Paper Mache Planets

What you'll Need

Balloons
Cloth clips
Paint
All purpose Flour
Water
Bowl / Glass of different sizes to hold the balloons
Newspaper strips
Thin Rope - For tying & hanging

Method

1. Blow up the balloons corresponding to the size of the planets and tie a knot on each balloon. (Mercury is small...Jupiter is the largest....Other planets' size vary in-between)
2. Hold a balloon in a bowl / glass so its easy to apply the paper mache.
3. In a big bowl, mix 1 part of flour to 2 parts of water. 
4. Tear the newspaper into 2 cm wide strips.
5. Dip a strip of newspaper into the flour - water mixture, wipe off the excess and stick on the balloon.
6. Do this until the balloon is completely covered with the paper strips (except the balloon knot)
7. Now the first layer of paper mache is done. 
8. Using a cloth clip on the balloon knot, hang on a hanger and let it dry overnight.
9. Do another layer of paper mache and dry overnight.
10. Do a third layer of paper mache and dry as before. (3 layers are needed else the planets can deform easily)
11. Poke a small hole in the balloon to release the air and take the balloon out.
12. Seal the top hole with paper mache. (I don't do this because the hole is gonna face the roof and can't be seen)
13. Grab some paint and paint the planet with a paint brush (like kids use for painting)
14. Punch / poke 2 small holes and tie a knot with a rope easy enough for hanging.
15. Do like this for all the planets.

Special Note

1. To make Saturn's ring, I cut out the center of a small paper plate and painted it with the brightest color I had. Make sure to insert the ring from above through the rope before hanging it.
2. Make sure the paper mache dries completely before adding each layer to avoid deformation.
3. The paint I used are from my kids' cabinet. They worked amazingly.
4. For small planets, I used water balloons.
5. Pluto may not be considered as a planet now by scientists.
6. In the flour to water mixture, the water proportion can always be varied between 1 1/2 to 2 parts for every 1 part of flour.
7. After some google search, I figured out the following colors for the planets:  

Planets	Colors Used
Mercury	Brown & dark yellow
Venus	Light yellow, orange & red
Earth	Green, light blue, dark blue & white
Mars	Dark red & black
Jupiter	Dark drown & light brown
Saturn	Green with a bright colored ring
Uranus	Light blue
Neptune	Dark blue
Pluto	Black