In my last post, I demonstrated how to make a Christmas Wreath. In this post I will show you how to decorate the wreath using a few different ideas and techniques.
Check out the video below to find out how to create the precision bubbles and the bow.
Poinsettia Flower
In this next video, I will show you how to make this Qualatex Taper Poinsettia Flower.
Here are some more fantastic examples of the Poinsettia Flower. This fantastic display was made by Natalie Saunders of The Balloon Room, in Stevenage, UK. Natalie created this display for the recent BAPIA Funday!
Natalie sprayed Silver Tapers to create Pink Tapers to make these gorgeous
flowers!
If you missed the first video on how to make the wreath, click HERE
Karla Bell-Marsh of Blooms and Balloons in Portsmouth and I recently created these five hoops to represent the 'Five Gold Rings' as quoted in the Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas at a recent industry event hosted by BAPIA (Balloon and Party Industry Alliance) and co-sponsored by Pioneer Europe, Qualatex.
The wreaths proved to be a popular sight at the event, so I thought that I would share the design with The Very Best Balloon Blog!
I've created a step-by-step video showing you how to make the wreath. This same technique can be used with different coloured balloons to create hoop designs for multiple occasions.
Chrome Gold and Chrome Gold Christmas Wreath by Sue Bowler, CBA and Karla Bell-Marsh.
The wreath above was made on a larger, 1m hoop. I inflated the outer balloons to 6" and the inner balloons to 5", using the same technique on the video.
Here is a wedding hoop design that I made using the same sizing technique as above. On this occasion, I have added a 6" heart on the second cluster.
Wedding Hoop by Sue Bowler
I will demonstrate how to recreate the Taper Poinsettia in my next post!
I think the world is looking forward to life and business as usual this Christmas! After several years of Christmas lockdowns and disruption to life, it is time to pull out all the stops for a fabulous festive season!
When it comes to making balloon Christmas Tree's, Balloonista from Kent, England certainly has the style! The three trees featured below is the stunning work of Balloonista and I love them all!
Everyone loves a bit of nostalgia. It's looking like traditional red and gold is looking to be two of the top trending colours of Christmas 2022!
Qualatex Chrome + Festive Florals and Foliage by Zoe Adam-Jones of Jaz Trading
Gonk's, or Gnomes are a definite trend for this year. Gnomes were the most in demand Christmas accessory of last year and are set to be even bigger for 2022! Some say that it is an alternative to Elf on the Shelf, and has all the appeal for a fun Christmas!
Designer name: Kerry Ferguson, CBA, Pioneer® Europe Ltd., UK
Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloons, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Festive scene by Julie Dunham, CBA, and Lucy Hennessy CBA of Pioneer Europe.
Boho style decor has been a trend for some time now, so why not mix it in for Christmas too? What is Boho? Boho style is a free-spirited aesthetic that mixes different cultures and artistic expressions into an eclectic style with an emphasis on organic elements and nature. As an alternative style for Christmas it will certainly hold major appeal!
And finally, Colourful Brights! Not only a fun and playful way to refresh interiors during the festive season, but these bright colours are the perfect mood boost too!
Photo courtesy ofKailo Chic - using Northstar letters balloons and a little spray paint - it's truly so merry and bright and will forever make us smile!
So when planning your décor and designs to wow your customers, ensure that you create some fun alternatives and something exciting and new for Christmas!
The dictionary definition of a column is: an upright pillar, typically cylindrical, supporting an arch, entablature, or other structure; or standing alone as a monument.
Sculptured Column Design Created by Sue Bowler
In the world of balloons, columns are defined as Classic Balloon decor and come in many shapes and sizes, and they are usually used as a structure that is supported by a base and an upright pole. They could also be self-supporting when using 646Q or QuickLink Balloons.
I designed this 'Sculptured Column' in the picture above for a corporate event in London. It still uses the traditional pole and base, but for this occasion the pole was 'sculptured' or bent to create this elegant shape. This design was inspired by the Gatsby theme.
A traditional column is usually one that has been constructed using either 4- or 5-balloon clusters. Using a 5-balloon clusters creates a rounder, more cylindrical shape, whereas the 4-balloon clusters will gives a squared shape.
Impressive Party Entrance Decor with these Star-Topped Columns
Candy-Coated Chrome™ Blossoms
This palm tree "trunk" was created using 5-balloon clusters to give it a rounder shape. The clusters have also been graduated in size, which helps to define the tree trunk shape. Balloon Christmas trees often use either 5- or even 6-balloon clusters to give an even more defined rounded shape.
