• Lay the table covering down on your surface to protect it.

  Blow up your balloon to about 10 to 12 inches in size. Compare it to your basket to make sure that it is large enough to be in proportion.

  Tie off the balloon.

Hot air balloon papier mache

• Cut or tear the lightweight white paper into small pieces. If the paper is quite lightweight, then it can be in larger pieces like 2“ x 2“. But mine was heavier and we had to tear it down in size 2 about 1“ x 1“ in size.

  Use an old paintbrush to begin putting Mod Podge on the balloon. Lay paper pieces in the Mod Podge. Paint Mod Podge over the paper too. Cover the entire balloon with paper (going around the stem of the balloon).

  Repeat the last step until you’ve put about three layers of paper on the balloon.

  Allow this to dry for several hours. I would recommend coming back to the project the next day.

Cardboard ring

• Cut a ring from the recycled salt container (or other container you found to use). Cut the bottom off the container and cut again about one inch higher.

  Paint the ring white or the color of your choice. I only painted the outside but the inside can also be painted. Set this aside.

Balloon pattern

• Lightly draw a pattern on your balloon that you would like to paint. This can be any type of pattern. You may want to look online to see all the patterns on balloons that people have come up with! If you make a freeform design, paint it in the colors of your choice.

  OR follow the next directions to make stripes of color on your balloon the way that you will see in the pictures and video.

  Draw a dot at the top of the papier-mâché covered balloon. This would be directly opposite the tie that is sticking out of the bottom of the balloon. 

  Use a piece of string to wrap around the balloon from the top down to the tie and draw a line along that string. Do the same thing on the opposite side of the balloon. This will mark a line that makes the balloon have two sections.

  Repeat this so that you divide each of the 2 halves in half. Then divide each of the fourths in half. This will make eight stripes of color on your balloon. That’s what you see in the pictures.

Paint the balloon

• Choose colors of acrylic craft paint for your design. We chose eight different colors for the eight different stripes on the balloon. Use the set of paint brushes to paint each of the lines on the balloon the colors that you have chosen.

  You may need to wait between colors so that they dry before adding the next color. But we did not have to wait long and had little trouble with the colors running into one another.

Assembling the air balloon craft

• Gently pull on the knotted end of the balloon and make a small clip in the balloon with your scissors. Continue to hold onto the balloon as it deflates. Then gently pull it out of your papier-mâché balloon shaped hot air balloon.

  Cut four long pieces of string that are about 4 feet in length each for the harness for the balloon.

  Put the four strings in a stack and find the halfway point. Tie your ring on that halfway point of the four strings. Watch the video to make this clear.

  Use hot glue and glue the string knot onto the top of your balloon. This is opposite where the tied balloon end had been.

  Bring the eight strings down from the knot so that they align with the eight sections of the balloon. If you have made a free hand design. You will have to just kind of make a guesstimate as to where these eight lines will go.

  Use a small line of hot glue to glue these strings in place from the top of the balloon down about an inch or an inch and a half. Be careful not to burn your fingers on the hot glue as you place the strings into the glue.

  Hold your balloon up and you will see these eight strings coming down around the sides of the balloon. Collect them in one hand under the balloon and place them through the cardboard ring that you made earlier. Continue to hold onto the strings with one hand and turn your balloon upside down. You may need a second set of hands to help you with the next step.

  Use hot glue to glue each of the eight strings inside of the cardboard ring so that they stay in place. The cardboard ring should be fitting around where the tied end of the balloon had been, directly opposite the top of the balloon.

  When you hold the balloon up by the ring, each string will go around the balloon, go inside of the cardboard ring, and then hang down from there.

Attach the basket

• Tie each of these strings to the top of the basket, at equal distances around the top edge. We used a ruler to measure about 2 inches down from the cardboard ring to the top of the basket. Then tied the string with two knots to keep it in place.

  Do this with each of your strings. Then cut each string so the ends are about an inch and a half long. These are the "ropes" that you would see on a hot air balloon.

  Put a battery operated candle in the basket if you would like it to light up. Hang it up and you’re ready to go!