Splatter Card Using Balloons

This project is all about having fun and making a little bit of a mess to turn a piece of paper into an abstract art piece. I adapted the idea from other splatter cards, combining the splatter from punctured balloons and the clean lines from projects I have seen before.

Now put on an apron, grab your supplies, and get on to popping some paint filled balloons! (I know, it sounds hazardous, but it's fun...especially with children.)

Supplies:

• 5 Colors of Acrylic Paint
• Card Base (Learn how to make your own here)
• 4 Water Balloons
• Masking Tape
• Paint Brush
• Scissors
• Push Pin

Using a ruler, divide the tape into sections measuring 3/8 of an inch each. Then, very carefully, cut along these lines. The straighter the lines, the cleaner the card will turn out.

Before we get to popping balloons we have to prepare the card. To do this, take the tape strips cut in the previous step and stick them all around the card. Wherever you put the tape will end up the color of the paper.

Once you have scattered the tape paint the entire face of the card one color. I chose a light color and based my splatter colors around this base color.

Water balloons are hard to fill up with anything but water, so I have a few tips for you. First, you will want to blow up the balloon with air to stretch it out. You can either blow it up the standard way you would blow up a normal balloon or you can use what you would use to fill up the balloon with water and blow air into it (instead of water.)

Now that the balloon has been stretched you can put the paint in the balloons and create the "ammunition." I have experimented with different ways to get the paint into the balloon, but haven't found a perfect method yet. If you find one, I would love to know what it is in the comments. However, the way I accomplished this task was simply by slowly dripping the paint into the designated balloons. Once a small amount of paint is in the balloons blow air into each balloon and tie the knot. Distribute the paint in each balloon so that it does not clump up when you pop them.

With the balloons filled and the card base painted, it's time to splatter! This is the fun part, but it gets a little messy so you may want to wear something you don't mind getting paint splat on.

Take the balloons, one at a time, and put them on or over the front of the card. Then, using the push pin, pop it. The paint will splatter across the card and with each popped balloon will look better and better.

With the messy part out of the way, leave your card somewhere out of the way to let it completely dry before moving on to the next step.

With the card now dry it is time to reveal your final product. Slowly and carefully remove the masking tape. It might not give you fresh lines, but they will be relatively clean.

If you want to add another layer to your card, write a message or saying in the white lines.

Now that you are all done, stand back and admire your work well done!