The basic column is a good starting point for many 'simple' style balloon sculptures!
1. Cocktail Glass by Federico Onida, CBA 2. Cactus design by Cam Woody, CBA 3. Santa by Cam Woody, CBA 4. Christmas Trees by Dante Longhi, CBA
To learn how to make a 5-balloon spiral column, check out this video with Keith Stirman, CBA of QCorner.
Columns with a Twist!
Spiral Columns made with modelling balloons such as 260Q and 160Q have always been a favourite of mine. They are quick to make, always look elegant, and are a great way to decorate a pole when creating a design that require a pole and base structure. As with all techniques, they need to be practiced to ensure that you get perfect results every time!
This elegant column was created using Diamond Clear 260Q with Pearl White 160Q wrapped around... so pretty!
With its elegant lines, the Flat-Pack technique is very different from the usual cluster method that is often used to make Columns and Arches. I enjoy using this style for Columns and Arches and have used it a number of times for different events.
And finally, when it comes to designing columns, don't forget that there is a fabulous digital design and calculation tool available for balloon professionals. This tool is used by thousands of balloon industry professionals all over the world, and will assist you when designing Arches, Columns, Organic designs and Balloon Walls. To find out more, visit https://balloonpro.co/balloon-design-tools/. This tool is invaluable to my business as a means to design decor for corporate clients and for many of the classes that I teach!
Elf on the Shelf season is almost upon us, and for a number of balloon companies, it could inevitably spell the misery of disabled social media accounts, or worse a potential lawsuit! Honestly, any one of a number of heavily trademarked companies will pounce on the small independent companies who actually have no idea that they have done anything wrong! Unfortunately, breaking the "rules" on social media is easier than you may realise! So, are you committing copyright infringement and don't realise that you are doing it?
Kyrstin De Leeuw, CBA of The Balloon Store in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, creates her very own super cute Christmas Elf
Every year, I see posts on Facebook balloon related groups where someone share their woes of their 'lost' Instagam or Facebook accounts! A ballooning friend of mine told me that her business Instagram account had been disabled before Christmas for violating Instagram Community Guidelines - her account was never restored and a cheeky little "Elf on the Shelf" had something to do with it!
I personally have nothing against these elves, but they can have the habit of getting businesses into trouble, especially at this time of year!
What is the 'Elf on The Shelf'?
The Elf of the Shelf character actually comes from a beloved children's book which tells the tale of Santa's little elf who enters the house at Christmas time to report back each night on who's been naughty and who's been nice. This iconic character is known for hiding itself in a new location each morning and has evolved into a cultural phenomenon by which a stuffed toy elf appears in many households in the lead up to Christmas. A festive month-long game of hide and seek ensues with many children and their parents, with the little one's looking forward to waking up each morning in December to find out where the elf has got to that day.
With the arrival of the stuffed elf toy being so eagerly anticipated each holiday season, many balloon companies have realised that they too can spread a little extra cheer each year by sending toy elves out to their customers. Often, the elves are sat astride stocking filler baskets topped with beautiful balloons! This can be a really fun way to kick off the festive season for lots of families.
Ok, What's the Harm in Doing That? While it may seem like great fun to join in the "trend", businesses must always remain wary of the copyright infringement risks that surround this iconic character. You may think 'You can't copyright an idea!', but actually you can... it's what is know as 'intellectual property' a concept which protects an original idea from being copied without the appropriate credit and requital to its creators; in this case, the authors of the children's book. The character and phrase, 'Elf on the Shelf' and derivatives of it have been copyright protected, meaning use of the phrases without express permission from the copyright owners could lead to legal action. Having recently checked, it looks like Elf on the Shelf now have copyrights on over 50 words and sayings that have some relevance to their elf character... in other words, there are very few elf related words that are safe to use in a hashtag!
Creating any likeness of a copyright protected character is also likely to be prohibited by law regardless of if you have created it yourself as you're still profiting off an 'idea' that isn't yours. For instance, twisting yourself a 'Mike the Mouse' character with whimsically large black ears, red shorts and white gloves could still get you in trouble with the people at Disney because you are still attempting to make money off the idea of the character which they created aka their 'intellectual property'. Your version must be different enough that it cannot be considered a direct copy.
