December 2013 Tag (Hot Air Balloon) based on Tim Holtz tags of 2013

I've been wanting to try the paper hot air balloon tutorial by Laura Carson at Artfully Musing. I also wanted to try out the December Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2013 tutorial as well.

So I combined the two and created a Tim Holtz Paper Hot Air Balloon with the tattered poinsettia, and the frosted film over the Clearly for Art plastic!

There is a paper hot air balloon template on the Artfully Musing blog that I used to cut out the sections of the balloon. Check out Laura's crazy paper hot air balloons on her blog. They are unbelievable! Laura also has a video tutorial you can watch that is helpful.
Here are my hot air balloon sections. I used the seasonal Tim Holtz red and white paper pad "Merriment".

So first I prepared all the sections of my paper hot air balloon using the pattern. I used glossy accents to glue each segment together. It's kind of tricky, but I followed the instructions on the video tutorial and it worked pretty well.

I used a tart tin for the balloon basket, poked holes in it with nails, and put some wire through the holes. It was my first hot air balloon attempt, so after this attempt I learned that there are probably some better ideas than my own on how to attach the balloon to the basket that I will try next time. Then I heated and molded the 2 largest tattered poinsettia pieces with frosted film on them around the tart tin to make the basket covering. Then I glued it on the basket. I coated the reverse side of the clearly for art with distress paint and let it dry before I heated it to mold it around the basket. Then I made a poinsettia using the smaller pieces and stuck it on the bottom as well.

I used some beads and ribbon to hang up the hot air balloon. There is a bead on the top of the hot air balloon, and some beads inside to hold the ribbon hanger in place. Next time I will add the ribbon and beads BEFORE I finish gluing all the pieces of the hot air balloon together as you can't get your fingers inside the balloon afterwards %#$!

Then I strung on a santa bead and a bell bead onto the ribbon to hang down the center. The basket is the right size to hold a battery votive candle!

So that's my attempt at combing two great tutorials and I love my paper hot air balloon, even though it's a little goofy. (That's what mica glitter is for, to cover up the goofiness). I am also very happy that I completed an entire year of 12 tags and have learned a lot!

Thanks to Tim Holtz and Laura Carson for their great tutorials! I have had tons of fun this year making lots of creative stuff and trying out new mediums that I would have never tried!

Merry Christmas!