 

I’ve made all sorts of pillow covers for our living room and bedroom. Some are meant to be used year-round, some for the seasons, and some for holidays.

It’s fun to have adorable Valentine’s pillows on your sofa, chairs, or bedroom. These charming accessories instantly set the mood for a cozy and romantic atmosphere. They do make the cutest Valentine’s Day decor. 

The inspiration for this project came when I curated a list of 17 great Valentine’s crafts for my Bluesky Browsing post a couple of weeks ago. These pillows from Laurie of Passionate Penny Pincher perked my interest. Since I already had the pillow covers and a few pom-poms on hand, I wanted to try my hand at this project.

What Kind of  Valentine’s Pillows Can You Make?

The possibilities for different types of Valentine’s pillows is limited only by your imagination. Here are a few suggestions.

Crafting Ideas for Valentine Pillows:

1. Heartfelt Messages: Personalize your pillows by sewing or embroidering sweet messages on pillow covers.
2. Patchwork Quilt: Create a patchwork quilt design using different shades of red and pink fabrics. It’s a delightful way to repurpose old fabrics and add a unique touch to your pillows.
3. Appliques on Pillow: Applique hearts or words on a pillow. (I made star appliques for 4th of July pillows last summer.) If you don’t have a sewing machine, use pre-made pillow covers.
4. Heart Shape Pillows: Cut out large hearts from fabric and sew them for a fun Valentine’s pillow on the living room sofa.

Let’s Talk about Pom-Poms

First, let’s talk about pom-poms, those fluffy little wonders that can instantly elevate any DIY project. They can be used in so many ways to create truly customized projects.

When we talk about about pom-poms, there are two types:

• There are the pom-poms that are made from your favorite colors of yarn. I have done that using the cute little pom pom maker that comes in different sizes. I made those yarn pom poms for a Valentine’s Day banner.
• On the other hand, there are the balls of fluffy pre-made pom-poms that you can purchase online on at your local craft store. They come in different colors and sizes.

For my Valentine’s pillow project, I’m using a combination of both types of pom-poms.

Here is the perfect recipe for adding a handmade touch to your Valentine’s Day celebrations. Get your craft supplies ready, and let’s turn our homes into cozy, love-filled havens. Happy crafting!

Supplies for this Pom-Pom Pillow Project

This easy DIY project requires just a few supplies for your pom pom pillow:

• pre-made pillow cover in the size of your choice – I used two leftover pillow covers from a set of four I bought last summer. These are 18 inches square with zippers. Covers in cotton, linen or blends is best. 
• pillow insert – My pillow form is the same size as the pillow cover
• packages of pre-made pom-poms in the color and sizes of your choice
• pencil
• piece of cardboard – These will be inserted inside the pillow covers. I save large pieces of cardboard for different projects. These pieces were 12 X 12-inches.
• hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks; you could also use fabric glue to attach the pom poms.
• pom-pom maker in size of choice
• yarn in color of your choice – I already had red and white yarn on hand in the right thickness.
• scissors – small craft scissors work great for this project.

Steps to Making the Pom Pom Pillows

This is a very simple pillow to make. It’s a quick project that takes less than an hour.

There are two parts to this pillow.

Pom-Pom Pillow Craft, Part 1:

Step 1 – Get out your pillow covers.

Step 2 – Preparation: If your pillow covers have any wrinkles, iron them first.

I like to use my ironing mat on the kitchen counter.

For the First Pillow – Heart Shape Design: 

Step 1 – For the heart design, you will need a pattern in the size of your choice. I wanted a large heart to cover most of the pillow cover. 

You can make one using newspaper or craft paper. Fortunately, I found the perfect pattern in the right size.

For an template, I found a Valentine’s sign that I made a few years ago using a wood heart I bought at the craft store. I had painted it using stencils and ChalkArt Paint.

Step 2 – I turned it over and placed it in the center of the pillow cover. Then I drew around the heart, making my outline for my pom-pom heart.

Step 3 – Insert your piece of cardboard inside the pillow covers. This step protects the back of the pillow cover from glue seeping through.

I had bags of pom-poms in pink, white, and red. The pink and white ones are 1 1/2 inches. The red pom-poms are 1/2 inch.

