What is Classic Balloon Décor?

When I started my balloon business over 30 years ago it was considered extremely important to learn the skills to create beautiful Classic Balloon Décor. These skills really made your balloon business stand out, and set you apart from your untrained competitors!

Fantastic Circus Clowns Entrance Décor Design by Tope Abulude, CBA

What is Classic Balloon Décor?

When I think of Classic Balloon décor, I think of precision, where every balloon is sized precisely and each balloon looks identical... think of peas in a pod. Classic balloon décor refers to Columns, Garland Arches, and String of Pearl Arches. It is the foundation of balloon decorating, and can often be found at weddings, fairs, dances, grand openings, and almost anywhere balloons are used to enhance the atmosphere of an event. Just take a look at the fabulous Circus Clown entrance decor above, this is 100% Classic Balloon décor! The legs, body, and arms of each balloon uses the classic Garland technique to create these impressive structures! 

To make any style of Classic Balloon décor, you first need to know the basics: duplets and clusters.

Duplet: To make a duplet, inflate and accurately size two latex balloons, and then tie the two balloons closely together, this is known as a duplet. TIP: the tighter a duplet is tied, (leaving no stretch between the two balloons) the better the end result will be when creating clusters.

Photo courtesy of Balloon Market
for full step-by-step instructions click HERE

Clusters: A cluster is when we take two or more duplets and twist them together at the centre to form a cluster. Two duplets twisted together makes a 4-balloon cluster. We can also make 5-balloon and 6-balloons clusters, simply by adding additional duplets or in the case of the 5-balloon cluster, an additional single balloon to two duplets.

Photo courtesy of Balloon Market
for full step-by-step instructions click HERE

Puff Ball or Balloon Topiary: A Puff Ball is made using a total of twelve balloons. This is formed by twisting six duplets together, making sure that each duplet is twisted through the centre core of the ball.

Garlands

Garlands are the building block of Classic Balloon Décor and can be used to create;

• Columns - Columns can be built on a pole and base plate, or can be self-supporting if tethered to a weight and topped with a helium-filled balloon to keep it upright. Columns are great for entrances, corners of a dance floor, or any space that needs a touch of colour.

Balloon Column by Luc Bertrand, CBA of WaW Balloons in Vichte, Belgium

• Swags - this style of décor can be draped from a ceiling or pillars down into a room. Balloon swags give decor a sense of motion and energy.

This amazing décor was designed by Tope Abulude, CBA of Balloon Inspirations Design Studio in Brentwood, England.
The balloon Swags formed the canopy of a Circus Tent.
 The décor was created by a team of balloon professionals at the World Balloon Convention.

• Arches - When built on a frame, a Garland easily becomes a long-lasting focal point for entrances, buffet tables, or photo backdrops. 

Garland Patterns

Garlands are often referred to as Spiral Garlands, however, there are many more patterns that can be created within a Garland to create different effects.

The above Arch pattern displays a 'Fast Spiral' the means
that the spiral repeats quickly. You could use four 
different colours for this spiral pattern

This Arch pattern displays a 'Slow Spiral'
This is when you use two colours sitting side by side so
that the repeat is less frequent.

This Arch pattern is known as the 'Polka Dot'. Using 
a printed balloon as the dot can be very effective.

This Arch is known as the 'Small Flower' pattern.

The number of different patterns that you can create in a Garland is unlimited, you simply need to experiment and play! The easiest way to do this is by using a balloon design tool such as Balloon Pro, which is what I have used to illustrate the Arch design above. This is a fantastic way for you to create design ideas for your customers without having to touch a balloon! https://balloonpro.co

TIPS:

• Experiment with different colour combinations to create different patterns.
• Use all-over printed latex balloons to enhance a theme or to make a bold statement.
• Top columns with giant 3' latex balloons or 36" Microfoil® balloons.
• Add curly 260Q latex balloons to add visual interest and movement within a design.
• Use 5-balloon and 6-balloon clusters to create rounder structures.
• Use the Garland technique to create many different styles of Garland Sculptures, like the Clown Arches shown above or the 'Tropical Cocktail' below! The only limitations is your creativity! 

Fancy Cocktail Glass
Double stuff latex colours into Diamond Clear latex to create a frosted glass effect!
Designer name: Federico Onida, CBA, Balloon Express Shop - Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

Tools of the Trade: The AeröPole System® was designed to help decorators easily create different styles of air-filled balloon Arches. To find out more visit www.areopolesystem.com

Here are a few more examples of designs created using Classic décor.

Christmas Tree by Cam Woody, CBA

The backdrop balloon wall was create using the Duplet Square Pack 
Technique.
Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

This Circus Ring Sculpture was mainly created using Classic Balloon Décor techniques.
Sculpture by Sue Bowler, CBA

Balloon Wall created using Alternative Size Balloon Technique
Design by Sue Bowler

So many balloon companies seem to focus solely on organic balloon décor today, but for me personally, I love knowing how to create both, and being able to apply the most appropriate technique to the style of décor or event that I am decorating. 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Will it be Pink or Blue? A Little Inspiration for Baby Gender Reveal Events.

