Ivy’s Birthday has come and gone, and we enjoyed every minute of it! I have discovered that the days right before a party are some of my favourite days ever. DAYS FULL OF CREATING!!! They are my dream days, and I love it!!!! Maybe I was a kids party planner in a past life… Anyways one of the creations that we made for Ivy’s Baby Doll 2nd Birthday Party was this awesome Balloon arch. I have seen some beautiful balloon arch’s around the interweb world and really couldn’t wait to try to recreate one for Miss Ivy Lynnkins. I found a great video balloon arch tutorial (linked below), gathered my supplies, recruited the family, and built this balloon arch. Here is how we created this masterpiece and then… destroyed it!
BALLOON ARCH TUTORIAL
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Balloons of different sizes and colours (mine were all the same sized balloons just blown up to different sizes) – I used about 150 Balloons but would suggest getting around 200 just to be safe!
- Chicken Wire
- low heat hot glue gun
- hot glue sticks (about a whole pack!)
- Clear Packing Tape
- Command Hooks
- Balloon pump, your lungs, or an air compressor (optional)
- Step stool or Ladder
METHOD TO MAKE A BALLOON ARCH
Step 1: Blow up all of your balloons to different sizes!!! I got lucky with this step… Shawnikins parents were staying with us for the weekend and his dad volunteered to sit on the couch with an air compressor and blew up a majority of the balloons. Shawnikins and his mom also blew up a ton of them too. We used at least 150 balloons. This is what blowing up balloons with kids looks like…
Yes… Ivy is eating grated cheese with star sprinkles!!! YUMMMMM!!! Both were left overs from some party foods that I was making. I gave her the cheese, and she added the sprinkles. She’s just too cute and it was her birthday so why not!!!
Step 2: Unroll the chicken wire and roll it into a tube shape. To keep it’s shape you can twist the sides of the wires together very easily.
Step 3: Decide where you want to have your Balloon arch and place Command hooks in locations on the wall to hold up the chicken wire tube. Hang up your chicken wire. Like this…
Step 4: With a hot glue gun, glue groups of about 4 balloons together at a time. You will have to hold the balloons together for about 20 seconds so that the glue dries. Then connect the balloon grouping to the chicken wire by wrapping clear packing tape around one of the balloon openings and extending the tape to attach to the chicken wire. Don’t worry about what the tape looks like, because you will not be able to see it when your balloon arch is completed. Like this…
Keep taping up groups of balloons until you have covered the entire chicken wire.
Step 5: Fill areas that need more balloons by hot gluing them in place. Like this…
Keep looking at your balloon arch from all different angles, because you will keep finding areas that need more balloons. like this…
Then step back and appreciate your creation!!! I ran out of balloons… so there are a few holes I would have like to fill, but was not up to running out to the store AGAIN!!! Maybe get 200 balloons!!!
AND ENJOY!! Super cute party decor, and then keep it up for at least a week until the balloons deflate and sag, because it was a lot of work!! (wink) LOL!!
BALLOON ARCH REMOVAL TUTORIAL!!!!
It was hard to keep Miss. Balloon Arch alive from Corbin the balloon destroyer!!! After 2 days I let him pop some of the balloons from the bottom.
Then a week later I let him go to town.
Step 1: Get something sharp and give it to your child. Like this…
It’s actually not that much clean up because most of the popped balloons stay together because of all the glue!
Ivy was a little sad that her party was now over. She wanted to keep the popped balloons, but was convinced otherwise, and then was super helpful at putting the popped balloons in the garbage. Love her guts! So… essentially I did no clean up myself. Thanks kids!!!
Step 2: After the balloons are all popped and cleaned up, your chicken wire should easily lift off your command hooks, and you can roll it up and use it for a different project?!?!
Step 3: Lastly remove command hooks from your walls… Properly… Oups! Just another little project to put on Shawinkins list of things to do!
I hope you found this tutorial inspiring to make your own awesome balloon arch! It’s not hard to create, but a little time consuming. Waiting for the glue to dry is what takes the longest. And I really lucked out with Shawnikins family being around to help with its creation. This is really a good group project. Thanks family!!!!! If you would like to see the video tutorial that I used to learn how to create an awesome balloon arch, you can check it out on the blog The House That Lars Built! It’s awesome!!
I think Ivy really loved her balloon arch, it would remind her of her party all week long… until the balloon arch was destroyed! Although I know she won’t remember her 2nd Birthday Party, the photos of it will be with her forever. Until next time, enjoy creating fun party decor, and creating beautiful things!
XO JCL
P.S. Here is Ivy Lynnkins 2nd Birthday Party, which we made this balloon arch for!
P.P.S. Here are some links to the products used in this tutorial. I would suggest going to a dollar store for balloons though as they are much more expensive on Amazon. Happy Balloon Arch Making!!
