Karen is a contributor to the HGTV Handmade YouTube channel. She is a RISD graduate with a background in graphic design. When she's not crafting, you can find Karen doing a jigsaw puzzle and reviewing it for her YouTube channel Karen Puzzles.
Who knew that you could turn an old Christmas ornament upside down and transform it into a glam hot air balloon ornament? This fun holiday project will be the centerpiece of your Christmas tree, and is the perfect DIY for jewelry makers, as it uses many of the same techniques and supplies.
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DIY Hot Air Balloon Ornament
08:59
Karen Kavett transforms a plain holiday bauble into a beautiful hot air balloon ornament.
SAFETY TIP: We will be drilling into the ornament, so be sure your ornament is made of plastic rather than glass.
Choose ornament
Choose your ornament. We’re using a 3” ornament with a quilted texture that resembles a hot air balloon. SAFETY TIP: We will be drilling into the ornament, so be sure your ornament is made of plastic rather than glass.
Photo by: Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add a Wire Hanger
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament (Image 1). Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament (Image 2). Use a 1/16-inch drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament (Images 3 + 4). Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down (Images 5 + 6).
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add hanger
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament. Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament. Use a 1/16” drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament. Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down.
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament. Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament. Use a 1/16” drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament. Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down.
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament. Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament. Use a 1/16” drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament. Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down.
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament. Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament. Use a 1/16” drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament. Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down.
Remove the wire hanger and cap from a spare ornament. Remove the cap from the hot air balloon ornament. Use a 1/16” drill bit to drill two holes in the bottom of the ornament. Insert the wire hanger so that you can hang the ornament upside down.
We’re going to use the original gold ornament cap as the hot air balloon basket. Fold back four evenly spaced tabs (Image 1). Carefully drill a hole into the top of each one, putting down two pieces of corrugated cardboard underneath to protect your table (Images 2 + 3). Fold the tabs back up (Image 4).
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Make basket
We’re going to use the gold ornament cap as the hot air balloon basket. Fold back four evenly spaced tabs. Carefully drill a hole into the top of each one, putting down two pieces of corrugated cardboard underneath to protect your table. Fold the tabs back up.
We’re going to use the gold ornament cap as the hot air balloon basket. Fold back four evenly spaced tabs. Carefully drill a hole into the top of each one, putting down two pieces of corrugated cardboard underneath to protect your table. Fold the tabs back up.
We’re going to use the gold ornament cap as the hot air balloon basket. Fold back four evenly spaced tabs. Carefully drill a hole into the top of each one, putting down two pieces of corrugated cardboard underneath to protect your table. Fold the tabs back up.
We’re going to use the gold ornament cap as the hot air balloon basket. Fold back four evenly spaced tabs. Carefully drill a hole into the top of each one, putting down two pieces of corrugated cardboard underneath to protect your table. Fold the tabs back up.
Cut four pieces of small gold chain measuring around 1 inch. Count the links in the chain to ensure each piece of chain is exactly the same length as the rest. Use gold jump rings to attach the chains to the holes you drilled in the basket (Image 1). Set it aside for later (Image 2).
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add chains
Cut four pieces of small gold chain measuring around 1”. Count the links in the chain to ensure each piece of chain is exactly the same length as the rest. Use gold jump rings to attach the chains to the holes you drilled in the basket. Set it aside for later.
Cut four pieces of small gold chain measuring around 1”. Count the links in the chain to ensure each piece of chain is exactly the same length as the rest. Use gold jump rings to attach the chains to the holes you drilled in the basket. Set it aside for later.
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring (Image 1). Drill holes in those two spots (Image 2). Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament (Image 3). Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament (Image 4). Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament (Image 5).
Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room.
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add jump rings to the ornament
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring. Drill holes in those two spots. Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament. Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament. Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament. Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room.
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring. Drill holes in those two spots. Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament. Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament. Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament. Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room.
