Oh Christmas Tree - Creative Balloon Tree Ideas for the Festive Season

There is nothing more iconic than a Christmas Tree! The tradition of bringing a tree indoors at Christmas time actually began in the 16th century. Today, however Christmas trees come in many forms, including those made from balloons! 

In this post I would like to share with you a selection of inspiring styles of 'balloon trees' that could be used as part of a display or as decor at an event! 

Let's start with a little bit, well actually a lot, of sparkle! What could be more spectacular than Chris Adamo's incredible gold confetti Christmas tree! Confetti-filled balloons are certainly a big hit with customers, and this tree looks simply F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S! 

Design by Chris Adamo, CBA,

 of Balloons Online, Sydney, Australia.

For decorative air-filled confetti balloons:

• Inflate the balloon with a small amount of air to stretch open the balloon, and then let the air out. 
• Use the funnel to insert confetti inside the balloon or you can use a balloon stretching tool* to open up the neck of the balloon.
• Fill the balloon with air to the desired size and be sure to tie the balloon carefully afterward, ensuring that there is no confetti in the neck of the balloon.
• Check that the confetti is distributed across the balloon, you can use static to get the confetti to stick. If using metallic confetti, you can use Hi-Float as an adhesive inside the balloon before you add the confetti.

This organic Chrome Gold and Chrome Silver Christmas Tree is absolutely gorgeous and beautifully finished with greenery and berries!  
 Zoe Adam-Jones, CBA, of JAZ Trading,
Queensland, Australia

Balloon Mosaic Frame  by Sue Bowler, CBA in Henley On Thames, England

I really enjoyed making this mosaic tree design. The frame itself was so easy to assemble using a Nikoloon Frame kit. I used a combination of Chrome Gold, Chrome Copper and Chrome Rose Gold 7" and 11" balloons. I also added a few Metallic Gold 4", 9" and 18" Stars, plus one single 4" Red Star at the top! As a finishing touch, I created mini bubbles from the tips of Chrome Gold 260Q's. This tree lasted many weeks and looked absolutely fantastic! 

QuickLink Christmas Trees made by Sue Bowler

I made these QuickLink Christmas Trees for the entrance decor for a corporate Christmas party! When I made these, I was very new to working with QuickLinks.I was very grateful to Sean O'Kelly of BalloonDecor, VIC, Australia who shared his design recipe with me and the Very Best Balloon Blog! To learn how to create this tree, click HERE, or follow this link: https://theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-to-make-quick-link-christmas-tree.html

This Christmas tree entrance decor scene was created for a Qualatex Event in France, in 2017
by José Luthman CBA of Ballonrama in Mulhouse, France.

 

These fabulous Christmas Trees were made using partially inflated 260Q balloons, and clearly the effect was stunning! 

Here is another fabulous QuickLink Christmas Tree, designed and created by Glen LaValley, of Glen the Balloon Guy in Edmonton, Alberto, Canada. If you would like to learn how to make this design click HERE or follow this link: https://theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-to-make-quick-link-christmas-tree.html

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

Here are a few more inspiring ideas from #balloonchristmastree on Instagram

This first design by Rejoice Event Design is simply spectacular! I love all the fabulous twisted tree decorations! 

Stunning White and Chrome Gold Tree by
Rejoice Event Design, New Jersey, USA
www.rejoiceeventdesign.com

White Tree with Red and Chrome Silver accent details by
Little Balloon Box in Bromley, England
www.littleballoonbox.co.uk

This pastel Christmas tree is so elegant.
Design by
The Balloon Crew in Barrie, ON, Canada
https://theballoooncrew.wixsite.com/theballoooncrew-1

And finally, a fabulous collection of Christmas Trees by Dream Higher Events completes the display! 

Design by Dream Higher Events in West Malling, England
www.dreamhigher.co.uk

There are so many different ways to create a Christmas tree from balloons, some being quicker and easier to make than others! Looking at these beautiful designs has definitely inspired me to make a 2021 tree! 

For even more inspiration and ideas, I recommend that you check out #balloonchristmastree.

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

He's from France, his design style is awesome and he's teaching at the World Balloon Convention...it is my pleasure to introduce Monsieur Jose Luthman!

Design Created
By Jose Luthman CBA

Many of you will already know Jose (pronounced Jo-ze), especially balloon artists from around  Europe as he has been an instructor in France, for a number of years, teaching at a variety of different balloon events including ABC (Sunny Twist) and Qualatex Events around France, at the Qualatex Event in Oxford in 2012 and at BACI last year! I am sure that you will have seen a selection of his work in Balloon Images Magazine or posted in the Qualatex Facebook Group?

Stylish, elegant and creative are probably the best words that I can find to describe Jose's balloon 'art', maybe it is true that the French really do have that 'chic' edge when it comes to design?

