Thursday, March 9, 2017

Spring is in the Air!

It's almost springtime for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and I for one cannot wait! I think spring is one of my favourite seasons. I love the vibrancy of colours that show through even on grey days.

Along with spring, we have a number of great seasonal events, such as Mother's Day. The dates vary greatly around the world, but for many of us, we celebrate our Mother's Day in March. We also have Easter, which falls on April 16th this year.

This is the perfect time of year to create something exciting, bright, and fun to display in your store windows.












Here are a few ideas that will work really well for spring decor. I love the topiary-style to create decor. You can keep it simple by creating the 12-balloon cluster ball, or you can add like I have, some extra elements such as smaller balloon clusters, tissue tuffs, and even glitter balloons.

If you saw my post last month about how to make glitter balloons, you will love the vibrant lime green version that I have shown below. I have used these within the design to add a little sparkle!

If you would like to learn how to make these fabulous glitter balloons, click HERE


















This design is made up of a smaller topiary ball with under-inflated 5" balloons added, along with silk flowers, feathers, and bows. This would be fabulous for Mother's Day decor.













Here are some more great ideas for spring decor, Mother's Day, and Easter!






I love this Smile Face flower. It is so simple to make! Start with the base and create a 4-balloon cluster. I used  11" "Green Rainbow" SuperAgate® for this, then add a 4-balloon cluster using 5" Green balloons. The stem is made from 2 - 350Q balloons joined together with 2 - 160Q balloons to create leaves and hide the mechanics. You can add a few of these at the base, too. Finally, make the flower. I recommend that you make all the air-filled parts first. This would be the two 5" clusters in the centre. You will need two sets, one for the front and the other for the back. Now inflate 5 - 16" Smile Face balloons with helium. I strongly recommend that you Hi-Float these to ensure that the design will last. Now make a 5-balloon cluster with the 16" balloons and add the air-filled clusters to each side. Finally, secure the flower to the 350Q stem and — voila you have this fun Smile Face flower!


Mother's Day is a time to celebrate our wonderful mothers, and balloons are the perfect choice of gift, especially for children. I love to make small characters and add a helium-filled balloon arrangement. It really does add value and makes a complete design.

This lovely "To A Wonderful Mum Cupcake" is so pretty! I added a chain of Caribbean Blue 160Q bubbles around the edge of this air-filled foil and a little bow to add value and colour.
























Who cannot resist the 40" "Beaming Bee" Microfoil® balloon! I added it to a little helium filled balloon arrangement with 18" "I Love you M(Heart)M Butterfly," along with a cute little Smile Face character, which is all air-filled making the perfect Mother's Day gift!









I love this super cute frog! Huge visual impact with minimal balloons used to make this fabulous design! 





 




How about making one of these fabulous "I love you Mum Flower Bouquets?" Designed by Shirley Ray, CBA, of Balloons by Magic, Leeds, U.K. For full downloadable instructions click HERE.








Or how about this beautiful design "Floral Sentiments" designed by Bob Armstrong, CBA, of Doctor Bob Balloons Unlimited, Barry, Wales. For full downloadable instruction click HERE.






I made this cute rabbit in 2010! The body was made using a 20" Qualatex® Deco Bubble, filled with under-inflated 11" ‟Big Polka Dot” to represent Easter eggs. You can use 5" Big Polka Dots as an alternative.
The head of the rabbit was made using the distortion technique. If you would like to learn how to make the head, click HERE. 




This is a lovely and really easy design to make.

Material List:

4 - 11" Orange latex balloons
4 - 5" Yellow latex balloons
1 - 12" Yellow Quick Link Balloon™
2 - 160Q Orange
1 - 18" ‟Baby Chick” Microfoil balloon.

Scraps for attaching
Ribbon
Weight for base




 Butterflies and Big Polka Dots make a beautiful combination! Perfect for spring or Easter decor!


Big Polka Dots 11" Assorted


  





This 18" "Happy Easter Hatched Chicks" is so cute! I think that this would make the perfect combination with my lovely little chick that I made using the "Baby Chick" head.








I hope that this has given you just a little inspiration for spring, Easter, and Mother's Day!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com



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2 comments:

Unknown said...

These things will surely work great on mother's day decorations. With gifts arrangements also keeps a lot of importance. Also, we have to select the best mother's day gift for our mothers.

Smiley1 said...

I love these designs and would love to follow the instructions but can't find them (links don't work). Can you point me in the right direction?