How to make a papier-mâché balloon?

The papier-mâché technique is quite original, beautiful and simple. Often large balloons are decorated with small pieces of paper, resulting in interesting decorations for the holidays. Today we will talk about how to properly prepare the material, and how to make such a ball correctly.

First you need to find a stack of old and unnecessary newspapers. Newspaper sheets are neatly torn into separate strips. Moreover, their width should be about 2-3 centimeters. Sometimes, instead of such paper, thick paper napkins are used, from which the same lengths are formed.

At the same time, a sticky mass is prepared. The glue is diluted in a clean container. You can take a simple composition of PVA. It is mixed with water. In this case, it is necessary to observe the exact proportions: 1 part of the adhesive mixture to 3 parts of the liquid. The resulting mass is thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous thick base is formed.

A papier-mâché balloon can be easily made with your own hands. First, let's list all the components necessary for this:

• adhesive composition;

• paper pulp;

• threads;

• thick cardboard;

• a roll of disposable paper towels;

• fat cream;

• balloon (or inflatable ball);

When all the elements are prepared, you can start the manufacturing process itself. First, the balloon is inflated. Its surface is coated with any fatty cream. After that, several paper towels are torn into small pieces.

Then you will need to glue the product with the resulting pieces. To do this, they begin to glue newspaper segments onto the prepared base with glue. This is how the first layer is made. In total, you need to make several such layers.The best option would be to create 5 rows.

The workpiece must be allowed to dry completely. When everything has hardened and hardened enough, you can release air from the ball. It is carefully removed from the craft.

After that, the finished ball must be painted over with white. This is done so that newspaper inscriptions are not visible on its surface. The craft is sent to dry again.

Then various bright colors can already be applied to the ball. It is better to do it in several layers. But before applying each new layer, the surface must be allowed to dry. For durability, you can cover the finished work with a protective varnish.

Next, a basket is woven from the strips made. Moreover, it can have a variety of forms. Sometimes, when creating it, they also take some kind of base of a suitable shape. In order to connect the balloon itself and the finished basket into one craft, you can separately crochet a thin mesh, which will allow you to combine these parts.

Next, let's look at how to make a papier-mâché ball with sweets. First you need to prepare all the same materials and parts as in the first case. In this case, instead of PVA glue, you can take a paste. For its self-preparation, you will need to mix water and flour, boiling it all over low heat.

After that, take a balloon, inflate and paste over with thin newspaper strips in several layers. When the workpiece is completely dry, take corrugated paper of bright colors. It is also cut into small strips.

The finished elements are glued over the base. If the craft has dried and hardened, the ball is burst with a needle. Various sweets are placed through the hole inside the piñata.

In order for the product to hold firmly, it is better to make several small holes near the hole using a hole punch. A satin ribbon is threaded through them and tied tightly.

The resulting piñata with sweets can be decorated with various multi-colored ribbons, clippings from colored paper or cardboard, bows. Sometimes beautiful ornaments in the form of wings are cut out of various materials. And you can also print decorative items on a printer, or cut pictures from old magazines.

Often, when creating such products, durable threads of different colors are used. They make the base. In this case, the inflated ball is pasted over with such threads in several rows.

When the glue dries, newspaper strips are already glued onto the workpiece, they are painted all white, and then decorated. At the final stage of manufacturing, the ball is burst and gently pulled out. This option is considered more durable and durable. When creating, you can use thicker threads, so that the result is the strongest possible product.

If you want to make your balloon, made using the papier-mâché technique, even more interesting and bright, then brushes made of thin threads can be used as an additional decoration. They can be snapped to the previously made mesh.

Sometimes many small woven bags are created with various surprises and toys. They are tied to a cardboard basket. And also sometimes finished balls are pasted over with small pieces of shiny gift wrapping.

Decorating a craft in the shape of a globe or planets will be a beautiful and interesting option. For this, various paints, glossy varnishes are used. In such cases, you need to form the smoothest possible round base.

If you decide to make a model with a world map, then it is better to take a real globe. To make the craft look as realistic as possible, it will be necessary to accurately redraw the outlines of all seas and continents.For this, simple acrylic paints are used.

Often, several soft plush toys are placed in cardboard baskets. Sometimes small gifts for the holidays are also put there.

How to make a balloon using the papier-mâché technique, see the video below.