This will be Jose's first time teaching at the World Balloon Convention (WBC) so I took this opportunity to ask Jose a few questions about his forthcoming experience!

Classic Balloon Decor - A Balloon Decorators Building Blocks

Do you remember the first time you saw a Spiral Garland Column, Swag or a Balloon Arch and the wonderful way the colours wrapped around themselves and wondered how did they do that?

Air-Filled Entrance Arch - by Sue Bowler as featured in Sue's Balloon Decor 1 DVD

The effects of simple balloon garlands are truly magical, both visually and profitably too!

Classic Balloon Decor is the foundation of balloon decorating. Foundations can be found in the early defining work of a discipline, and balloon decorating started with balloon garland arches, swags, columns and 'string of pearl' (SOP) arches.

'Treb Heining is the man responsible for invented the balloon garland and who first popularized professional balloon decor in the late 1970s. His vision launched a national phenomenon, and his basic design became the cornerstone of Classic Balloon Decor.' 

2012 Qualatex Stand at the Spring Fair NEC Birmingham - The stands decor was brought 'to life' using Classic Balloon Decor, Using columns, garlands and arches the stand looked amazing and was visible from every part of the very large exhibition hall! 
The stand decor was designed & created by Jodie Norris CBA & Dee White CBA.

Classic Balloon Decor is the starting blocks for decor and almost all balloon artists/decorators start here! Learning how to inflate balloons to a specific size, tying a duplet, twisting balloons into clusters and the art of adding balloons to line or framework!

Once a decorator has these mastered they can move onto more challenging projects! 

Classic Balloon Decor can be used in so many ways and for so many different types of events, including weddings, corporate decor, shopping malls almost anywhere when balloons can be used on mass!

Elegant Pearl Arches using 3' printed Qualatex balloons by Colin Stewart CBA, Canada

Stunning garland swags created by Jose Luthman CBA, France

I regularly see amazing balloon work by both Colin and Jose posted on the Qualatex Facebook group, they both use classic balloon decor to the full and both have very successful balloon decorating businesses!

I asked two balloon professionals Colin Stewart and Colin Myles to describe their thoughts on Classic Balloon Decor...

"Classic Decor is the foundation of Balloon Art--- It is where we all started and where it all begins! Working in Decor we need to understand two very important things:

1. Proper Sizing and 2. Packing the balloons in a Garland. These 2 features are easy to see in Classic Decor as they both impact our work which shows in the Final Decor!
It is much easier to show what I just said when you see the lines in a Classic Balloon garland.

Classic BalloonART is my "Bread and Butter" after 22 years in the Balloon industry---- we use it just about everyday!" - Colin Stewart

 

Colin Myles - 'I believe classic balloon decor is the very foundation on which a balloon busines is built. There are so many derivatives, which can be applied, when you have mastered the basics. But of course basic classic balloon decor can look stunning on its own. In my opinion the greatest care should be taken when deciding to what size the balloons should be inflated. For example, if you have 50 metres of garland to make in a large auditorium then clusters of balloons sized to 4'' would not be appropriate.

Classic Balloon Decor’s simplicity, flexibility and natural ability to transform large spaces into celebrations make it suitable for a broad range of events and clients. It’s relatively simple designs offers a systematic approach to construction and installation, making it quicker than many decor alternative, and more cost effective for the client as well as more profitable for you!

There are many patterns that can be created within a garland, flowers, zigzags, arrows and of course spirals, that lead the eye in a certain direction!

Sculptures made from the column/garland technique are also very effective, this is simply working with clusters of different sizes and the clever positioning of colours that make these work so well! Simple balloon sculptures like these are great for theme events, quick and easy for you to make and very cost effective for the client too!

This is such a fun Christmas Tree, full of fun and perfect of Christmas parties! Design by David de Busto, Spain

3 air-filled columns make this great ' Freaky Frankie'.

What could be more fun than these simple but very effective balloon Palm Tree's! 

Learning the basic skills in any industry is so very important, balloon decor is no exception. Once we have a good understanding of Classic BalloonART (Colin Stewarts term, which I love), there are really no boundaries to what we can create from the humble round balloon.

Yes of course we can use non-round balloons to add finer detail and accent elements as well as Microfoil shapes to re-inforce a theme, maybe a parrot in a palm tree or frond shapes or a lovely smile face. The round balloon is the equivalent of paint to a painter or clay to a potter, and thanks to Qualatex, we have the 'Very Best Balloons' to work with!

To learn more about Classic Balloon Decor enrol in the QBN program, that will guide you through the many skills to help you to build a successful balloon business.

Happy Ballooning!

Sue 

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler.com

Note: Some of the quotes and information was taken from 'A Foundation for Balloon Decor', part of the QBN program.