It’s B week in kindergarten starting tomorrow. We are going to make these amazing balloon bowls which I kind of stumbled upon by accident. They started off as hot air balloons from Collage Collage, a totally fabulous art studio for kids and shop. I seriously stalk them on instagram. After I worked on the first balloon, which took a bit longer than I thought, I accidentally popped the balloon inside while removing the tape holding it to the cup. Turned out to be a major blessing in disguise because I realized the balloon separates itself from the tissue paper in the COOLEST way, with sound effects and everything, and I could trim it into a super cool bowl. From there I tried balloons in different sizes because there is no way kindergartners are going to sit for 45 minutes modge podging. I am so pleased with the process and the results, especially the balloon popping. The kids will love that part.
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Materials
balloon
cup (rocks to weigh the cup down)
masking tape
paint brush
Steps
1. Attach a balloon to a cup with masking tape. Make sure to put the tape on four sides of the balloon to keep it secure.
2. Modge Podge
3. Cover with tissue paper
4. Let the balloondry in the sun. Make sure not to wait too long and let the balloon lose air. You’re tissue paper will get all gnarly and attach to the balloon.
5. POP the balloon and watch it shrivel up, crackly and separate from the tissue paper. 6. Reshape the bowl. 7. Hem the edge if you want. It looks cool ragged too.
I think these would look so pretty with an LED light in them. Have fun!
You can see more pics over here.
Troubleshooting
If your balloon doesn’t come away from the balloon once you pop it, you can try peeling it away from the balloon. I’ve found that some tissue paper sticks more than others. Regular, straight up tissue paper seems to work best. You can also just leave the balloon on the inside if it is not interfering. Every time I do this with kids I prep them ahead of time that every once and a while things can go a little cookoo with art projects. Let’s see what happens. That usually does the trick with any disappointment if the crackle sound doesn’t happen. I’ve done this about 30 times and I’d say 3-4 didn’t work. I salvaged them somehow though except one. We just did it over and it worked fine.
Thanks for following along and hope you like the vid I just added! xo Meri
Hey Meri Cherry! Sorry to hear that your hot air balloon experience wasn’t a hit – I should clarify that the project you saw on line was a part of our week long Crafternoon program, so we worked on it for half an hour for 5 days! Not a one stop project at all! Happy you found a way to modify it, and please don’t hesitate to email questions about projects that you see!
Hi! Thanks for your email. How cool. I figured as much once I tried it. Plus, it looks like you are using something different than just tissue paper on your balloons? It all worked out and I’m really excited to do the bowls with my class tomorrow. I really love your blog and all the great stuff you are doing. I wish you would do tutorials with the great projects! They all look like so much fun.
These are great! I’m going to try it with my kiddos at church. Since they look like Easter Eggs to me, I think I will use pastel colors and maybe fill them with Easter Grass and candy.
That’s a great idea! Please send me a pic when you do. Would love to see them!
These are so pretty! I found these on pintrest and wanted to give a class or two a fun special end-of-the-year project. How many layers of tissue paper did you use? Also how long did you let it dry before popping the balloon?
Thank you! I did at least two layers of tissue paper. The drying is the key part. The first time I let them dry over night and that was a big disaster because the balloons lost some air, which prevented the crinkle/pop affect that you want. I’ve learned to sit them in a sunny area if possible and let dry just a few hours and then pop. You want to hear a crackle from the balloon and tissue paper separating. Let me know how it goes. You may want to do one in advance to get the hang of it. It’s super fun to gather the kids around and wait to hear the crackle.
This looks beautiful AND something my little four-year olds would love to do! Thank you for sharing 🙂 When it hardens, is it delicate? Is this to be placed on a shelf or can they play with it?
They can definitely play with them as long as you do a few layers. They kind of feel like thick glue that’s dried. Have fun!
If you don’t have modge podge can you just use white glue?
You can definitely try it. I think it would work but can’t be sure. I’ve only tried the modpodge. Please let me know if you give a try. Good luck!
What a gorgeous craft. I am featuring these in my Tissue Paper Craft Roundup if you don’t mind.
absolutely! Thank you!
So I just tried doing this with Construction paper in Matisse shapes but the balloons started popping on their own the next day. The kids were only half done and I only see them every 6-8 days. I tried one on my own and it worked fine. I wan’t to make the tissue paper bowls but I am worried that the same will happen. Tough to do in one day I guess….anyone have any thoughts on this?
Unfortunately you have to do this in one shot because the balloons will either deflate or pop. Sorry about that!