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How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations

August 27, 2012 2 Comments

Two of my favorite people on the planet (Tuesday of Muggy Tuesday and Jess of Milton & Margie’s Soy Wax Candles) and I have recently started a new business designing and making party decorations for everything from arts benefits to first birthday parties. This weekend was the first birthday party for one of our favorite clients, and it was HOT AIR BALLOON-themed. So, so, so cute! We made 15 unique hot air balloons, party bunting, and a photo booth backdrop for this party, and today, I want to show you how we made the hot air balloon decorations.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Supplies

Chinese lanterns

acrylic paint

paint brush

string/fishing line

yarn or tapestry needle

ruler

scissors

packing tape

paper cut into a square (or origami paper, which comes square)

push pin

Directions

Paint your lantern however you like with acrylic craft paint. For the first birthday party, Tuesday chose our color palette, and we used different patterns and color combinations on each of the 15 lanterns we were commissioned to make. When your lanterns are painted, you’ll need to create paper baskets for them using square paper, packing tape, and string. Here’s how to make the baskets I designed…

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Fold your square piece of paper in thirds one way, and then the other, creating a tic tac toe board shape. I measured and marked where the exact lines should be so my thirds were perfectly even on both sides.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Fold a diagonal line within each corner’s square on the sheet of paper, as shown.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Fold the paper into a cube shape, securing the “basket” with packing tape.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Use a bulletin board push pin to poke four holes on each of two sides of your basket. They should be the sides that aren’t thickened by the folded corners and tape (this will make your life easier – believe me, I made 15 of these).

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Sew your string through two of the holes, diagonally across the bottom and up the far side of the basket. I used some catfish-specific fishing line, but I realize not everyone has that stuff just laying around. Sturdy thread will work just fine too. Sew the other side, forming an “x” across the bottom of the basket.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Then, tie the basket to the base of the lantern. The way I designed the string on the baskets makes them incredibly adjustable in case the baskets are looking crooked to you when they’re hung. The adjustable design totally saved our butts when we hung the lanterns since they were transported across Chicago in my car. The back seat was literally full to the ceiling with these cute bad boys!

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Setting up the party space

Tuesday and I handled setting up our decorations at the party venue, a perfectly weathered white space. Tuesday’s dress matched our ladder. :)

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

While we were both operating on significantly less sleep than anyone should use a ladder on, we had so much fun seeing everything come together. Check out some shots from our setup, and our sleepy attempts at making the most of the adorable photo booth backdrop Jess made for the event.

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

This is me being all “I haven’t slept like at all, but I’m trying to not look like I’m dying!”

How-to: Hot Air Balloon Party Decorations | HandsOccupied.com

Tuesday, equally tired, being way more adorable than I!

I can’t wait to see the professional photo booth and event photos! If I get permission, I’ll share some of the highlights. :)

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to Tagged With: balloon party, chinese lanterns, hot air balloons, origami, paint, paper crafts

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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  1. 4.7.13 – Emily’s Baby Shower | phillypott says:
    April 9, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    […] Hot air balloon tutorial: Hands Occupied […]

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  2. Adventure Party Time | Make and Bake It says:
    May 13, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    […] going with the “Up” inspiration, I wanted to do some hot air balloon decorations. This site had a really helpful tutorial. All I had to buy was some paper lanterns and some string. I changed […]

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
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Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎 Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎
Another morning of filming! One of the knitting vi Another morning of filming! One of the knitting videos I’d like to release soon is a big overview of how to swatch and why - if you have any questions or favorite tips, let me know. 
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To be honest, I want to be able to link to this video as a resource when I get angry gauge questions, so please don’t hesitate to share your best tips. Together, we can tame the knitting Karens. 😆
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A big issue I've had in the last year is putting t A big issue I've had in the last year is putting together new design work but not doing any independent releases of them. Chalk it up to anxiety, burn out, or whatever but here we are. 
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Last week I turned 35, so in honor of that here’s 3 things: 
❤️ a picture of me at my most stylish 
💛 a little glimpse at some of the design things I've recently been working on
💙a promise that I will be releasing some of the pictured designs this year. Getting back in the swing of things after taking it easy is hard 😆 - wish me luck!
Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhoo Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhood while I shot a new crochet tutorial today. With any luck, editing will go smoothly & I’ll be posting new videos to YouTube regularly soon! Got any requests for tutorial topics? 
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Pattern: modified #soldotnacrop sweater / yarn: various from my stash
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