Hot Air Balloon

his began as a Christmas tree ornament, but I decided to make it free standing and display it year-round. The canopy is walnut and maple; the basket is redheart. I tethered the balloon to a chunk of osage orange cut from a stump I dug up on my family’s farmstead. My great-grandfather probably planted that tree in the late 1800s. This piece measures 5-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches; the hollowed balloon canopy weighs 1.3 ounces.