Amy of AllButtondUp requested instructions for this project, so here goes! These were so simple to make and Miles LOVED making them. One could get very fancy with the inside decorations, but we kept it simple in the interest of time and money. Let's see if I can keep this tutorial simple, which is the real challenge for me.
Step One: Mix 2 parts white glue and 1 part water in a paper plate and dip strips of paper (we used newspaper) in it then stick to a blown-up balloon in thin layers. We let each layer dry before layering on the next. We did two layers of newspaper and got up nice and close to the little balloon tie.
When it came time to layer on the colorful tissue paper, we decided to hang them up because the tissue paper was so thin, it kept sticking to the ramekins we'd had them resting in before. We took them down to layer on, then hung them up by ribbon from the light fixture to dry. We only did two layers of tissue because Miles was "ready to finish these things".
Next, I drew a hole on the dried shell and then started to cut it with a steak knife and once I had about an inch, I switched to scissors. A craft knife would make me sound much more on top of my game here, but I'm choosing honesty. It was what was closest.
The balloon popped and made a lovely hissing sound as it pulled itself away from the walls of the glued inside, and I tugged on the ribbon a bit and out it came, leaving a hole at the top that I later glued a bit of tissue over.
After the holes were cut, we crumpled smallish bits of tissue and glued them around the opening to hide the steak-knifed, rough bits and to pretty it all up with some detail. I love how it sort of looks like little blossoms. It was during this step that I realized I could have begun the decoupaging with colored tissue and would not be seeing newsprint inside my work of art! But you choose...
Here is M's.
And here are our finished dioramas, you can see that Miles packed his with bubble gum eggs! as well as his Peep:
I took a bit of time to talk about eggs and rabbits and their significance during this time of year. I'm pretty sure Miles could recount the stories, but I also know he was obsessively jonesing for some Peeps while trying to be polite.
Thank you for indulging me here today with our little craft! I hope you enjoyed it.