Gender reveal parties are relatively new. Over the past few years, these have become increasingly popular around the world.

Photo Credit: The Story of Five

Wedding Banner Love

Gender reveal parties are a great way to celebrate and share the news of the baby's gender with family and friends before the baby is born. There are several ways that this can be done, either through cleverly staged photos or by throwing a memorable gender reveal party.




Here are some great ideas that I have found when researching through various social media channels. 

Box of Balloons

This seems to be one of the most popular ways to announce the gender of a baby. It's fun and very visual and gives you the opportunity to decorate and present the box in your own way! 

Photo Credit: Hellobabymomspeaking.blogspot.co.uk

Photo Credit - Inspiredbythis.com

Photo Credit: Deborah Nagai Photography

Photo Credit: Mandy Kay Photography - Wow, this lady takes awesome photographs!

Please consider Smart Balloon Practices when filling a box with helium-filled balloons. Rather than releasing and allowing the balloons to float away, keep the balloons tethered to a weight. 

To find large cardboard boxes, check your balloon distributor as many will carry boxes for balloon deliveries or use your friendly search engine and type the following keywords:

Where can I buy extra large boxes
XXL boxes 
Really big cardboard boxes

Popping Balloons

This also appears to be a very popular choice! Filling a 3' Black balloon with coloured confetti and 5" balloons to reveal if it's a girl or boy!

This is a fabulous video very kindly shared by Tope Abulude, CBA, of Balloon Inspirations Design Studio in Brentwood, Essex, U.K. This shows the fun and excitement a popping balloon can bring.

Photo Credit: Samdobsonwrites.com

This fabulous Qualatex^® 3' "Question Marks" balloon # 43400 is perfect for gender reveal popping balloons! 

A popping balloon can be either helium-filled and secured to a ribbon and weight, or air-filled and suspended from the ceiling. Rather than just giving the couple a pin to pop the balloon, why not make a "wand"? This can be easily made by securing a pin to the end of a short wooden stick (protect the pin by placing a cork on it whilst it's not in use) This is also for health and safety reasons, too! Decorate the stick with ribbons and a bow.

Pregnant Balloon Sculpture

And finally, here is another great idea! This fabulous pregnant balloon sculpture is the work of Abby London of Abby London Magic and Balloons in Lansdown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Abby makes one of her fabulous balloon dolls, fills the belly with pink or blue silk flowers and once it's popped, the sculpture remains intact and gets her figure back! 

Here are some great balloons that would be perfect for baby gender reveal party decor.

11" "Baby Footprint & Hearts"

11" "He? Or She?"
18" "He Or She? Footprints"

11" Mustache & Bow Tie
11" Mustache & Ribbon 

Remember, this could be the start of a fabulous relationship with your client. After the gender reveal there is the baby shower, the Christening or naming ceremony, the baby's first birthday, and so it goes on. This could be a customer for a very long time, so make sure that you build a great relationship with them.


Happy ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

From Traditional to Contemporary Jungle Party Decor Ideas.

Black & White African Party Theme.
Designer unknown 

When it comes to designing a theme party, this event designer has ticked many boxes for me! I love how the balloon stylist has created this fabulous African-themed children's party using black and white balloons, with helium balloons on the ceiling and a few air-filled balloons scattered on the floor mixed in with paper honeycomb balls. I love the addition of the Qualatex^® Black & White SuperAgate^® balloons mixed within the clusters that sit neatly below the awesome 3' Giant confetti-filled balloons! Some might say that this is not very representative of a toddler's second birthday. However, it's not uncommon for a parent to throw a trendy, lavish children's party, especially for first and second birthdays.  Unfortunately having discovered this photo on Pinterest, I cannot find the original designers name. If you know who created this beautiful decor, please let me know as I would love to give them full credit.

When it comes to creating fabulous decor, here is another wonderful designer - Tope Abulude, CBA, of Balloon Inspirations Design Studio, Brentwood, UK. Tope recently designed and decorated this stunning "Tropical Jungle"-themed party for a baby's first birthday in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Tope really nailed it with this fabulous organic style entrance decor!
The purpose of entrance decor is to set the scene and welcome guests to the party.
This entrance looks simply stunning, exciting, and very memorable!

Once inside the venue, Tope continues to thrill the guests with his fabulous designs. 















Tope blends all the shades of green Qualatex Quick Link and round balloons to create great variety and contrast with his fabulous trees.











The organic ceiling filled with greenery and lighting looks awesome!





Here are some more fabulous examples of "Jungle Party" ideas. 

I love this fantastic entrance Arch created by M & M Balloon Co. of Seattle, U.S.A. The monkeys and the giraffe add so much fun and life to this fabulous design. This design will create a fun and exciting welcome for party guests and a great photo opportunity, too!

Lily Tan, CBA, of Myairtitude, in Singapore, shows her wonderful design skills creating another awesome jungle-themed entrance design. I love how Lily builds much of the detail into the base of her Arches. The design flows throughout the whole Arch, making it exciting and fun to look at.

