DIY Hot Air Balloons

Croix's room is my favorite room in the house. Yes, it is our only finished space, but beyond that it is just a really happy room to be in and I can tell he likes it. He lays in his crib and just looks around, sometimes for 20 minutes or more!  It's hard to believe this room came together over a weekend...literally. We moved into our new house with the red crib and a few shelves/brackets from Ikea. That was it. As the weeks drew closer to my due date we knew we had to get rolling on this nursery, but we were not 100% sure of the visual direction of the space. We tossed around a  ton of thoughts and even went to several stores, trying to get the creative wheels turning. Finally, after talking and talking about it we decided to write the Dr. Seuss quote "Oh The Places You'll Go" and surround the words with hot air balloons. We looked for hot air balloons on sites like Etsy and Amazon but couldn't find exactly what we were looking for, so we decided to make the pieces ourselves. 

We gathered our supplies from several different stores. We bought a lot more than we needed but we were not sure exactly what materials we would use together so we just bought what we liked and planned to take back what we didn't use. 

Here is a shot of our supplies.....

• 3 half sphere styrofoam balls, each a different size (Michaels)
• Fabric (JoAnn's Fabric)
• Several rolls of yarn (Michaels)
• Several spools of ribbon (Michaels)
• Rope, thick and thin (Michaels)
• 3 Tiny Baskets (Michaels)
• 3 Animals (Target)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Staple Gun

We did one balloon at a time and kind of let them come to life organically. The details, both big and small varied with each balloon. The large red balloon was the first up, so I will take you through the process of bringing this one to life.  We started by stapling the red fabric onto the styrofoam sphere. 

Next we hot glued large rope to the front of the "balloon". 

We went around the edge, down the front and horizontally at the bottom with the rope. The vertical rope was left long at the time so we would have more options as we went to attach the basket.

Next, we removed the little handles that came on the baskets and then Brent drilled holes into the sides. 

The excess rope was then strung through the holes....

We played with the basket, adjusting it up and down the rope, until we felt like it hung in the right position. 

Then, Brent simply tied knots in each piece of rope and then chopped off the excess. The final touch was the little animals; we found them at Target and I believe they were actually ornaments as it was Christmas time when we did this project. But they fit perfectly into the baskets. 

It was fun creating each balloon and I love how each one is different and special in it's own way. 

Once all three balloons were created we hung them on the wall. Easy-peasy. 

These little creations bring such fun layer of interest and dimension to the wall and the room! This project was pretty easy and in expensive to make, which is always a plus especially for our family as I predict it is only a matter of time before a Ninja Turtle or Iron Man make their appearance on these walls....it is Brent's son we are are talking about after all...:)

All photos are my own.