PART 2: DIY THE UNCOMMON WAY
For Part 2 of this month’s blog post, we are walking you through a simple DIY balloon kit, and we are pairing it with our Valentine’s Tablescape for 2.
Working in the creative industry with certain materials, we’ve learned a thing or two about how to DIY. We’ve learned some shortcuts, tips, tricks, and ways to make even the easiest DIYs easier. So to show an example of how we DIY, we bought two kits. For the first one, we will follow the manufacturer’s directions to the T. For the second, we will show you The Uncommon Way! We’ll show you the pros and cons of both ways … of course, we’re partial to The Uncommon Way, but we’ll let y’all decide!
DIY Balloon Kit #1
To start, we read the directions. Yup, that’s right … we read them. And followed them! We set aside all previous knowledge. Here’s what we were given:
I blew up the balloons, tied them individually, attached the connectors to the twine, inserted the neck of the balloons into the connectors, faced the balloons out, twisted the vines around the balloons, and styled as desired. Overall, pretty simple. It was nothing too difficult, and it seemed pretty straight forward
I hung the garland vertically using the curtain rod as an anchor to finish styling. When I stepped back I was impressed with the cute garland. I mean, for $6, what a steal! A great way to add some decor on a budget!
As I started to move around the garland, I began to see some flaws and some things I believe should be hidden in a balloon garland. I quickly saw that to hide the inner-workings of the garland, you had to keep the balloons taut and snug to one another. In reality, it’s not a huge deal. But you lose a substantial amount of length from the garland, and it can make it tricky to find an intentional place to install.
As a consumer, you’d need a couple of kits to create a full look where you could walk all the way around and not see the inner-workings. With all that in mind, I began creating the ballon garland again but using The Uncommon Way.
First off, ditch the twine, connectors, & directions! I have found that connectors and garland tape provide an easy install, but they also seem to expose themselves and create a very standard look. This is not a bad thing at all ... just not something we at Uncommon encourage with balloons. We like organic installs with a little pizzaz! Also, with the smaller amount of balloons, I decided to go from a traditional garland install to a more compact and focused aerial ceiling decor element.
Next, grab your hand pump or electric air inflator… ain’t nobody got time to blow up balloons with their own air these days! Haha! Time is money, and blowing up your balloons with your own breath is costly on time for setting up a party.
Lastly, find some fishing line. This material will help hide all of the inner-workings of the garland.
I have found the key to balloon garlands are round balloons. The more the balloons look like eggs, the more standard/basic the garland looks. So to combat that, I suggest stretching each balloon before blowing it up. From the base of the neck, stretch up and down. In the middle of the body of the balloon, stretch side to side.
Once you have all your balloons stretched, you can begin to blow them up. I suggest under-inflating the balloons. Balloons with a little squish will give you the best pliable material to work with when assembling the garland. I also suggest inflating several different sizes. Garlands look best when they have various sizes and colors. Lastly, instead of tying the balloons off individually, tie two balloons together to make pairs. This step is where you decide how you are applying color to the garland, so think about if you want an ombre or color blocking or mixed colors.
Once you have all the pairs made, begin to take two pairs and create balloon “triangles”. Matching the knots together, take one ballon and rotate it through counterclockwise. The balloon that you rotated should end up at the top of the “triangle.”
After all your “triangles” are created, take your fishing line and tie a knot around one of the “triangles”. I always double-knot and leave the excess till the end, because this slack can help me hang the garland. I place the spool of fishing line on the ground as I add in the other “triangles”.
Placing the first “triangle” against your tummy and using the fishing line, add in your next “triangle” by snuggling the first to the second and looping the fishing line around one balloon of the second “triangle”. Pull tight. Repeat this step for all of the “triangles”. For this kit, you will have one single pairing left. You can add that pairing anywhere you please!
Remember… organic shapes and asymmetry are our friends!
Lastly, I wanted to use the vines as our method of hanging to make it very intentional. So I took three vines and looped one end of each vine into the garland. I then used the other end of the vines to hang onto the ceiling fan of my dining room. This set us up for an aerial balloon decor element for our Valentine’s Tablescape for 2.
And then to top it off, I twisted the 3 remaining vines into the install to connect the hanging method to the decor. Here’s a photo of the decor in all its glory.
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