Inspired by the outrageous and flamboyant Drag performances at previous years celebrations and the decadent costumes of Queen Elizabeth I in the Armada Portrait – here is a fantastic way that you can decorate yourself and your home for LGBTQ+ History Month – I would recommend hanging the pom poms and attaching them to hats, hairbands, as a corsage and possibly a multicoloured ruff!

Enjoy and bring out the flamboyance in these grey February days!

This craft has been created by Jenny Staff.

You will need

Coloured tissue paper, scissors, pipe cleaners and a pen for the make your own pom poms activity
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Scissors
  • Pen
  • Multicoloured tissue paper

Step One

Sheet of pink tissue paper

Lay all your sheets of tissue paper on top of each other for the original pride flag: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. I used 2 sheets of each colour.

Coloured tissue paper stacked on top of each other folder over at the top

Step Two

Red tissue paper folded over

'Concertina', fan and fold your tissue paper - this is best done on a flat surface.

Stack of coloured tissue papers folded like a concertina

You will be left with a long thin strip of folded tissue.

Close up of concertina folded stack of tissue papers with a strip of tissue at the end

Step Three

Concertina folded tissue papers with one black curve drawn at each edge

Draw a curve on either end of your folded tissue paper – this will make the curves of your pompom!

Cut them off so you have two lovely shaped ends.

Folded concertina papers with curved ends cut around the curved pen line

Step Four

Stack of coloured tissue concertina folded papers with pipe cleaner tied around the middle

Find the centre of your length of paper and loosely tie a pipe cleaner around the middle. This will hold your pom pom together. You don’t need to make it too tight as the volume of paper will help hold it all in place.

Step Five

Folded tissue spread out to look like a fan

Holding onto the pipe-cleaner, carefully spread out one side of your folded tissue so it looks like a fan.

Step Six

Close up of concertina tissue paper fan

Gently and slowly pull up the top layer of tissue paper so it is upright.

Step Seven

Coloured pom pom with pulled up layers of tissue paper Multi coloured pom pom with tissue fluffed up

Continue with each separate layer of tissue paper, fluffing out the layers as you go. Keep going until you have separated every layer of tissue.

Step Eight

Multicoloured pom pom

Repeat the process with the other side and then you will have your fantastic rainbow pompom!

Progress Pride flag pom pom

Multicoloured sheets of tissue paper

To make the Progress Pride flag pom pom (which includes the colours of the Transgender Pride flag and black and brown stripes to represent people of colour), you will need the following colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, brown, pale blue, pale pink and white.

Here are some other Pride flags in the form of pompoms:

Three multicoloured pom poms on a table
  • Trans flag - pale blue, pale pink, white, pale pink, pale blue - (2 sheets of each)
  • Bisexual flag - dark pink, purple, dark blue (4 sheets, 2 sheets, 4 sheets)
  • Intersex flag - yellow, purple, yellow (3,3,3)
Collection of multicoloured pom poms in different sizes Large multicoloured pom pom