Our Mexican Globos

The weather has been cloudy and cool with a bit of rain......guess this is what happens in the tropics???  hee hee

Some friends, Chauncy and Donna from Hawaii, were teaching a class on making these chinese lantern type things.  I had not seen any of them, but had heard they were really cool and I wanted to take a class if they taught another one.....well, we found out they were teaching at another friends house.   Since it was lousy weather, we decided to go ahead and see what it was all about.   Oh WOW, was it cool.   We thought the class would be about an hour or so.......well, it took 5 hours to make one of these things.......They are called " Globos" and they are amazing!!!   Here is a link to one of many web sites that will show you just how intricate some of these Globos can get.   They have large convention type get togethers every year where they compete and let these creations go......
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry4DGIxR6i8&feature=related

In a nutshell, they are large balloons made out of tissue paper and glue..... they have a wire tri-pod type opening like a hot air balloon and a fabric "do-nut" that has been soaked in kerosene is placed on the tripod in the opening.  When it is lit, it creates hot air which fills the balloon and makes it rise.   4 people or more hold it steady and once it is full of the hot air, they let it go......up, up, up.........

If there are any holes in the tissue paper or if they can't keep it steady while it is filling with hot air, it could fall over on itself and burn up.......Alot of work to end up in a burnt pile on the ground......

So, here is our class and our finished Globo!!!!

First you pick 5 colors of tissue paper...this is regular tissue paper you wrap gifts with.   We used 4 sheets of each color and then had to pick a 6th color for borders and we needed 8 sheets of the 6th color

Glue 4 of the sheets together

add the 5th sheet long way to one end and then the edges are made by cutting a sheet long ways and glueing them together to make a long narrow piece.  These long narrow pieces get glued to each side.

Make 4 of these panels and let them dry....since it was a cool day they took longer to dry...we had them draped over the couches.....

Once they are dry, they are layered and folded in half.

Then the basic shape is cut and that leaves some triangle scraps

The panels are opened back up

The triangle scraps are used to fill in the gaps....

When all 4 panels are done, then you have to glue together the panels to form the balloon.  Then the wire is made for the opening....this is Alana and Jackie's

Next comes the test....... using a blow dryer, the Globo is filled with hot air.  If there are any holes or tears, they can be found at this point and a little bit of making tape is used to seal them.

Here is the first Globo finished......Alana and Jackie's...it reminds me of Easter....

Next up was Helen and Lupita's

My battery was running out so I didn't get a picture of it fully inflated.

Then came Rob and Jenny's.....they were the kind souls who offered up their house for this class and gave Mel and I lunch, because we had no idea this was an all day class.....everyone else showed up with their lunch and we just looked at each other......

Then...finally.....our Globo......we were last to finish!!!   BUT..... we had NO holes in ours!!!!  hee hee

What a fun day and quite the experience......

When I was searching for a website to post I ran into an ad on e-Bay....they actually sell these on e-Bay!!!!

With the donut ablaze, we would never be able to set something like this off in the states....this is totally a Mexico thing.

We are supposed to set our Globo off tonight around 8:30, but it is cloudy and overcast and we could get some rain.    Not sure when we will be able to let it go, but I sure hope it is before I leave....

Only 5 more days in paradise....where has the time gone!!????