Chinese Lantern Hot Air Balloon

I have the cutest Dollar Store project to share with you! Chinese lanterns were used to make hot air balloons for shower décor! I made these chinese lantern hot air balloons for a baby shower, but they could also work for a wedding shower or as home décor in a nursery.

I’m part of the Dollar Store Design Squad, sharing thrifty projects with you 6 times a year—make sure you check out the rest of the projects at the bottom of this post.

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Materials to make Chinese Lantern Hot Air Balloons

• Chinese Lantern
• Cardboard candy/ice cream cups to match or coordinate
• Sheer Ribbon to match the colored ring on chinese lantern

Tools needed

• Scissors
• Glue Gun
• Glue Sticks
• Pencil or Wooden Skewer

This project is so easy to make, that you won’t need a lot of directions.

Assemble Dollar Store Chinese Lantern

Open the chinese lantern and place the brace inside that holds the lantern open.

Close-up view of how the brace fits in these chinese lanterns from the Dollar Store.

Cut Ribbon

Cut two ribbon pieces 34” long to suspend the chinese lantern hot air balloon to the candy cup basket.

Punch Holes in Candy Cup

Punch four holes in the cardboard candy cup that will be the hot air balloon basket. I used a knife. Use CAUTION on this step.

Weave Ribbon Through Chinese Lantern

Weave the two pieces of ribbon underneath the brace that holds the chinese lantern open. Make sure the ribbons are even at the bottom.

Hot Glue Secures Ribbon

Add a small amount of hot glue to hold the ribbon in place around the upper ring of the lantern.

The four ribbons will now be dangling, but secured in place.  This is where you can choose to secure the ribbon pieces at the bottom ring or leave them free and unsecured. I couldn’t decide which way I liked them best, so I did them both ways.

Thread Ribbon Pieces Into Holes on Candy Cup

Push each end of ribbon through the holes using a pencil or wooden skewer.

Secure Ribbon Ends With Hot Glue

Secure the ends of the ribbons with more hot glue.

Trim Away Extra Ribbon

Trim away extra ribbon.

Suspend Chinese Lantern Hot Air Balloon

The Chinese Lanterns from The Dollar Tree light up!

This is how the Hot Air Balloon Chinese Lantern looks if you don’t attach the ribbon to the bottom ring of the lantern.

I hung several of these Chinese lantern hot air balloons at the shower celebration we hosted for my new grandson Eli. The theme was “It’s a Small World”. There are hot air balloons throughout the ride at Disney.

Pin IT!

See more Dollar Store Design Squad projects from My Repurposed Life here

This project was not just easy, but each hot air balloon deocration costs less than $3. Remember, everything is just a dollar at DollarTree.com

Now, it’s time to take a look at the fabulous projects from the rest of the “squad”.