Wow your party guests with a DIY balloon garland! Balloon garlands look impressive, but they’re actually SO EASY to put together.
Buy an inexpensive balloon garland kit in colours matching your decor or party theme, and follow our easy step by step instructions to put together a beautiful and eye catching balloon garland. It’ll definitely bring your event to the next level!
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How to Make a Balloon Garland
Materials:
- 100 - 150 Latex balloons (variety of colours and sizes)
- Balloon tape
- Command hooks
- Glue dots
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.We recommend purchasing a balloon garland kit from Amazon. The kit will give you most of the supplies you need at a low cost.
Step 2: Blow up the balloons
- Blow up your balloons using an electric balloon pump. You'll need at least 100 balloons, so blowing them up without a pump will be next to impossible on your own.
- Try not to over-inflate your balloons -- this will make the balloon more likely to pop.Tie off the balloon.
- We recommend blowing up at least 100 balloons, but this totally depends on what size you'd like your garland to be.You can blow up the balloons in stages if you want to make sure you don't have a lot left over.
Step 3: Add the balloons to the garland "tape"
- The easiest way to put together a garland is by using garland tape (aka balloon tape).This is a roll of plastic that isn't actually sticky like tape. It has holes in it to push the balloons through, which keeps them in place.
- Place the balloon below the tape and begin pushing the edge of the neck through the larger hole.
- Continue pulling until the knot is through the tape.
- Then pull on the knot, sliding it into the small hole on the side. This will really secure the balloon in place.
- Add a second balloon beside the first, in the same way.
- Continue, adding a third balloon. Start thinking about the order of colours and sizes of balloons.We attached some of the largest balloons first and then put them on randomly, trying to balance the colour evenly throughout the garland.
- Continue adding balloons to every hole or every other hole on the garland. The more balloons you add, the harder it is to fit the balloons in every hole.It's okay to skip some of the holes -- you can fill these spots later with the smallest balloons.
- Keep going until your garland is as long as you'd like.
Step 4: Hang the garland
- Use clear command hooks to hang the garland.
- We recommend holding the garland up to see exactly where you want to hang it. Then attach the hooks to the wall.To hang the garland, attach one of the balloon tape holes to the hook. Or tie fishing line (or another thin string) around the tape and hang this loop onto the hook. (You may have to remove a few balloons to get the balloon tape to reach the hook.)
Step 5: Fill in the holes
- You may notice some areas where the garland isn't as full as you'd like.To attach smaller balloons onto the garland, you can use glue dots or double sided tape.
- Attach a few glue dots to each balloon. Add one closer to the knot and then on either side so it sticks to the other balloons easily.
- Press the small balloon into an empty space on the garland.Repeat until you're happy with how the garland looks.
- Your balloon garland is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Use a combination of smaller balloons and large balloons to make your garland. If you only have 1 size of balloon, inflate them to various sizes.
- Use a balloon tying tool if you’re having trouble tying knots in your balloons.
- Want to add even more elegance to your balloon garland? Add in florals and other embellishments at the same time you add the small balloons.
How many balloons do you need to make a garland?
You’ll need at least 100 balloons, in a variety of sizes, to make a large garland. Ours was about 16 feet long and we blew up about 140 balloons.
We had quite a few leftover balloons, so we scattered them on the floor to decorate the room.
How long does it take to make a balloon garland?
A lot of people will tell you it takes 1 hour to make a balloon garland, which it might — if you’ve made one before. But if it’s your first time making a balloon garland, it will probably take between 3 – 4 hours total.
First you have to blow up and tie off all the balloons, then you have to construct the main garland, then you have to hang the garland, and then you have to add in the smaller balloons. It’s really easy, but it’s a bit of a process, especially if you’re doing it alone. It took us an hour and a half just to blow up the balloons.
How far in advance can I make a balloon garland?
You can make your balloon garland a day (or two, maximum) before your event. For the best looking garland, make it the day of the event, but 1 day ahead is definitely fine. Ours was looking a bit droopy after about 3 days.
How long do balloon garlands last?
The balloon garland should last for about 1 week, possibly even longer, if kept indoors. But the balloons do start to deflate so it doesn’t look as good after the first few days. To make the garland last longer, keep it out of hot temperatures, humidity, and direct sunlight.
Do I need helium to make a balloon garland?
No helium is required to make a balloon garland! The balloons stay in place when attached to the balloon tape, and then the garland is hung onto command hooks or held in place with fishing line (or both).
Do I need an electric balloon pump to make my garland?
Yes!! … Okay, an electric balloon pump isn’t 100% necessary if you have 4 or 5 helpers, but we definitely recommend it if you’re making it by yourself. They’re not that expensive, and you’ll be extremely thankful for it — especially if you’re making a large garland. Using a balloon pump will save you a lot of time and air power!
How to hang balloon garlands?
We hung our balloon garland on command hooks. They’re strong and they easily secure the balloon garland to your wall.
You may need to remove a few balloons when hanging the garland, depending on where you’re hanging it and what shape the garland is. It may also be easier to tie a small loop of string or ribbon to the garland strip. Then you can hang the string loop onto the hook.
If you don’t have command hooks you can also tie the balloon garland to stair railings, cabinet knobs, or even nails in the wall.
Where is the best place to hang a balloon garland?
You can hang a balloon garland pretty much wherever you’d like! You can hang it outside on the front of your house or on a party tent.
Indoors, you can place the balloon garland around a door frame or opening into the room or across a long wall. You can even hang it over a window or above the party table. Balloon garlands also look great as a photo backdrop!
With a little bit of time and patience you can easily make your own garland of balloons!
Whether you’re looking to decorate for a baby shower, birthday party, anniversary, wedding, bachelorette or bridal shower, or any other special event, balloon garlands are an exciting statement piece with a real wow factor to them!
Here’s even more DIY party ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |  Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound |  Amazon Canada
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