Why these sizes? That’s what was available at Hobby Lobby when I dropped by the store. 

I bought three bags of the white pom poms and three bags of the pink ones. These bags were 30-count. The red pom poms were 80-count and I bought three bags.

Step 4 – Lay out your design. This is where your own creativity comes in. I used the pink pom poms to outline the heart, placing the pom pom on top of the outline. It took 29 pom poms to outline the heart.

Next, I made a second line of white pom poms inside the pink ones. That took 23 pom poms.

Next came the smaller red pom poms. Since they are less than have the size of the larger pom poms, it took 32 pom poms for the heart.

I thought about leaving the center of the heart blank like  Laurie did. But since I had plenty of pom-poms left (and Sweet Shark’s input), I decided to use them. I filled in the center of the heart with the rest of the pink pom poms. 

We liked that look much better.

Even if you are not making this project for a blog post, I recommend taking pictures of your design as you go. Once you have the design you like, then you can copy it as you glue the pom-poms down.

Step 5 – Heat your glue gun. I started at the point of the heart. 

Lift up one of the pom poms and place a small dot of glue on the pencil outline. 

Step 6 – Place the pom pom on the glue dot and gently press down. Then go to the next pom pom. Keep going around the heart.

Continue in the same way around the heart with the second row of pom poms. You will find that there are places where you may need more or fewer pom-poms.

Continue gluing and placing the pom poms on the pillow cover, depending on your design. You may need to add more pom-poms or take a few away.

Step 7 – Set the pillow aside to completely set.

For the Second Pillow –  LOVE Design:

Laurie “wrote” out LOVE in cursive. I wanted to spell out the word, but I decided on a printed font.

Step 1 – For this pillow design, I didn’t make a pencil design first. I just eyeballed the layout of the letters.

I add enough large pink pom poms to make a capital “L”. 

Then I added “O-V-E” in smaller capital letters.

Step 2 – Following the process of the first pillow, glue the pom poms one by one.

Pom-Pom Pillow Craft, Part 2:

At this point, I thought I was through with the entire pillow project.

This is when I thought about adding yarn pom-poms to the corners of the pillows. I knew I had yarn in my sewing supplies.

Step 1 – Decide on the color you want for your pom-poms. I chose red because I had plenty of red yarn in the right thickness.

For this type of pom-pom, you need the pom-pom maker, yarn, and scissors. 

I used my small sharp-pointed craft scissors. I love this scissors for small sewing and paper crafts.

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To see how to make pom-poms with the pom-pom maker, check out this project, How to Make a DIY Pom-Pom and Heart Garland, for a detailed explanation.

NOTE: Remove the cardboard from the pillow cover. If you have any “sticking” to the inside of the pillow cover, just run your hand between the cover and cardboard. It will come right out.

​I made eight red pom-poms. 

Step 3 – Use a large-eye yarn needle to thread the pom-pom through each corner of the pillows and tie it tightly.

Step 4 – The last step is to fill the pillow covers with the pillow inserts. I give the pillows a good “pound” to fill the corners and distribute the filling.

Displaying the Pillows

I intended the pillows to be on our living room sofa. My favorite faux fur throw stays in the center of the sofa. 

The two Valentine’s pillows flank the throw.

I’m so pleased how they turned out. They are colorful, interesting, and were so easy to make. Just in time for a very cold winter night.

I hope you’ll try making these pillows. Use the process I shared, but create your own design. Use the pink, white, and red color scheme in a different design.

Bottom line: have fun making these Valentine’s pillows with pom-poms.

If you want more great Valentine’s crafts, check out these projects:

• 4 Red and White DIY Valentine’s Day Ideas
• How to Make the Easiest Valentine’s Day Wreath
• 5 Ideas for Handmade Valentine’s Cards

Later, I added a pretty pink throw to our sofa and added handmade tassels to it for an extra punch of style.

Before you take a look at the other great Celebrate the Holiday posts, please PIN this Post. You can also take a look at my Valentine’s DIY Ideas Pinterest Board.

Next up on the Blog Hop is the talented Mary Jo of Masterpieces of My Life and below are links to all the participants.