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring. Drill holes in those two spots. Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament. Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament. Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament. Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room.
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring. Drill holes in those two spots. Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament. Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament. Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament. Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room
Mark two dots on the side of your ornament that are the same width apart as the width of your jump ring. Drill holes in those two spots. Open up the jump ring and insert it into one hole so that the end comes out of the other hole. Close it with jewelry pliers so you have a jump ring hanging off the side of the ornament. Repeat this to have four jump rings evenly spaced around the ornament. Add four smaller jump rings the same way to the bottom of the ornament. Note: Adding jump rings to the sides of the ornament is the trickiest part of this project, so you may want to practice on a spare ornament or drill slightly larger holes to give yourself more wiggle room.
Use small jump rings to attach the four chains on the basket to the jump rings on the bottom of the ornament (Image 1). At this point, it is easier to work with the ornament if it is hanging up, so we added a loop of string as a hanger (Image 2) and hung it on a necklace stand (Image 3).
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add the basket
Use small jump rings to attach the four chains on the basket to the jump rings on the bottom of the ornament. At this point, it is easier to work with the ornament if it is hanging up, so we added a loop of string as a hanger and hung it on a necklace stand.
Use small jump rings to attach the four chains on the basket to the jump rings on the bottom of the ornament. At this point, it is easier to work with the ornament if it is hanging up, so we added a loop of string as a hanger and hung it on a necklace stand.
Use small jump rings to attach the four chains on the basket to the jump rings on the bottom of the ornament. At this point, it is easier to work with the ornament if it is hanging up, so we added a loop of string as a hanger and hung it on a necklace stand.
Cut four pieces of chain measuring around 1 1/2 inches, and four more pieces measuring around 3 inches each. Count the links to ensure each piece of chain is the exact same length (Image 1). Use jump rings to attach the longer pieces arching between the anchor points on the sides of the ornament, with the shorter pieces hanging down between them (Image 2). Feel free to embellish this as much as you like - for ours, we added a second row of chains all the way around (Image 3).
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add chains
Cut four pieces of chain measuring around 1½” and four pieces measuring around 3”. Count the links to ensure each piece of chain is the exact same length. Use jump rings to attach the longer pieces arcing between the anchor points on the sides of the ornament, with the shorter pieces hanging down between them. Feel free to embellish this as much as you like - for ours, we added a second row of chain all the way around.
Cut four pieces of chain measuring around 1½” and four pieces measuring around 3”. Count the links to ensure each piece of chain is the exact same length. Use jump rings to attach the longer pieces arcing between the anchor points on the sides of the ornament, with the shorter pieces hanging down between them. Feel free to embellish this as much as you like - for ours, we added a second row of chain all the way around.
Cut four pieces of chain measuring around 1½” and four pieces measuring around 3”. Count the links to ensure each piece of chain is the exact same length. Use jump rings to attach the longer pieces arcing between the anchor points on the sides of the ornament, with the shorter pieces hanging down between them. Feel free to embellish this as much as you like - for ours, we added a second row of chain all the way around.
Add pearl charm beads (Image 1) to the ends of the chains, around the basket, and at the anchor points on the sides of the ornament (Images 2 + 3). If you don’t have pearl beads, you can decorate it with any charms you like.
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Add pearls
Add pearl charm beads to the ends of the chains, around the basket, and at the anchor points on the sides of the ornament. If you don’t have pearl beads, you can decorate it with any charms you like.
Add pearl charm beads to the ends of the chains, around the basket, and at the anchor points on the sides of the ornament. If you don’t have pearl beads, you can decorate it with any charms you like.
Add pearl charm beads to the ends of the chains, around the basket, and at the anchor points on the sides of the ornament. If you don’t have pearl beads, you can decorate it with any charms you like.
After you've decked your halls and your tree, it's time to take the holiday glow outside. We've rounded up the best sparkle and shine for your home's exterior.
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