The likelihood of a copyright owner finding an infringing image online is low if the image is not tagged with anything that links it to the trademark. So, avoid using hashtags, names, phrases and in generally any wording that is specific to trademarked characters and you're much less likely to get flagged in a copyright dispute.
How Can I Avoid Any Issues Going Forward? So, back to our whimsical elf; while the phrase and concept of 'elf on the shelf' is protected, the word 'elf' by itself isn't trademarked (it's very hard to trademark single, commonly used words...) and there's no harm in simply selling stuffed elf toys for families to use as they please...
It is definitely worth thinking about ways to still let customers know that you can offer what they're after without stepping on the toes of the established brand. It may mean getting creative with your wording for instance, 'Hide and Seek Elf' or 'Find Me Elf' and altering aspects of the idea enough that it's not considered an infringement. It is worth doing research beforehand to avoid getting you business into trouble.
So my advice to you is to stay clear of using any hashtags to promote goods and services that you offer that could land you in trouble, it is definitely not worth it!
I would like to thank Jade Fraser, Marketing Manager from BAPIA Ltd. for co-writing this post.
Balloon flowers come in many different guises. They can be twisted, distorted, made with round and heart shape balloons, and of course they can be a flower shaped foil balloon! In this post, we are going to look at the many different styles and decor ideas that can be created with Balloon Flowers, plus a few how-to video's to help you learn some of the techniques!
How gorgeous is this Birthday Bouquet by Sally Povey of Above & Beyond Balloons in Sheerness, England? Sally created this stunning bouquet with a collection of different styles of twisted flowers, plus she added small yet impactful accent details that help set this apart from other flower designs.
Cam Woody, CBA, of Pioneer Balloon Company, uses a variety of different balloon flowers to create this Easter themed Balloon Wall! Cam used 6" latex hearts to make the daisies, then added two fabulous 33" Pink Peony Microfoil™ balloons to give a floral focal point to her design.
A whole new meaning to flower power! This breathtaking design is by Joan and Barbara of Globosmanas Manas from Caracas, Venezuela
.
This creative Flower Wall was designed and created by Alberto Falcone, CBA. Alberto has used a variety of different balloon flowers to make this abstract and colourful balloon wall for a trade show window display.
This fabulous photo is from the Qualatex Pioneer Balloon Collective - Lifestyle Photos that are freely available to download HERE and use on your socials.
This beautiful Arch has been made using Chrome™ Balloons which have been distorted to create these unique flowers. Designer name, Leonardo Carmona, CBA, White Diamond Decor, from Anaheim, CA, USA.
If you would like to learn how to create a range of different styles of flowers, check out this video from Qualatex, where you will learn to make Daisies using four different methods!
Here is another fabulous flower! Federico Onida, CBA of Balloon Express in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy shares his 6" Heart Tropical Flower design.
Another flower that I see regularly used in 'Marquee' and 'Stack' designs is the Basket Weave Flower.
And of course, we cannot forget Fantasy Flowers! These flowers are made from uninflated latex balloons that have been wired. If you would like to learn more about Fantasy Flowers and how to make them click HERE for a direct link to my blog post - The 'Art' of Fantasy Flowers or visit - https://theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-art-of-fantasy-flowers.html
What could be more appealing than this giant bouquet of flowers!
Flowers are always a popular addition to any design, but the white daisy with a yellow centre is particularly trendy right now!
I hope that this post has been helpful and has given you a few new ideas that can be incorporated into your everyday balloon decor and arrangements!
With its elegant lines, the Flat-Pack technique is very different from the usual cluster method that is often used to make Columns and Arches. I enjoy using this style for Columns and Arches and have used it a number of times for different events.
If you have never tried it, let me show you how!
Here are two Columns that I created for an awards ceremony. Incorporating the 9" Stars was easy and very effective; I simply added them where the front facing balloon would usually go.
Here is a Halloween column design that I made recently to display the fabulous Qualatex® 50" Glitzy & Glam Bat! The whole design is air-filled, which makes it even more appealing.
Halloween Bat Column by Sue Bowler, CBA.
To use this technique to create an Arch, you simply change the size of the balloon that follows the inner line to create the curve. To create the Arch below, I inflated the outer balloons to 4.5" and the inner balloons to 3.5 inches, and the small balloons are all inflated to 2.5".
I hope that you enjoy trying out this technique if it is something new to you!
