Daily Archives: July 7, 2010

Paper Balloons!

I love making these little origami balloons.  You can use them to hold candy, decorate for a party, and can even make little lanterns by attaching them to a string of lights.  They are super easy to make.  All you need is some colorful paper, a pair of scissors, and some hot air.

Lay your paper back side up on a hard surface.  Fold one corner down along the edge of the paper to form a large triangle.  Cut off the remainder of the paper (see below).

Fold the corner down and discard the X piece

Open the square and lay it down like a diamond with the crease pointing to you.  Fold the bottom corner to the top to form an X crease in the square.

For the purpose of explanation, I’ve named the individual triangles 1-4…with triangles 1 and 2 facing me (Click ORAGAMI for a diagram).

oragami

With the diamond shape folded in half so only 1 and 2 are facing you, push the horizontal crease toward the center and fold the vertical crease horizontally, pushing triangles 2 and 4 in the middle so 1 is facing you and 3 is on the other side of 1.

Form a triangle

With triangle 1 facing you, fold the corners up to the top of the point.  Turn it over to triangle 3 and repeat.  You should now have a small diamond shape.

Fold corners up to top of triangle on both sides

Back on triangle 1, fold the two side corners to the middle paper crease, as shown below.  Turn over and repeat.

Excuse my awful nail polish! 🙂

Now one side of your balloon has four loose flaps and the other side has a small hole in the middle.  Arrange your balloon so the loose flaps are facing up.  Fold each flap out and over the middle triangle as shown on the left side of this image, then fold the flap back over itself as shown on the right.  Once you have the small triangle on the right achieved, tuck it into the pocket of the middle triangle.  Turn it over and repeat on the other side.

Fold…

…and tuck!

Once you’ve completed all these steps, blow into the hole at the base of the balloon and you’ve got yourself one cute little ball!

Repeat with a variety of colors and patterns for a cheap and unique addition to your decor!

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.