When it comes to adding animals to our jungle designs, we have a great selection of Qualatex animal shape balloon heads to work with!

39" "Ellie the Elephant" #16987 — #16136 (pkgd.)

30" "Tickled Tiger" #31041 — #16189 (pkgd.)
14" Air-filled #41808


35" "Mischievous Monkey" #40194 — #16097 (pkgd.)
14" Air-Filled #41793

32" "Zany Zebra" #35404 — #16166 (pkgd.)
14" Air-Filled #41805


32" "Jolly Giraffe" #31035 — #16095 (pkgd.)
14" Air-Filled #41790

29" "Lovable Lion" #16860 — #16154 (pkgd.)






Have you checked out the Inspiration page at Qualatex.com? It is perfect when you are looking for ideas and inspiration! There are articles, videos, bouquets, and decor ideas, too! The search feature is awesome; simply search either the bouquet or decor page using a search term and filter your results by occasion and theme. You can download the design image for future reference, and if you are a QBN member, you will find that many of the designs have downloadable recipes!


Here are a few of the design ideas that I found in the new inspiration pages. The Mischievous Monkey is super cute and is always a number one favourite when made into these lovely little balloon sculptures. For QBN members, there is a downloadable recipe once you log into the member's area on Qualatex.com.

I recently showed this design in a post about Balloon Arches, but it deserves to be shown again! This is another fantastic use of the small animal heads. Keith Stirman, CBA, and Dominic Cassidy, CBA, of All Things Fun in Country Durham, U.K., have created a design that is fun and full of excitement and visual energy. It's not a huge Arch, but it would be perfect for a children's party and, once again, would make an ideal photo opportunity.

Lily Tan has used both sizes of the Zany Zebra balloon to create these fabulous centrepiece designs. She also uses the Zebra Stripes from the 5" Safari Assortment balloons #87144 to complement her design. 











Mike Harris, CBA, of Every Occasion Balloon Artists Ltd. in Rhyl, U.K., puts a contemporary twist on the jungle theme with this Quick Link Zebra Stripes Balloon Wall. The addition of the Starpoint balloons adds a new dimension to this style of wall.

I love to design theme parties and the jungle theme is a great one to work with. It can be traditional, or as both Tope and Mike have shown, they can have a more contemporary look, too!

To conclude this post, I am adding a couple of fun animal design recipes that you could use for this party theme. You can download these by visiting the RECIPE section at the top of this blog page.

Tiger Design by Sue Bowler, CBA.

For more great ideas on this theme, check out an early post - Animal Magic - some great balloon designs with an animal theme.

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com




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Circus-Themed Decoration For Kids Parties

I recently wrote an article, ‟Birthday Under the Big Top,” that was featured in the Design Inspiration section of the Jan/ Feb/ Mar 2016 edition of Images magazine.



The colours and vibrancy of these new circus balloons are just stunning. Perfect for any age and ideal for both boys and girls, too!

36" ‟Big Top Circus Lion”
#25234
#25239 (pkgd.)
11" ‟Big Polka Dots Colourful Assortment”
#10240 (50 ct.)

‟Polka-Dotted Circus Surprise.”

This is a really effective and simple to reproduce balloon arrangement. Coordinating the new 36" ‟Big Top Circus Lion” with the fabulous 11" ‟Big Polka Dots Colourful Assortment” is an absolute winner! 



















For a truly fun and exciting entrance, how about creating this ‟Circus Parade Arch.” The fantastic ‟Wavy Stripes” Quick Link balloons™ are just perfect with the pedestal bases and the 22" ‟Circus Parade” Bubble Balloon®. 

U.S Patent No. 6,782,675

14 Day Countdown to Valentine's Day - are you ready?

Now is the time when most people start to think about what they are going to buy or send for Valentine's Day. Many leave it to the very last minute! I remember receiving telephone calls on the actual day asking me to deliver a balloon arrangement and pleading with me not to tell the recipient that they had only just placed the order! 







If you have a balloon shop or store, then I assume that your windows are packed with a fantastic range of beautiful balloon displays and all the items that you are hoping to sell! The next few days is the perfect opportunity to make sure that all the balloons are looking fresh and well- presented. How about your other shop window? Your website? I have noticed that many balloon companies do not refresh or update their homepage very regularly. If I was looking for Valentine's balloons via the internet, I would want to find them quickly and easily on a website. The same applies for your Business Facebook page, too. Do you have a Valentine's cover at the top of your page? 

Creating your own cover for your Facebook page is easy. I wrote a blog a few years ago called,

How to create your own Facebook cover photo using PicMonkey Photo Editor. It guides you through the simple process, and it's free!

U.S. Patent No. 6,782,675

Think Pink! Is a top tip from Tope Abulude, CBA, of Balloon Inspirations, in Essex U.K. 

"I use as much pink as I do red, and air-filled Qualatex^® Deco Bubbles... Simply so I can immediately convert my designs to Mother's Day as soon as Valentine's Day is done. I guess for me it's being able to create arrangements that I can still sell after Valentine's."