Showing posts with label Christmas Decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Decor. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

A Very Merry Christmas from Luc Bertrand CBA

Over the years, Luc Bertrand, CBA of WaWballoons in Vichte, Belgium has kindly created and shared a number of amazing designs with the Very Best Balloon Blog so that we can share them with the 'balloon community.' This year he has generously shared his updates to his wonderful QuickLink 'Santa' mural that he made a few years ago! 



Medium Santa Head

This is probably my favourite variation! I definitely need to make one of these! 


Small Santa Head




If you would like to learn how to make the original version - Large Santa Head, click HERE or visit

A huge thank you once again to Luc for sharing his fabulous balloon art with us all! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me on Instagram @suebowler

Thursday, November 11, 2021

'Jingle All The Way' with these Festive Preparation and Christmas Balloon Design Ideas!

Christmas Gnome Design  By Sue Bowler CBA - www.suebowler.com
Christmas Gnome Design 
By Sue Bowler CBA.




During Christmas 2020, many were obligated to stay at home and avoid spending time with family and friends due to coronavirus restrictions. I know we are all hoping that Christmas 2021 will be a very special celebration as a result of last years lack of celebrations. With that in mind, it is time to get our businesses ready for Christmas if you haven't already started! 







And November is the perfect time to start marketing for Christmas:

Decorate your shopfront: 

 

How fabulous is this display by Trish Robertson of Barossa Helium Balloons and Party Supplies in Tanunda, South Australia. Trish was inspired to re-create Luc Bertrand's beautiful QuickLinks Santa Mural  which has taken centre-stage in her window! 


  • Decorate your outdoor area with festive window art, banners and decals. 
  • Inside, get shoppers in the Christmas spirit by playing your favourite seasonal tunes and lighting some autumn and winter-scented candles to set the mood. 
  • If your shop is on the smaller side and you’re concerned about capacity (and your ability to enforce social distancing), think about ways to get people shopping without the crowds — like hosting virtual or limited-capacity events or scheduling personal shopping appointments.

Trish said; "I look at my window as real estate, just like shelving in stores is real estate. But the window is the most important real estate because it can decide if someone comes in or not. The other thing I don't do is fill it. I keep it simple so it jumps out. 

Trish also leaves her lights on in her store allowing her window displays to keep on working even when the store is closed!  

Deck out your website:

Your digital space is just as important as your brick-and-mortar location. So, if you have a website, make sure to decorate your digital "shopfront as well — whether it is through creating a curated gift shop page, adding a Christmas decor-inspired banner to your homepage, or changing your colour scheme to incorporate more festive colours.


When it comes to decorating your website and social media pages, don't forget that Qualatex has some excellent FREE marketing materials, such as this animated Facebook cover (above) and other helpful seasonal social media posts (see below) that can be personalised to suit your business or ready made to simply pop into your campaigns. For a direct link to all the Ready Made Social Media Posts and other marketing materials click HERE






Christmas Decor Ideas:

For me, air-filled and personalised designs are the way forward! Here in the UK, Christmas for the balloon industry really kicks off with the a naughty elf, known by many as 'Elf on the Shelf" arriving in family homes on the 1st of December.
The Christmas elf is fast becoming an annual tradition in many homes. The elf is a special scout that is sent to children's homes from the North Pole to encourage kids to behave themselves. The idea is that Santa's little helper watches the children by day, and each night, it returns to the North Pole to report on whether they were naughty or nice. 
This Christmas tradition has just two rules: First, children are not allowed to touch the elf or it will lose its magic. 
Second, the elf will not speak or move while the kids are awake. The elf only moves at night when it makes its trip back to the North Pole. Once it returns home, it then assumes a new position in the house.
"Elf on the Shelf" was created by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell in 2005. The concept is heavily protected by copyright laws, and therefore anyone making and selling elf balloon designs should be very careful not to infringe copyright laws. 

There are a number of different manufacturers of this cheeky little character, with varying different names - Naughty Elf, Elves Behaving Badly, Elf for Christmas are all protected by copyright rules and laws. My recommendation is to do your research to ensure that you don't infringe on any of them, as it can be a costly mistake! 

