Balloon Shell

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Making a balloon shell is a project that I have a vague memory of doing when I was a kid and it seemed like a  fun thing for the kids to try. This is a relatively easy project that takes very little items but a significant amount of time. 

There are really two different ways to make a balloon shell with one being open and the other being closed. The closed variety relies on paper machier and seemed a bit too much like the volcano. So I opted for the open shell, which has a cooler look, in my opinion. While we did have some string, I wanted to get some pastel color that would make the shells seem more like Spring. I found this multi-colored string at Hobby Lobby and although it was a bit more expensive than I had expected, it really seemed like the colors that I was envisioning. When we checked out, the cashier started teasing me, asking me if I was going to make some socks. This is not really an uncommon reaction when I go to woman-dominated locations with the kids to do something art & crafty. 

What you need for this project:

Balloons

String

Flour or Corn Startch

Water

Mixing Bowl

Paper To Line The Table With

For this project, we started by adding flour and water in a bowl to make the natural paste. 

Next, we wrapped the coated string around some balloons. You can do this with many short strings or one really long one. We went with a long one so that I didn't have to worry about it binding with other strings. 

After the first balloon, I realized that it didn't matter because it was too difficult to figure how much string that you would need to sufficiently wrap around the balloon. 

After letting the balloons, or more appropriately, the string dry overnight, you are ready to pop the balloons. This is actually the trickiest part of the entire project. When the balloon deflates, it will cause the outer shell to also deflate and crumble if you don't separate the string from the balloon first. Once we got all of the shells ready, we hung them up in front of our sliding glass door to display for the neighborhood. Or at least to their backyards. The good thing about this placement was that it is next to our dinner table so every time we ate, we could admire these pieces of art. Another good thing about this project is that when it comes time to throw them away (not that you ever would), they crumple down into a small ball that doesn't take too much space in the garbage can.