Adding a touch of "Glitz" to your balloon decor. January 2016

Last year I created a class called "Elegant Decor for Black Tie Affairs," that I taught in four cities around the U.S. as part of the Qualatex^® U.S. Tour. The first stop on my leg of the tour was a visit to burton^® + BURTON in Bogart, GA. It is always a wonderful treat when I get the opportunity to visit a wholesaler. Seeing all the gorgeous products that a wholesaler sells alongside balloons is inspiring, especially for me as I am based in the U.K. and visiting a U.S. distributor is such a bonus!  It was during this tour stop that I was introduced to an amazing product called "Diamond Mesh" by the lovely Peggy Williams, who is the education coordinator at burton^® + BURTON. Diamond Mesh or "Rhinestone Ribbon" as I have also seen it called, was a totally new product for me. With a little creative help from Peggy, I soon had some lovely ideas that I felt would really add a little glitz to our designs and also adds greater perceived value to our work!

Diamond Mesh Ribbon

Love You Red Ribbon 18" Microfoil^® Balloon - #21647

One of my favourite Valentine's balloons is the Qualatex^®  "Love You Red Ribbon". As much as it is a Valentine's balloon, I can also see it being used at other times such as anniversaries or to simply say "I love you" at any time of the year!





I created two designs using this balloon and added the "glitz" to each of the designs using satin and Diamond Mesh ribbons.

The first design is quite simple. You will see that I have cut a single strip* from the ribbon and used it to highlight the edge of the ribbon line that is featured on the balloon. I also made a simple bow from satin ribbon and trimmed the bow with a little of the Diamond Mesh ribbon.


*The great thing about the Diamond Mesh ribbon is that you can cut it to suit whatever you are making. The roll that I have has 20 "diamonds" in a row. This allows you to cut the ribbon into strands of however many "diamonds" that you want to use in a strip!

The second design is a centrepiece. I used the same decorated Love You Red Ribbon balloon and designed the centrepiece around that.


Material List:

1 - 18" Love You Red Ribbon Microfoil^® Balloon #21647
4 - 9"   Ruby Red Hearts 9" Microfoil Balloons #23355
2 - 4"   Ruby Red Hearts 4" Microfoil Balloons #23402
2 - 4"   Onyx Black Hearts Microfoil Balloons- I have just noticed that these balloons have been discontinued from the everyday range, so I recommend that you replace these with 2 additional 4" Red Hearts. Some of you like me, might still have some Onyx Black in stock.
15 - 5" Onyx Black Latex Balloons.
1 -       Plexipole & Base or Lomey Pedestal & Base
Satin Ribbon
Diamond Mesh Ribbon

Equipment required:
Hand-Pump
Heat Sealer
Clik-Clik^® Balloon Bond or UGlu^® Dashes to adhere the Diamond Mesh to the balloons.

Here are a few close-up photographs of the centrepiece design;

Top of the centrepiece

Base of the centrepiece

I love to add detail to my designs. Just a few bows can really transform something quite simple into a truly elegant piece and with the addition of the Diamond Mesh ribbon. It truly adds that extra "Glitz!"

To find Diamond Mesh/ Rhinestone ribbon, especially outside the U.S. I recommend that you use your favourite search engine. It is not particularly cheap, but a little goes a very long way!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com