DIY a Valentine mailbox shaped like a hot air balloon!

This  mailbox is designed to
hold letters inside of it's basket!

       This Valentine mailbox looks harder to make than it actually is. You can see photos below of just how to begin shaping the hot air balloon. I began with a foam ball but you could opt for beginning with an egg shape instead. This would eliminate one of the steps (6.) from the instructions below.

 

Supply List:

• red and white twine plus a smaller amount of tan colored twine
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• white school glue
• a small plastic recycled bottle for the basket
• four toothpicks
• masking tape
• newsprint or tissue paper
• Styrofoam ball
• one cotton ball
• red and white paper, one sheet of each
• white netting recycled from garlic net bag
• scrap cardboard
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut a small plastic ''basket'' for the hot air balloon from a recycled bottle and cover this inside and out with masking tape.
2. Tape and glue firmly a toothpick to four places equally distant from each other around the circumference of the open end of the bottle basket.
3. Poke the opposite ends of the toothpicks through a foam ball and glue these in place. Wait for the glue to dry completely.
4. Wrap the plastic basket in red and white twine, using glue to keep it in place. I start an end piece of twine with a tiny bit of hot glue and then use white glue for adhering the remainder of the twine.
5. Wrap the toothpicks with twine too.
6. I crushed additional tissues to enlarge the balloon shape of my Valentine mailbox before decoupaging it with red paper.
7. Then I wrapped the recycled garlic net bag around that balloon while it was still wet. 
8. Trim the excess netting at the bottom.
9. You may need to use a threaded needle to nip and tuck the netting around the base of the balloon. 
10. Next, take twine and wrap it in four places upward over the netted balloon, neatly tucking and gluing it in place at the four wrapped toothpicks.
11. Wrap additional alternate color of twine at the top of the toothpicks all around the four joining places at the balloon.
12. Add the trim for the sandbags.
13. Make tiny sandbags using bits of cotton batting sandwiched between masking tape to craft details.
14. Hot glue the sandbags on the basket. 
15. Braid a trim from both twines and hot glue this to the top edge of the plastic basket to hide connections.
16. Cut a small tube for the underside of the balloon, cover it with red paper, and push it into the Styrofoam ball with white glue. This is the skirt or scoop of the hot air balloon.
    
17. Decoupage the lining of the hot air balloon's basket with white paper and white school glue.
18. Make a flag garland to wrap around the balloon using twine and triangular paper cuts. Glue this on with a tiny bit of hot glue.
    

Left, I'm beginning the basic shape of the balloon.
Right, here I've begun adding twine.

• Back to the Valentine Mailbox Contest index page. 

You can cast a vote for this Valentine mailbox entry in the Comments Box Below, if you'd like. It would be interesting to see if people/kids on the internet judge our doll's Valentine mailbox competition in the same way as the children judging them in our home.