The messiest, merriest and whirliest DIY balls

Using balloons, glue and twine, you can make these cute lantern chandeliers for your wedding – and then bring it home and use it as your very own mid century lampshade.

Now you can’t say I didn’t warn you. The level of messiness involved in this project definitely warrants the great outdoors or a tarp covered floor in your home. However, I think you will find that the fun you had along the way and the final product makes the mess completely worth it! 

Gather up:

• Big balloon
• Sharpie
• Scissors
• Cotton yarn
• 4 oz. White school glue
• 1/2 cup of Corn starch
• 1/4 cup of Warm water
• Something to stir with
• Petroleum jelly
• Clear fast drying spray paint
• Hanging lamp cord or fishing line (depending on your desired final product)
• Container for mixing

Directions

1.  Blow up a balloon. We kind of suggest not blowing it up to its maximum capacity so that it is rounder.


2. After the balloon is inflated to it’s desired size draw a circle with the sharpie around the balloon knot just large enough to accommodate whatever lighting method you choose. Note: If you are just wanting to hang the balls or use them in a vase then you don’t need to leave a hole at all!


3. You will need to prepare your work area by laying down a tarp. We hung a shower curtain between two chairs and suspended the balloons by it with string so we could have plenty of working room.


4. Mix corn starch, glue and warm water together until it’s not lumpy (too bad getting rid of cellulite isn’t this easy). 


5. Smear the petroleum jelly all over your balloon until it is completely coated. Note: We specifically left using rubber gloves out of these instructions. You should get messy. If we were concerned about keeping your hands clean this would have been called the “loveliest, merriest and whirliest DIY” not “messiest, merriest and whirliest DIY”.


6. Besides sharing in good company, it will go much faster if you have a friend help you with this. One of you begin feeding the yarn through the glue mix and handing it off to the other person to drape around the ball.

7. Tuck the start and end pieces of yarn beneath other pieces of yarn. Begin wrapping the yarn around the balloon vertically at a comfortable tightness, and gradually switch to wrapping horizontally.

8. After your ball has dried for 24 hours, you can pop the balloon! Use a chopstick to knock out any glue crystals that developed between strings.

Spray the ball with clear fast drying spray paint outdoors.

(Source: merrybrides.blogspot.com)