Paper Mache Hot Air Balloon: Shell, Basket and Hanging Cord

What you’ll need

• One balloon with an oval outline; newspaper torn into small patches; a bowl to steady the balloon
• For the selected cooked paste: 1 cup plain all-purpose flour and 2 cups water by volume, using the same measuring cup; saucepan and spoon
• Small lightweight square woven basket without a handle; embroidery thread, including a spare length for practicing knots; scissors
• A long sewing needle, such as a doll-making needle, with an eye that fits the thread; check its reach against your intended balloon size before covering
• Acrylic craft paint in ochre and pale blue; flat and small round brushes; pencil
• Protected table and ventilated drying place; an existing secure display point suitable for the finished model

Choose the paste before covering the balloon

Hobbycraft does not specify a paste recipe. For a complete route here, use Red Ted Art’s cooked flour paste as a separate, explicit material choice: gradually stir 2 cups water into 1 cup all-purpose flour, heat in a saucepan while stirring, bring the mixture to a boil, then take it off the heat and let it cool fully before touching it. An adult should handle the pan.

Check the cooled mixture on a scrap: it should coat paper without dry flour pockets. Stir smooth; if too thick to spread, add water a little at a time. Make fresh paste for later sessions as needed. This is the selected recipe for this guide, not a claim about what Hobbycraft used.

See the full paste preparation and coating checks →

References: Little Button Diaries for Hobbycraft: paper shell, basket and hanging thread · Red Ted Art: cooked flour paste and saucepan method

Build the shell in three dry-separated coverages

Inflate and tie the balloon. Before covering it, hold the needle alongside the balloon, without touching its point to the rubber. Check whether you could guide the point to the crown from the planned lower opening while still holding the needle comfortably. If not, choose a longer needle or a smaller balloon now. A large model may need a much longer needle than an ordinary hand-sewing needle.

Steady the balloon in a bowl with the tie accessible. Children can help place paper with supervision; adults should manage the balloon, scissors and needle. Keep uninflated balloons and broken pieces away from young children.

1. 1. Cover and dry, three times

   Fit overlapping pasted newspaper patches over the balloon, leaving a gap around its tie. Complete three coverages, drying each before adding the next, as Hobbycraft directs. A coverage means the whole intended surface, not three pieces in one spot.

   

2. 2. Release the mold

   When the shell is dry and firm, hold the tie and make a tiny snip in the exposed balloon so it deflates. Let it separate without pulling hard on the paper. Stop if the shell caves in or tears.

3. 3. Open the lower end

   Remove the deflated balloon and trim the rough lower opening with scissors. Keep a dry trimming for the knot check below. Work gradually, keeping enough shell above the rim for the basket connections. Check that the opening lets you reach the crown with your needle without crushing the shell; choose tools and access before painting.

   

Check whether paper mache is ready to uncover or paint →

References: Little Button Diaries for Hobbycraft: paper shell, basket and hanging thread · CPSC: keep uninflated balloons and broken pieces away from young children

Keep the first decoration simple

Our illustrated finish uses an ochre top, pale blue lower body and ochre dots. Mark the color boundary about a third of the way down from the top. Paint the area above the line ochre and the area below pale blue. Brush on thin coats, allowing each to dry according to the paint label before turning or repainting the shell.

Once the blue base is dry, use the small round brush to add spaced ochre dots. Try the brush on scrap paper first, then decorate one exposed area at a time with the shell supported. Let those dots dry before turning the shell onto that area.

Skip heavy ornaments and glued-on toys. The source adds card bunting and stars; the painted-dot variation here avoids those extra pieces. If you want a varnished finish, complete the separate product-specific finishing method before threading the basket, so the cords do not pick up wet coating.

Optional acrylic ground and product-specific varnish method →

Install the crown thread before the basket

Hobbycraft uses separate threads for the crown and the basket. Here, install the top thread first to keep the lower opening clear while reaching inside. The double overhand stopper below is our explicit knot choice; Hobbycraft does not name a knot. The diagram shows where the knots sit, not their tying sequence.

