Whimsical Valentine's DIY Hot Air Balloon and Hearts

Perk up your pandemic Valentine’s Day with a whimsical Valentine’s DIY hot air balloon and hearts! Restaurant dine in might be closed in your area right now, but you can still set a nice ambiance in your dining area. Make your day with this fun decor.

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Whimsical Valentine’s Balloon Centerpiece

This whimsical Valentine’s DIY hot air balloon is an unexpected, yet fun Valentine’s Day decoration. Draw everyone to the table at meal time and imagine where you would travel in a hot air balloon. I personally would take a Pippi Longstocking style trip on the south seas 😉

What you’ll need:

You can customize this hot air balloon to your taste. I was originally planning on making a red, black, and white balloon and coordinating decor because I am currently obsessed with black and white plaid patterns. However, the rest of the family demanded I stick with the traditional purple, pink, and red colors.

The basic items you will need include:

One small plastic pot
One medium size styrofoam ball
Four sticks or straws
Miniature size artificial flowers
Artificial flower petals
Floral foam block (to fit inside pot)
Acrylic paint for styrofoam and pot
Foam paint “brush”
Fine glitter (I used Martha Stewart brand)
Ribbon
Glue gun and glue sticks

Step by Step directions:

Use the foam brush to apply acrylic paint in color of your choice to the styrofoam ball. I used ivory color. Do not use spray paint on the styrofoam ball! Spray paint will eat away the styrofoam.
Apply paint or glue to the pot, then sprinkle on glitter. Paint a small section at a time, then add glitter.
While the paint dries, organize the flowers you plan on using grouped by size (if applicable). Later, apply the smallest flowers on the top of the ball. Then, gradually larger as I worked my way to the bottom.
Once the paint dries on the ball, place clear tape or some sort of marking for how you would like to place the flowers. I wish I had made lines in advance as a guide so that my flowers “lines” were evenly spaced. I did not make a guide prior to gluing flowers. As a result, my flower lines came out a bit crooked. My mistake, your gain 😉
Starting with the smallest flower, place a dab of hot glue on the top, center of the ball. Use the smallest flowers at the top, then medium, then largest at the bottom of the line. If all of your flowers are the same size…you’re lucky. I alternated colors of the lines (ie- one pink line of flowers, then a purple line of flowers next to it.)
Glue floral foam to the bottom of the pot.
If desired, glue ribbon along the edges of the pot.
Pierce the styrofoam ball with four sticks in an aesthetically pleasing way. Be sure that the sticks are placed in such a way that the weight is balanced when placed in the pot.
Push the other end of the sticks into the floral foam in the pot.
Place artificial flower petals inside the pot (or some other filler) to cover the floral foam.
Place the hot air balloon on a pedestal and place some artificial flowers around it to finish off the look.

Now dream of where you will take a trip in your balloon!

Whimsical Valentine’s Heart Garland

I couldn’t very well leave the hot air balloon by itself in a bare room, now could I? I decided to make a heart garland using twine, wooden hearts, and some faux pearls. The end result compliments the balloon well.

Supplies needed:

Hearts made of thin wood, preferably with intricate cut outs (I got these from the dollar store!)
Twine (enough to string it in whichever space you choose)
Acrylic paint
Foam brushes
Beads, pearl beads, or accessory of your choice
Hot glue gun and glue

Note: Flowers would be beautiful as spacers for this garland. However, the weight makes it impossible for them to hang beautifully. If you plan on just laying the garland flat on a surface, I highly recommend using flowers as spacers. I learned this the hard way.

How to make the whimsical Valentine’s garland:

Paint the hearts in color of choice. I painted all of the hearts pink and purple.
Once dry, lay the hearts out along the twine to figure out how you would like them spaced out. I wound up measuring out a 1 inch space between hearts. I left a 2 inch space to glue flowers- which later turned into faux pearls. Read note above to find out why 😉
The hearts I purchased had a hole in the center, so I used them as a guide for where I would glue them to the string. If you do not have these holes, I would use the center point of the heart as the guide for where to glue them onto the string.
Hot glue a faux pearl or jewel onto each heart to cover the exposed hole. (For those wondering, I did not pull the strings through the hole because the hearts would the hang side ways and not display nicely.)
Glue a row of pearls onto the 2 inch spaces. You can skip this step if you prefer to have hearts only on the garland.
Tie a loop knot on each end of the string. Hang the garland and enjoy!

Hearts and Pearls Chandelier

I found that I had 4 hearts left over and wanted to make use of them. You can make a chandelier to tie the entire room together.

Supplies:

Left over hearts from heart garland project
Fishing line
Pearl beads
Artificial flowers used on hot air balloon project
Hot glue gun and glue

The assembly plan:

Cut 6 pieces of fishing line to desired lengths. Then, tie or hot glue each heart to a fishing line.
Take one line and glue pearls several inches above the heart. String the first pearl through the fishing line. Once you have the pearl in the desired spot, fill the hole of the pearl with a dab of hot glue. Once dry, string another 2 pearls on top. Then, tie the line to center of the chandelier.
Take 3 of the lines and tie one heart to each line. Next, tie each line to one of the chandelier arms, leaving one chandelier arm empty between each “heart line”.
Take 3 pieces of fishing line. On each line, tie a knot on the end of the line. Next, take one pearl bead and place a dab of hot glue on the opening. Once dry, place 2 more pearl beads on top. Then, glue 2 or 3 flowers used for the balloon project and glue several inches above the pearls. Tie the line to the chandelier arm. Repeat the same process for the other 2 lines.
Enjoy your project!