Large DIY Tassels Out of Mop Heads

I’m in love with these extra large DIY tassels.  Do you know why?  Because they look awesome and are made with mop heads!  It can’t get any easier than that.  These are the tassels I shared in my Easter inspiration last week.  So now you can make them too.  If you want.  I’m not going to force you.  I swear.

Are you thinking of all the cool ways you could use these?  You could totally make a cool 70’s inspired wall hanging to go with your macrame plant holder.  Or these would be super cool, in mass, for a party backdrop.  Or strung across a room sort or grouped together  like a chandelier.  I hung these very simply in the photo above but my heart really wanted to make more and go nuts on that wall, installation style.

These mop heads have been in my garage for months.  I saw them at Wal-Mart and grabbed 3 knowing that I was going to figure out something to do with them.  They were about $3 a piece, so they are totally economical.  And while I could tell through the bag that they had a hard plastic piece at the top and a metal band around it, I decided to take a chance with them and see if I could manipulate them in some way.  And they were made in the USA.  Boom.  American mop heads are the finest in all the land, so I’ve heard.  Ok, I’ve never heard that but wouldn’t that be the best thing ever if we could travel abroad and when people ask us where we live we would say, “USA, you know, where the best mop heads come from?”

For your extra large tassel you need one mop head and some embroidery thread or yarn.  Oh and scissors.  I always forget to put the scissors in the picture but I know you all would know to grab some scissors.  If I ever hear of someone trying to cut through yarn with their teeth because they weren’t instructed to use scissors is the day I quit blogging.  And start a commune of non-yarn biters.

This is the hardest part of the DIY and it isn’t really hard at all.  I sat down with one of these mop heads and figured out that if you started on one side and pulled the yarn strings out the top of the metal clamp that you could remove the metal clamp.  In fact, when you get about half way through, the metal clamp will slide right off the end of the mop head.  And as you move more of the long pieces through, you realize that there are short pieces in the middle of what was the underneath side of the mop!  What a fun discovery!  And those short pieces totally hide the plastic piece at the top of the head.

See!  How cute is that little puff at the top!  And you didn’t even have to do anything to get it!  The next part is purely decorative so go where your arty heart takes you.  Mine wanted them wrapped.  So I grabbed some embroidery thread and yarn and just wrapped a few inches near the top.

I was starting to think that the person who made this mop head was also a crafter when I noticed the plastic piece had a hole in it making it PERFECT for hanging!  So easy.

How would you use these tassels?

I love to use yarn in my crafts so I may have nerded out over this peach yarn with little puffs on it.  I do just want to address the smell of these mop heads.  It makes me think of horses.  I’m not around horses, well, ever.  I don’t really know what they smell like but these reminded me of them.  Maybe a little bit of hay mixed with poo?  It really isn’t that bad.  I would certainly use them for a party or as home decor.  I may not hang them at nose level next to my bed, however.

Pretty excited about these tassels.  I’m trying to figure out how I can incorporate them in to my soon-to-be 8 year old’s birthday party.  But they really don’t scream ‘Minecraft’ do they?