One of the most appealing ways for the elf to arrive is inside a balloon! 


Christmas Elf Balloon by Naomi Spencer of
Candy Bubbles in Birmingham, UK.

I’ll be Gnome for Christmas! A fun and whimsical design for the holiday.


Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

The Gnome tradition came to us from Scandinavia. Unlike the elves of other cultures, which reside at the North Pole, legend has it that gnomes pop out of their forests niches come Christmas Day, and walk through the front doors of homes to hand-deliver presents.

The top ten hashtags for gnomes are #gnomes #gnomesofinstagram #gnome #gnomelife #gnomesweetgnome #gnomestagram #gnomelove #gnomehome #handmade #handmadegnomes 


Shine Bright! It’s all things merry and bright with Rudolph!

I absolutely love this design by Cam Woody! Everyone loves the Red Nose Reindeer at Christmas and Cam has created a fabulous air-filled design that would take pride of place in any home. If you are a QBN member, there are step-by-step instructions available to recreate this adorable design. Simply sign in using your QBN number and then you will be able to view and download for future reference! 


Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Happy ballooning! 

Sue
Follow me @suebowler



Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Small Snowflake Design by Luc Bertrand, CBA.

Every year, Luc Bertrand, CBA, of wAw Balloons in Vichte, Belgium, very kindly shares one of his festive designs. This year, he shares his lovely small snowflake!





Material List:

11 -  5" White balloons
12 -  6" White Quick Link balloons

Method: 

Step 1.

Inflate each of the 5" White balloons with two pumps on a hand pump and tie the balloons as close as you can to the nozzle end.



















Step 2. 

Squeeze the air from the balloon so that it inflates the whole balloon, including the neck. 
Now, make two small bubbles (see photo).














Step 3.

Bring the neck of the balloon up below the larger bubble and twist. Pull the neck of the balloon through the middle of the two smaller bubbles to hold these in place.


Step 4.

Twist each of the smaller bubbles into a Pinch Twist. 
















Step 5.

Repeat this process with all eleven balloons.

















Step 6.


Now inflate the twelve 6" Quick Links with five pumps of a hand pump and tie these into duplets.














Step 7.

Twist all the duplets together to form a Topiary.












Step 8.

Attach the 5" balloons to the tips of each of the Quick Link balloons with the exception of the top balloon. This will enable you to hang it easily.










Thank you once again, Luc, for sharing a wonderful design that we can use this festive season!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

Thursday, December 17, 2015

"GOSH," - it's Christmas Party time! - 17th December 2015



Since 2013, the Balloon and Party Industry Alliance - BAPIA, has called upon its members to help create the decor for the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Children's Christmas parties.

Built in 1852, Great Ormond Street Hospital had only ten beds when it first opened and was the first hospital in the UK that offered dedicated inpatient care to sick children. In 1858, GOSH survived its first major financial crisis when Charles Dickens spoke at a festive dinner and gave a public reading of A Christmas Carol in aid of the hospital. This raised enough money to purchase the neighbouring house on Great Ormond Street and increase the bed capacity to 75! Today, more than 255,000 patients visit GOSH annually. Not only is GOSH at the forefront of pediatric training in the UK, but it is also a pioneer of medical research to find new and better treatments for childhood illnesses.

Decorating the annual GOSH Children's Christmas party is such a great honour knowing that our industry, with some very dedicated helpers, has done a little to make this very special occasion a little bit more exciting and fun! 


The party is a Christmas treat for patients who are currently in the hospital or who have been treated over the last year. More than 2000 children, siblings, parents, and carers attended the four parties that are held over two days! 

These magical parties feature fun activities including face painting, arts and crafts, cupcake decorating, and an appearance from one very special guest - Father Christmas - who flies all the way from the North Pole for the occasion.


Decorating this party has its challenges as we are not permitted to use any latex balloons. So each year we get our thinking caps on and create exciting balloon decor without the help of our beloved latex balloons!

Balloon Images OCT/NOV/DEC 2015

After reading the fantastic article, Create Fabulous Foil Arches in Balloon Images Oct/Nov/Dec 2015, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for me and my team to recreate one of these amazing arches!

