How to Make a Paper Mache Hot Air Balloon

Craft your very own paper mache hot air balloon with our step-by-step tutorial!

With just a few basic materials and a touch of creativity, your kids will craft a fun decoration that will be admired for years to come.

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Are you ready to craft your own?

Gather your supplies, let your imagination soar, and prepare for a crafting journey that will ignite your kid’s creativity like never before!

How to Make Paper Mache Hot Air Balloon

What you need:

• paper mache glue (we have collected the best paper mache glue recipes)
• newspaper or old magazines
• cardstock or cardboard
• tape (masking tape, duct tape, sellotape – anything goes)
• scissors
• paints and paintbrushes
• balloon
• a piece of wire

Step by Step Tutorial

Start by making a paper mache glue.

Creating the glue in an old pan makes it easier to use it later on.

The Hot Air Balloon

Blow up a large balloon to the desired size for your hot air balloon and tie it securely to prevent air from escaping.

Tear the old newspaper into small pieces, dip them into the glue, and apply them all over the balloon.

It is best to overlap the pieces to make the balloon sturdier.

Keep on adding layers of old newspaper to cover the surface evenly, but do allow each layer to dry a little before continuing.

Once the first layer is dry, repeat the procedure to add a second layer of paper mache.

The Burner Hole

Once the final layer of paper mache is dry, your hot air balloon should be firm and sturdy.

Cut out the part where the balloon’s lip is by making a hole.

Deflate and remove the balloon through this hole, leaving only the paper mache shell.

The Hot Air Balloon Patterns

Paint the balloon with any colors you wish.

We helped ourselves by tracing the lines with a pencil first.

We chose pale yellow and red, but your kids can choose any patterns and colors.

Add more details, such as rhombuses or any other shapes kids desire.

See how we added pale yellow paint over the red strip of the balloon to create the rhombus?

And we chose a pale blue paint to paint another one beside it.

The Basket

Cut out a tiny cross shape – depending on how big you want the hot air balloon basket to be.

Make folds, then use tape to secure the edges and hold the box shape together.

Apply the old newspaper dipped in glue all over the basket.

Wait for it to dry.

Decorate the hot air balloon basket with paints or other embellishments to add a personalized touch.

The Control Lines

Cut several lengths of rope or string, each approximately the same size.

You can use more strings if you wish.

Take one string as the base, then attach the other six strings by making knots.

See how we made the spaces between the strings equal.

Take the first two strings and make a knot.

Then repeat the process with the other two pairs.

Now take the second and the third string and make a knot.

Take the fourth and the fifth string, and make a knot.

We will knot with the first and last strings when we attach the net over our hot air balloon.

Make a knot with the strings from the previous step to connect the balloon’s net.

We’re looking at the top part of our balloon now.

Connect the base string by making a knot.

Our hot air balloon is almost set.

Grab the six strings hanging from the balloon, and tie them in a knot.

Cut another piece of thread – we’ll need it for the basket in the following steps.

Place the basket onto the newly made knot to see how it fits.

Tie a piece of thread by making a knot in the center of the two strings.

Place the basket as you did before.

Now take that thread and “wrap” it around our basket, then make a knot to hold it in place.

Make two holes on the top of the balloon.

Make a hook from a wire and insert it through the holes.

It will serve us so we can hang our hot air balloon later.

Cut off the excess threads around the balloon.

Your hot air balloon is all done!

You can use it as a neat outdoor or indoor decoration.

Have fun making a bunch of them!