Enlarge diagram

Diagram

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Install the top thread first, then the four basket threads. Only two basket threads are shown in section; the round knot symbols indicate position, not knot shape. Original schematic; not a load test.

1. 4. Practice the stopper on spare thread

   Near one end, cross the short tail over the long part to make a small loop. Bring the tail through that loop twice in the same direction, leaving both turns loose until they are in place. Pull the tail and the long part apart gently, arranging the turns into a compact knot. Leave a visible tail instead of cutting flush. Try this with your actual thread and a needle hole in a dry shell offcut: if the knot slips through or the paper tears, do not use that combination for hanging.

2. 5. Install the crown thread

   Tie that stopper at one end of the hanging thread and put the other end through the needle eye. Support the shell on its side, with the lower opening facing you. Guide the needle through the opening and press its point through the crown from inside, keeping your other hand away from the exit point. Take hold of the emerging needle outside and draw the thread through until the knot rests against the inner crown. Remove the needle and leave the outer thread free for hanging. If you cannot reach, stop and change the needle; do not force your hand into the shell or enlarge the crown hole to pass the knot.

3. 6. Plan four basket connections

   Keep the shell supported on the table. Place the basket below the opening at the gap you want, and mark four points in intact shell above the rim, one opposite each corner. Cut four separate threads of equal starting length. Each needs enough length to span the gap, wrap around the basket rim twice, form the basket hitches and shell stopper, and leave tails you can hold while tying. Leave an unbroken band of paper between each marked point and the cut edge. Do not pierce directly into a notch or a soft area.

4. 7. Tie the basket ends

   At each corner, use a firm part of the rim weave that the thread can pass around. Wrap the short tail around that part twice. Then take the tail around the long part of the thread and through the loop just made; snug this first half hitch. Repeat that motion in the same direction for a second half hitch. Leave a visible tail and check for slipping or loose weave. This round-turn-and-two-half-hitches connection is an editorial choice using Grog’s tying sequence; a stopper knot alone does not tie the thread to the basket.

5. 8. Connect the basket threads to the shell

   Put the free long end of one basket thread through the needle eye. Pierce its marked shell point from outside to inside, keeping your supporting fingers clear of the needle. Retrieve the needle through the lower opening and remove it from the thread, then make the practiced double overhand stopper inside near the opening. Repeat for the other three threads with the basket resting on the table. Adjust the hanging lengths before tightening the inside knots fully so the basket sits level. Each inside knot must remain larger than its hole.

   

References: Little Button Diaries for Hobbycraft: paper shell, basket and hanging thread · Animated Knots by Grog: double overhand stopper tying sequence · Animated Knots by Grog: round turn and two half hitches

Try a low hang before choosing a display position

With the basket empty, support the whole model above a clear tabletop. Slowly transfer its weight to the top thread while keeping your other hand underneath. Examine the crown and lower holes for tearing, growth or slippage. This editorial check can reveal an obvious failure; it does not establish a safe payload or long-term strength.

If the shell remains stable, adjust unequal basket threads while supporting the basket, then repeat the low check. Tie the top thread to an existing secure display point. Keep the model and dangling threads away from young children and out of places where people might pull or collide with it. Leave the basket empty.

Compare eight paper mache projects →

A decorative model, not a flying balloon

The shape represents a hot air balloon; there is no burner, candle or lifting gas. The hollow paper and cords are for a lightweight indoor display. If your goal is an experiment about flight, choose a purpose-designed activity with its own materials and supervision instead of modifying this paper model.

Sources & further reading

• Little Button Diaries for Hobbycraft: paper shell, basket and hanging thread
• Red Ted Art: cooked flour paste and saucepan method
• CPSC: keep uninflated balloons and broken pieces away from young children
• Animated Knots by Grog: double overhand stopper tying sequence
• Animated Knots by Grog: round turn and two half hitches