I loved the “Colourful Candy Surprise” arch by Cam Woody, CBA, that was featured in the same article.
Cam created an arch that incorporated all the Qualatex® 18" and 9" Candy Swirl Microfoils attached in a random pattern that spread the colour throughout the design. I felt that these balloons would be perfect for the children; we would add a Christmas twist to the design, too! 





Using David Mahoney's recommended H taping technique, we started our preparation. Firstly, we air inflated our selected range of "Candy Swirls" and Christmas balloons. We wanted to emulate the wonderful randomness that Cam had created in her beautiful arch and felt it would be easier if we could select the balloons as we went along! 


Friday, December 11, 2015

A Little Last Minute Inspiration for Christmas and Holiday Decor!

With Christmas and the holiday season only a matter of a few weeks away, I thought that I would take this opportunity to rekindle some of the seasonal designs that I and other fellow balloon artists have made over the years. Many of these designs have been documented in earlier blogs, so to make it a little easier for you to find, I will add a direct link with each of the designs that are featured. In most instances, there is a step-by-step recipe included within the blog!




I love this festive balloon wall! We created this using 40" Emerald Green Starpoints and 27" Lime Green Taper Microfoil® Balloons. We were unable to use any latex at this event, so we used 9" Ruby Red solid-colour round Microfoil Balloons at each of the centre points to make it look like holly leaves.  Filled with air,  this design can easily be suspended.

These Christmas presents were great fun to make too!


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

How to make a Quick Link Christmas Tree by Sean O'Kelly CBA

Christmas already! To be honest, early planning and preparation can only help your seasonal campaign. Having design ideas that you can propose to your clients is essential.


Last year I was asked to make Christmas Trees as part of the decor that I was making for a corporate Christmas party that I was decorating. 
I wanted to make something a little different from the norm and so I did a little research to see what ideas I could glean from the internet! 

My trees needed to be approx. 2m (6' 6") in height although they did not all need to be exactly the same. They needed to be robust and moveable to enable us to move them into position prior to the party. I also wanted to be able to add some shimmering tinsel and Christmas tree lights to bring my trees to life!

After looking at many different ideas, there was just one design that really stood out for me and that was a Quick-Link Christmas Tree made by one of my lovely ballooning friends Sean O'Kelly from Melbourne, Australia.

Rather than immediately emailing Sean and asking him if he could give me some tips and hints on how to re-create his design, I decided that it would be good for me as a Quick Link novice to try and work it out for myself. After several disastrous attempts, the first one looking much like a space rocket or torpedo (partially because I only had red Quick Links to practise with) and the second as a totally indescribable object, I decided it was a good time to give up and contact Sean (you can't say that I didn't try)!

Sean very kindly sent me his recipe, and with his permission I will share it with you in this blog!


Thursday, December 11, 2014

A Wonderful Step by Step Snowman Balloon Wall from Luc Bertrand CBA

I love balloon walls and the fantastic impact that they create! A balloon wall can be used in many ways; as a backdrop for an entrance or stage, they are also great for photo opportunities, everyone will love to have their pictures taken standing in front of it! Balloon walls and Qualatex Quick Link Balloons® are the perfect combination making them easier and faster to build!

Luc Bertrand CBA, WaW Balloons, Belgium shares his wonderful Qualatex Quick Link & 5" Balloon Snowman Wall.



 


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - Elegant decor design ideas with Dazzling Snowflakes!

I would have to say that the new Qualatex Dazzling Snowflakes Holographic Microfoil® balloon has to be one of my favourite winter balloons this year!


Dazzling Snowflakes #20263/ #20260
I'm not sure if it's the 6-Point Star shape, the design, the Holographic effect or all of it, but they are such an elegant balloon that is perfect for all winter events!

I am very excited to be decorating a corporate Christmas party this year and the Snowflake balloons will be a huge part of the decor, I will be using them for the centrepieces and a feature arch! I will share the end result after the event, but I am sure that it will look amazing!

This balloon shape is also perfect for connecting together, allowing us to create stunning air-filled mobiles, which I think are perfect for venues with higher ceilings and good fixing points. Once positioned they will gently move around, and the Holographic elements will sparkle in the light!

