Ran across this entry by I Wei Huang, the primary artist responsible for Skylander Character development and artwork.
It details some of the creative steps developing, making and flying the Eruptor Balloon in last year's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC.
I thought you might be interested.
Here is a link to the story on his blog, Crabfuartworks:
And here is a link to a YouTube Video of it:
Sidenote: And here is a link to a post we put up about him and his art last year (In case your interested):
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=175&hilit=huang
And here are some pics from his balloon entry:
Side Bonus:
I Wei Huang Speed Draws Kaos!
https://youtu.be/i323U7NP_VY