Erin Fox
A hot air balloon decoration for your home.
Instead of throwing out old light bulbs, recycle them along with other materials to make this hot air balloon. The light bulb will brighten up your room whether itís working or not.
For the hot air balloon decoration you will need: one old light bulb (the bigger the better), scissors, glue, one empty tea light, string, swatches of fabric in different colours, glue and a paint brush.
Measure the light bulb from the centre of the top to the metal base. Cut four oval shaped pieces of fabric measuring the same length. Cut another four oval shaped pieces from the fabric of the other colour.
Take the brighter colour first and brush glue onto one side of each of the four oval shapes. Stick these all around the light bulb, leaving a space between each piece. The best way to do this is to stick them on one at a time. When you have glued the first one on, attach the next piece opposite. Place the next piece in between the first two and the fourth piece opposite the former. Smooth out any air bubbles. Repeat with the next colour until the bulb is covered and no gaps are showing. Leave to dry for a few hours.
While the glue is drying, scrape any excess candle wax out of the tea light. Ask an adult to poke four holes evenly around the tea light with a sharp pointed tool.
Cut two long lengths of string. You can trim this later. Tie a loop in the centre one of the pieces of string. Secure the loop in place at the top of the bulb in the centre. Brush the string with some glue and line each side up against the seams of the fabric. Take the second piece of string and tie this around the knot. Brush glue on the remaining strings, all the way down to the line where the bulb meets the metal base.
Thread the string through one of the holes in the tea light and tie a knot in the end. Repeat with the string on the opposite side. Tie the strings evenly so the tea light basket with be straight. Repeat with the remaining strings and trim off any excess string from the knots.
Place a small toy inside the basket and hang the hot air balloon from the ceiling or a shelf with the loop.