Friday, October 17, 2014

'Taper Star' an air-filled balloon design perfect for Christmas decor!

This is a great design that is perfect for Christmas, but to be honest just change the colours and it would suit other occasions too!

The great thing about this design is that it is all air-filled and will last for many weeks, therefore it would be ideal to decorate shopping malls, car showrooms and of course parties too!

It's a very simple design and you can make a variety of different versions simply by changing the Qualatex Taper balloon sizes. To give this design some scale, each Taper Star is the same height as me, so about 1.6m or just about 5' 6"!



Friday, January 3, 2014

Happy New Year...and welcome to 2014!

I hope that you had a very productive 'ballooning' Christmas and New Years eve, and even managed to fit in and enjoy some family time over the holiday period! 

Looking at the Qualatex Facebook Groups it appears that many of you were busy creating some awesome Christmas and New Years decor, which is fantastic, congratulations to you all!

Before I start working on a heap of 2014 projects (which is always very exciting), I would like to take a quick look back Christmas 2013!

Starpoint & Taper Wall - by Sue Bowler CBA
I personally had a very busy time leading up to Christmas working with my husband John. As many of you will know, BAPIA -- the Balloon and Party Industry Alliance, took on the fantastic task of organising balloon decor for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital annual Christmas parties, held for all the sick children and their families. 
In 2 days the GOSH team and their many volunteers hosted 4 parties with over 2000 children and adults attending, along with a whole host of well known UK celebrities... so a great opportunity to show balloons at their very best!

Friday, December 6, 2013

A Christmas Snowman - Step By Step by Sue Bowler - updated



Balloon Snowmen by BalloonArtbySueBowler - www.suebowler.com
Colourful Snowmen by Sue Bowler, CBA.

A few winters ago during one very snowy day, when snowed into our home, I decided to make a collection of snowmen for my garden (picture below). I expect many of you will remember the picture! They were amazing. They lasted for two weeks — long after the snow had melted. These little guys were made from 5" balloons, and with their brightly coloured hats and scarves, they looked fabulous! 



Balloon Snowmen by Sue Bowler

I have since gone on to create many different sizes and variations and have now created an easy to follow step-by-step recipe.

Material List:  All Qualatex balloons, of course!

8 x 5" White (double stuffed for the water weight base)
1 x 16" White
1 x 12" White QuickLink™ Balloon
1 x 11" Printed balloon for the hat
1 x 260Q or 350Q for the hat
1 x 260Q for the scarf 
1 x 5" Orange for the nose - or you can draw the nose.
1 x 5" for the pompom if you want to add a pompom to the hat!

Method:

1. To give this design stability, I use four water-weights at the base. You could use sand weights if you prefer. I size the balloons to measure approximately 3" or 7cm's.
2. I recommend that you use a White 16" balloon for the body and use an Apple Twist to give it a more donut-like shape. Add 260Qs at each end of the donut-twisted balloon to allow you to connect the body to the base and the head to the body. 
3. Inflate the 12" White QuickLink balloon for the head. Make sure that it is in proportion to the body! Connect the head to the body.
4. For the nose, you can either under-inflated a 5" orange balloon and connect this to the face using a r
Raisin Twist, glue dot, or draw on a carrot-style nose.
5. The eyes, mouth, and cheeks have been added using a pen (see below for detail). If you have a die-cutter, such as a Silhouette Cameo, you could cut out the eyes and mouth.
6. To make the hat, use an 11" balloon. I like using polka dots as they look really fun. Create an Apple Twist in the hat balloon and secure this to the head using the link.
7. Inflate either a 260Q or a 350Q to wrap around the hat to create the brim. Connect using a pinch twist and remove any excess balloon.
8. Use a 260Q to create a scarf to wrap around the snowman's neck.

Pens for face - the Pink pen that I use for the cheeks is a ZIG Art & Graphic Twin. It has a double end with one end almost like a paintbrush.
The other pens are Sharpies and edding markers, for the eyes and mouth.


Snowmen faces, hand-drawn by Sue Bowler


If you have never made a snowman before, you will love making this design! 


Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler


Friday, November 29, 2013

QuickLinks Santa Mural - a Christmas gift from Luc Bertrand CBA

Each year the lovely Luc Bertrand very kindly creates and gives a new design to the Very Best Balloon Blog to share with the 'balloon community', and this year he has designed this wonderful 'super easy' Santa mural that is so quick to make using Qualatex Quick Link balloons!

This 225 cm high Santa could be used in so many ways to decorate parties, shops & stores, showrooms, shopping malls and more, they can be used as backdrops or suspended from ceiling, their use is endless and look at how few balloons it takes to make!
Luc Bertrand CBA
Qualatex Quick Link Santa Mural by Luc Bertrand CBA

These step by step instructions are very easy to follow, all the Qualatex Quick Link balloons have been inflated to 10", and all the other balloons used within the designs each size is stated in each of the instruction sheets below, Luc has also shown how to create each of the chains required to make each of these wonderful designs!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Balloon Wall backdrop perfect for Christmas!

Balloon Walls make the perfect backdrop! Great for entrance decor, window displays and as a photo opportunity at events! The great thing about balloon walls is that they can be made to any size subject to the size of balloons and inflation size that you decide to work with!


Sue Bowler
You may have already secured your Christmas decor designs with your clients, but maybe you are still looking for inspiration?










Earlier this year I attended JBAN, and taught a Christmas decor class, where I showed a number of different designs including how to create balloons walls featuring a 'Santa Face'.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Tapertastic! A few ideas to create beautiful balloon decor working with Qualatex Taper balloons!


Sue Bowler
Taper Flowers created by Sue Bowler & friends
 at the Slovenia Event
With Christmas and New Year fast approaching, it's time to start thinking about the exciting decor you can offer your clients for their events!




Recently I attended the Slovenia Event and was asked if I could create decor for the 'opening' festivities. I had very limited time and was a little unsure how many 'helpers' I would have, so I decided to make decor that would have great visual impact but quick and easy at the same time!
(Just to note, I had a great team in Slovenia who helped me to make these awesome flowers... thank you!)












Thursday, December 20, 2012

A Christmas Candle - a beautiful design with balloons.


I love 
Qualatex® Microfoil Taper balloons and I was inspired to use one to created this candle design.

Sue Bowler

Friday, December 7, 2012

A 'sparkly' balloon centrepiece for the festive season.

A little 'sparkle'...

With Christmas and New Years celebrations just around the corner, I thought that this would be the perfect time to create a centrepiece that would be perfect for festive parties!

This design is packed with different elements and techniques, you might like to try out some of these  when you create your own designs.


Sue Bowler
Centrepiece design created by Sue Bowler CBA
Material List:
  • 5" Qualatex Pearl Azure #43577
  • 5" Qualatex  Silver #43603
  • 5" Qualatex Pearl White #43597
  • 9" Qualatex Sapphire  Microfoil Stars #24131
  • 4" Qualatex Sapphire Microfoil Stars #22849
  • 4" Qualatex Silver Microfoil Star 14355
  • 11" Qualatex Pearl Azure #43768
  • 13" Qualatex Sapphire Microfoil Taper #32016
  • 9" Lomey Dish 
  • 21" Lomey Acrylic Column
  • Lomey Universal Centrepiece - (Required with Lomey columns to form a base) I also use one at the top.
  • Lomey Adhesive
  • Premium Balloon Accessories 7" Cup-N-Sticks
  • Fine Powder Glitter
  • Floral wires and tapes to create fantasy leaves.
  • Crystal Nuggets- available form floral wholesalers
  • Silver Beads 
  • Clear Cellophane
  • Cool Glue Gun
  • Floral Dry Foam - used for arranging silk flowers.

Techniques Used:

Start by gluing the Lomey Universal Centrepiece to the Lomey Dish as this can take up to 24 hours to fully dry, so you need to think about this in advance of making up your centrepieces! 
You could use a cool glue gun to glue them together, but be aware that cool glue is temperature reactive, that means if it gets cold the glue can become brittle and break, whereas Lomey adhesive once applied is a permanent fixing, Lomey glue is also waterproof, so if you want to fill the tubes with water, then you must use Lomey glue!


Lomey Column with Universal Centrepiece -  that is the small disc at the base.


