How to Make Glittery Balloon Orbs

In this video, we are going to learn how to make balloon orbs that can be used anytime or in any season.

Just change the colors to suit the holiday.

Actually, you don’t even need a holiday for these.

Rob’s video, as you see below, has some finished gold and silver orbs that would be perfect for Christmas decorating.

Just beautiful!

If you ever go looking for videos showing how to do these orbs, you will find dozens, and they are all good.

But Rob’s was the most entertaining, so I chose his.

Not only that, there is one thing he did that I thought made the process easier.

Supplies Needed:

balloon – round or any shape you want it to be

string

art and craft glues such as Fevicol MR or Mod Podge

glitter

bowl for mixing the art glue with water and soaking the string in

plastic cup or item to set orb on to dry

scissors

paper plate or surface for catching glitter

foam brush (for alternate method)

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Blow up the balloon, but not too much. Do not fully inflate the balloon. You want it to be soft.

Step 2: Mix the glue and water in the bowl. He just puts a little water in the glue and mixes it. Some other videos recommend adding 2/3 part glue to 1/3 part water OR 3/4 part glue to 1/4 part water. It does not really matter. It will work any way you do it.

Step 3: Cut off some string. You can always add more pieces of string if your orb is not covered as you would like. Put it in the glue and water solution to soak.

Step 4: After a few minutes, you can do like he did and pull the string through your fingers to get the excess glue off the string. That will make it easier to work with it. Lay the string on a protected surface.

Step 5: Start with one end of the string and tie a knot at the top, OR just start covering the balloon with the string. The glue and water solution will help it stick. After a while, the string will start to attach itself.

Alternate Steps 3 through 5:

This might be easier for you. Pull some of the string off the spool. Start wrapping the string around the balloon, crisscrossing. There is no glue at this point. After you get the balloon covered however you like,

Then use the foam brush. Dip the foam brush into the glue mixture and cover the string on the balloon really well to soak the string.

Some people prefer this method. Easier and less messy. Although, what’s wrong with messy? 🙂

Here is a good example of doing this in an alternative way:

Now to continue with Rob’s video:

Step 6: Set it aside to dry. Use a plastic cup or very small bowl to set it on. It will take a while to dry completely. Make sure there are no wet spots or soft spots before continuing to the next step.

Step 7: Take the eraser end of a pencil and poke the balloon where the string doesn’t cover it. At this point, you are just trying to separate the balloon from the string. After it is mostly separated, you can pop the balloon. If you tied the string to the top in Step 5, then take scissors and carefully cut the balloon end off so it can be released. Then pull the balloon out through one of the larger openings with a pair of tweezers, a hook, or anything that can help grab a little bit of the balloon.

Step 8: Now is the fun glitter part. Lightly brush on the glue mixture and sprinkle with glitter. Do as much or as little as you want. Use the paper plate to help you with the glitter.

That’s it!

Maybe the only thing a little difficult is getting started on wrapping the string around the balloon.

In either version, it can be a little tricky.

But once you get the first few go-arounds done, it is easier.

What I really liked about Rob’s video over the others’ was how he got the balloon out of the orb.

His way is easier—at least, to me, it is.

You can make these bigger.

Just remember to account for more strings, of course.

Use different yarn and glitter color combinations.

As with most craft stuff, your imagination is limitless.

Pastel colors for Easter would look great.

What about, instead of making them round, making them like teardrops?

I am thinking that different round sizes and colors would look great in a Christmas table centerpiece.

We could go on and on, couldn’t we?

Have fun!