The Hot Air Balloon

Several months ago, I stumbled across this fantastic tutorial for paper hot air balloons. I can only imagine the amount of skill and patience that went into designing them!

Picture from PaperMatrix

Not only is the video tutorial available on youtube, the pattern is available on PaperMatrix!
The video tutorial made the project look so simple, I was sure that I would be able to make one of these in no time at all.

I was wrong.

In retrospect, I should have known it would be tricky at first... I was never very good at origami, after all.

I started by cutting out the balloon pattern. I used some colored card paper that I had lying around.

I was a little overconfident when I started weaving the pieces together. Instead of the neat twelve-point pattern (shown on the top of the completed balloon) I ended up with something that resembled an injured octopus.

So, I revisited the video tutorial and tried again.

Much better! I kept weaving, but got stuck when the balloon started to take shape. I used paper clips, but I'm thinking about gluing as I go instead.

I've put this little project aside for now, but I am determined to finish it! I'm thinking about making a mobile with hot air balloons and paper clouds. Apparently my paper-folding skills need work, so it wouldn't hurt to make a few of these for practice. Next time I'll set aside more time for hot air balloon-making... I want them done right, after all!