Lomey is a range of products that are used within the floral industry and is supplied by a company called Smithers- Oasis, many balloon wholesalers and distributors stock this product and other relevant floral supplies.
Design by Kevin Ylvisaker, AIFD, PFCI, Smithers-Oasis Design Director
This is a design that I found on a website that shows off the Lomey Columns really well, these have been filled with coloured water which works perfectly with this modern floral arrangement!

For my centrepiece design, I filled the tube with iridescent nuggets that I found at my floral wholesaler, they were inexpensive and look really stunning inside the tube!

Glitter Balloons

I would recommend that you prepare these first as they can take a few hours to dry, you really would not want to handle them wet!

Sue Bowler
Balloons and glitter


Hi-Float have some great instructions on their website www.hi-float.com in their design tips section. I have copied the technique for putting glitter on the outside of 11" balloons, which is very similar to what I do with 5". They also have some great video clips on their youtube channel!

Step 1: Pour ULTRA HI-FLOAT into a cup.
Step 2: Place the 5" balloon over a straw
Step 3: Dip the balloon into the HI-FLOAT, I also rub it in to ensure that the entire surface is cover, remove any excess.
Step 4: Using a hand pump, inflate the 5" balloon and tie, I like to make my glitter balloons different  sizes and not too big. 
Step 5: Shake the fine glitter over the balloons until it is completely covered and shake off the excess.
Step 6: Repeat the same process until all the balloons are covered, and leave to dry without touching each other, so that they do not stick together.

Tips:
Capture all the excess glitter on a sheet of paper so that you can re-use it, a small amount of glitter goes a long way!
If you are using different coloured balloons, try and match a glitter colour for the balloons that you are using. I used 3 different coloured glitter for this design!

Holographic Silver Glitter


Iridescent White Glitter


Light Blue Glitter



Great instructions on the Hi-Float website!

Balloon 'Leaves'.

I have used 2 different types of 'leaves' in this design.

4" & 9" Microfoil Stars make fantastic leaves! Simply heat seal the balloon down the centre and then inflate and seal as normal. 




The second type of leaf that I have created for this design is a 'fantasy' leaf or petal. This is a technique that we use to create fantasy flowers.

To make a fantasy flower petal you will need:

18 Gauge floral wires, binding wire and 11" balloons.

18 Gauge wire minimum 14" in length

Reel wire


Simply bend the floral wire in half and insert the rounded centre into the un-inflated 11" balloon. Stretch the balloon to the base of the folded wire and secure using 'reel wire', usually 28 gauge. Once you have created your petal or leaf you can bend it to create any shape that you like.



To construct the design:

Starting from the base, I cut a small disc if dry floral foam and position that at the base of my lomey and lomey dish.

Now add all the elements that you want to use. I used 2 x 14" Sapphire Stars that I had made into leaves and a further 3 x 4" Stars.

Sue Bowler


Secure each of the 'glitter' balloons to a Premium 7" Cup N Stick, you can push these easily into the floral foam, if you are concerned that they will fall out add a small dab of cool glue before pushing them in position, this will help them to stay in place. 
I like to randomly position the glitter balloons so that they look like snowballs or a pile of Christmas baubles', make sure that your design looks visually pleasing from all sides.

There will be gaps, be careful not to overfill the centrepiece design, just simply make squares of cellophane and push these into the gaps to fill in the space! If you can find iridescent cellophane, that looks amazing!

To complete the base, I added in some silver string beads just gently swagged into the design, with no set pattern.

I then filled the tube with iridescent nuggets and added a second Universal Centrepiece connector, this acts like a cap and works well at both the base to secure to the dish and at the top, where I have just simply added a small disc of dry foam.

I have kept the top very simple. Firstly add a 13" Qualatex Starpoint into the centre of the dry foam again using a Premium Cup N Stick, I the positioned 3 'fantasy' petal around the base of the taper and small cluster of 'glitter' balloons. Finally, filling all the gaps with cellophane squares to hide all the mechanics!


Sue Bowler




Here is another 'glittery' design using some of the same techniques is in this design!

Sue Bowler


I hope that this blog has given you a little inspiration to create your own 'glittery' design!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com