A BALLOON GARLAND DIY

November 28, 2016

My church was hosting a celebratory event a few weeks ago and I was in charge of creating a few decor pieces. Some girl friends and I made this mega balloon arch. Brittany at The House that Lars Built is the queen of these. If you want to make one yourself, her video is so helpful!

There are a few things I think are important for keeping balloon decor from looking tacky or too prom-ish.

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  1. Variety of size: We purchased two sized balloons, 5 inch and 11 inch, but created even more variety by blowing them up to all different fullnesses.
  2. Variety in color: The more colors you have, the more sophisticated the final look. Just two colors can look child’s themed birthday party-ish.
  3. Asymmetry: A very repetitive, symmetrical style will tend to feel store-bought, typical balloon arch. To feel a little more lavish, we used lots of balloons (about 350) and placed them in a way that felt they were cascading and floating naturally.
  4. Subtlety in color: I searched hard to find rarer, prettier colors in balloons. This is I think the biggest difference in this decoration looking elevated or cheap. The shop I used and found had the best selection was LuftBalloon. They even made custom colors for me!
  5. Floral: Tucking some floral in at the end adds one more element that feels fancy. I love the look of eucalyptus leaves, which I used here.

Here is how we made ours!

STEP 01

This is the longest step. Blow up the balloons! Having some extra man power for this phase is nice, and you could even blow do this the night before.

STEP 02

Using command hooks and chicken wire, create the shape of your garland and attach it to the wall.

STEP 03

Using a lo-temp glue gun, glue balloons into clusters of three to five. Leave some balloons separate for touch ups at the end.

STEP 04

Attach a long strip of packing tape to one balloon tail in each cluster. Thread packing tape through chicken wire and fold over itself to attach.

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STEP 05

Attach a long strip of packing tape to one balloon tail of each cluster. Thread packing tape through chicken wire and fold over itself to attach. Continue until garland is complete. Fill in any gaps with reserved single balloons.

STEP 06

Add floral into garland.

Another last thing, if I could do one thing differently it would be finding a tool to make tying off balloons easier. We used pumps for blowing them up instead of our lungs the old fashioned way and that was a must! I used these.

It took the five of us about four hours to put together, but that time the day of an event could be greatly reduced by blowing the balloons up in advance. Five people was nice for attaching the balloons to the arch, but when blowing them up, take as many hands as you can find!

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