DIY Easter Hot Air Balloon Basket

Easter is next week and we all know the star of the show for the kiddos is the Easter Basket. Of course, I wanted to find a way to incorporate balloons, so I made a simple yet impactful Hot Air Balloon! 

Tools:

• Hot Glue Gun (LOW TEMP)
• Serrated knife
• Balloon inflator 
• Scissors
• Mini Hand Pump  

Materials:

• 4- Square dowels 1/2” x 36” 
• Bushel Basket 
• 24” Latex Balloon (I used 2 to double stuff and get a lighter color. Lavender inside white)
• 2- 8.5x11” Felt sheet
• 5-White 260q balloons (bead borders and underneath large balloon)
• 6- White 160q balloons (flowers)
• 6- Lavendar 160q balloons (flowers)
• 10- Lime Green 160q balloons (leaves)
• 12- 5” Ivory balloons (flower centers)
• uglu dashes (optional)
• Bunny Balloon Kit (Optional)

ALWAYS PURCHASE EXTRA BALLOONS FOR POPPING ACCIDENTS. 

Instructions:

1. Take the 4 dowels, and using a serrated knife, cut off 8”. 
2. Hot glue the 4 dowels directly onto the inside of the basket in a square format. Use the strips of the bushel basket as a guide. 
3. Cut the 2 sheets of felt down the middle vertically.
4. Cut off about 1/2” off the side of each strips. 
5. Glue each edge of the strip to the middle. then singe the middle and glue the strip around to make a bow.
6. Using the mini hand pump, begin inflating the lavendar and white 160q balloons, inflate each one about halfway. Begin making loops and twisting 3 times after each to create a 5 or 6 petal flower.
7. Take the 5” ivory balloons and inflate very very very little, slip through the petals and center in the middle of the flower.
8. For the single leaves, inflate the lime green 160q balloons to about 5-6”. Fold in half and tie off. 
9. For the double leaves, inflate the lime green 160q balloons to about 8-9”. Fold the balloon on half and tie off. Then fold it in half again and twist 5 times. 
10. Using U-Glu dashes or low temp glue gun, adhere the flowers and leaves to the basket in a swag shape all the way around. 
11. Inflate the 24” balloon to about 20” and slip through the 4 dowels so it fits snug between them. Secure the balloon to the dowels using low temp hot glue gun or Uglu Dashes and cut off the tail. 
12. For the white beads around the large balloon, follow THIS VIDEO to make. Instead of tying the ends together, adhere the beads to the balloon using a glue gun or Uglu dashes. 
13. Adhere the 4 felt bows to the dowels using the hot glue gun. 
14. Make another 5 petal flower with the remaining white 260q balloon and adhere it to the bottom of the big balloon to cover the cut off tail.
15. Fill the basket with filler and goodies and you’re done!!! 

HAPPY EASTER!!!!