This was pretty darn easy! I am basically relearning what little I ever knew about crochet and for some reason I just really wanted to add a pom pom to a couple hats I've made. I don't have any local friends or co-workers who know how to do this--and I don't even have a local yarn shop that I can find--so basically any new skill is coming from a book or youtube.I bought this set on a whim and gave it a try with some leftover yarn. The directons were fairly straightforward, but for someone like me who had never tried other devices or methods it was a little bit vague as to where to slip the yard for the final tie down. Despite that I muddled through with my first pom pom and it was reasonably decent.Being a visual person (see one, do one) I next found a youtube video to watch before my second attempt. The second one was a piece of cake and looks really nice. Once I saw the video the written directions made perfect sense--I was just hampered by having literally done nothing like this before.And, being a bit backwards, I then looked up the traditional cardboard method. I can see that being an advantage for a special-sized pom pom, but the idea of winding through that hole over and over (and over and over) again looks quite tedious. Suffice to say, the Bates technique video was about 4 minutes, the cardboard one about 10. MUCH easier in my estimation to quickly wrap 2 halfs and combine.(just plug in 'susan bates pom pom instructions').I will add my typical Amazon vendor commentary--this product is sold by an Amazon vendor, not Amazon itself. This means the seller of any individual product may vary and it is worth your time to do your due diligence regarding vendor (not product) feedback. If you are a Prime member this may mean the seller has their stock located off the Amazon premises and there could be shipping fees. If there is Prime shipping associated, then that means the vendor is keeping their stock in the Amazon warehouse system. Also, vendors can change daily due to inventory and different vendors have different prices--the current price as of my review is not the same as what I paid. Check carefully and make sure the item is a good value for you.In any case, I found this product to be very user friendly and quite a great deal of fun. A nice addition to my 'tool' collection. Highly Recommended!JTG