100 Days of Christmas - polystyrene balls - mini poi

I wanted to create a Christmas decoration with a New Zealand theme, and I had these mini polystyrene balls hanging around looking at me, and I thought... poi!

 You will need:

polystyrene balls (or a little bit of stuffing or even 1-2 paper tissues scrunched up into a ball)

scraps of fabric

wool

scissors

 Cut the wool into lengths for plaiting. I use 4 strands because I like the way it looks for poi, but you could use 3.

 To plait with 4 is a little tricky but once you get the hang of it, it is quite a simple rhythm. I first learnt to four plait with another person - each of us holding two strands, and taking turns to swap strands.

But if you want to try to do a 4 strand plait on your own, this is how:

Anchor the knotted end - I anchored it between my knees, but you could loop it around something if you have something suitable (I didn't).

Lay the four strands out so they are pointing to North, South, East and West (you don't need a compass to do this, just make sure they are pointing in four directions).

North & South strands swap over.

East & West strands swap over.

North & South strands swap over.

East & West strands swap over.

Keep strands taut, and keep repeating until you get to the end.

Tie off. 

 Create a loop, by poking one end into a small hole at the other end of the plait. Tighten around the polystyrene ball. I found it helped to score a line using scissors around the polystyrene ball, for the plait to fit into and stop from slipping off.

 Put the polystyrene ball in the middle of a scrap of fabric. Make sure that all the fabric is able to come up and cover the ball.

 Tie a piece of thread (I used wool) to secure the fabric around the ball.

Snip the fabric, making sure not to accidentally snip the plait! 

If you make two poi and tie them together, you will be able to hang them on the tree easily.