Balloon Art

Balloons are to parties like cake is to icing (and yes, I meant it in that order ;p).

If you're stuck in a rut of the same plain jane balloons from when poofy bangs were in style, how about busting out some balloon art.

What is balloon art? Well...I think I made it up. I've never heard the term before...but surely someone somewhere has used that term before. This is just the Parties for Pennies version.

Let's start with what you're gonna need -

You're going to need some balloons. Shocker, huh? 

- Acrylic Paint 

- Paint Brush 

- String 

- Hot Air (if you don't have any around, I'll lend you some of mine...my husband says I have plenty. ;p) 

For my balloon art, I wanted to make a banner for my sister. This is a really awesome year for her. She just got engaged & is in the middle of planning a wedding. She's also my best friend &...well...her name only has 3 letters. ;p So Meg gets a balloon art banner. :-) 

I decided to do a chevron pattern & circles. I grabbed some white acrylic paint, a brush & my canvas (a balloon). 

I thought about using tape to outline the chevron pattern but I was afraid it'd pop the balloon. So I grabbed two post-it notes from the junk drawer & those were my guide. :-) I used the post-it note technique for the first line then eye-balled the rest. 

Yeah...I eye-balled the letters too, if you couldn't tell. ;p The circles were super easy too. I started with small circles & then gradually increased their size with my brush. You could buy balloons with the polka dots on them but this way, you can customize them yourself & save a few dollars. And here at Parties for Pennies, every penny counts. 

How can balloon art add to your next party? Well, you could use string & make a banner like I did. You could also fill them with helium & paint them, like above. They could also take the place of  paper laterns for decorations. Or you could let them wander free amoung the dust bunnies on the floor. (We have a dog so there is always a dust bunny somewhere) It would be kinda fun to walk in & see these pretty chevroned/polka-dotted balloons covering the floor. 

As far as the type of balloon art you do, well that's completely up to you. I played around a little & kinda dug the swirl look below. 

It got smudged a little in the drying process so it looks a little rough. ;p 

I will say that I attempted some market/pinterest research for YOU! :-) Have you seen the tutorials floating around showing a way to inflate balloons without helium? You basically use baking soda, baking powder & vegetable oil. Mix those ingredients up in the balloon & blow it up. The problem with this method is that once it goes up, if you pull it even slightly down, it falls. With as many times as I change things around while setting up a party, that would be no bueno for me. So for what it's worth, that's my research conclusion. ;p 

Here ARE some helpful tips to get your money's worth if you do pay for helium - 

(1) Spray balloons with hair spray - this will lock in the helium & keep it from escaping. 

(2) Don't overinflate - sometimes you have to keep an eye on whoever is inflating them. 

(3) Put the balloons in a plastic bag as soon as they are filled. 

These tips will help your balloons to last longer. I've paid extra for that "balloon food" (I don't think it's called that but it serves the same purpose as flower food...so there ya go) & the balloons started deflating the NEXT morning! Ugh. ;p Hope these tips are more helpful.