Keep reading to see how to make your own balloon arch including supplies, how to use the plastic decorating strip, how to attach the balloon arch to the wall, and tips for beginners. Recruit your small helpers to lend a hand. Blowing up balloons is a fun party-prep activity for kids to help out with even if they get a little bit off-task. Be careful not to over-inflate the balloons! In fact, balloon professionals inflate the balloons always a little less than the maximum size of the balloon, e.g. an 11” balloon should be inflated to a maximum of around 9-10” and a 5” balloon to a maximum of about 4”. This is because balloons burst easily if they are inflated too much, eg if the room temperature changes. Some videos that I watched recommend cutting the strip before adding balloons. I disagree — don’t cut the strip! There’s no need to cut the strip until AFTER you’ve added balloons and the arch is the length that you want it to be.

I’m going to show you how to make a balloon garland with strip. There are other ways to make balloon garlands that involve fishing line and twisting two balloons together but using a strip will be easiest for beginners. 1. Blow up balloonsI’ll be honest – I was really intimidated at first to make a balloon garland so I spent way too much time watching a bunch of YouTube tutorials and researching methods. I summarized below what I learned to help save you time. I’ll show how to put together a simple balloon garland, answer some common questions, and share tips for beginners. One of the best YouTube tutorials that I watched recommended attaching only medium and large balloons to the decorating strip and attaching all of the 5″ balloons using glue dots. I can see how this would work well with indoor balloon arches, but for outdoor garlands, it is probably best to attach most (if not all) balloons securely to the decorating strip so that they don’t fly away. 3. Attach balloon garland to the wall

Be sure to leave about 6-8″ of open holes on the decorating strip so that you can use it to hang onto the wall. I wanted my ‘unicorn mane’ to flow down the wall and sit on the floor, so I only needed to leave space on one side. However, if you’re attaching both sides of the balloon arch then leave 6-8″ empty on both sides. For outdoor garlands: I recommend securely tieing the plastic decorating strip to screw eyes using fishing line. How many balloons do you need in a balloon garland?Balloons do not do well in sunlight or hot temperatures. They might change their colour slightly and/or burst. Confetti balloons especially get frosted (= less clear). Pearl and chrome balloons will turn matte. Blow up balloons and tie. Again, I totally recommend this inexpensive electric balloon pump. Here’s a great video that shows how to use the balloon tie tool to avoid sore fingers. 2. Attach balloons to the decorating strip You can make a balloon garland the day before and it will still look great. After a couple of days, some balloons may start to deflate, so I wouldn’t recommend making it too far in advance, but we had Elise’s unicorn balloon garland up for a week before taking it down and most balloons still looked fine. It depends on the quality of your balloons; the kit that I used included high-quality balloons. If you’re hanging the garland up outside, then you can make it the day before but wait to hang it until the day of the party. Can I recycle a balloon garland? Add some 5″ and 10″ balloons to fill in any gaps in the arch. Be sure to hide the tied ends on the inside of the garland. I put glue dots near the tied ends and then added glue dotsto the sides where needed to secure. Why oh why didn’t I buy an electric balloon pump, like 10 birthdays ago?!? An electric pump is so fast and easy! And personally, I really hate the taste of latex balloons (barf) and there’s no need for that with an electric balloon pump. Yes, you can still make a balloon garland using just a hand pump, or no pump at all, but you’ll be a lot happier if you use one of these electric babies.

For indoor garlands: Use Command Hooks. You can just slip the end of the plastic decorating strip onto the hooks. Read these tips first before you start making your balloon arch. You’ll save a lot of time and effort, and you’ll be happier with your results. 1. Vacuum your workspace before filling balloons We are excited to share our latest creation with you! We have been working on designing balloon garlands for parties and other special occasions, and we are pleased to say that they have been a great success. This is a great way to add some colour and cheer to a room and create an instant party atmosphere. We have been making balloon garlands for a wide range of celebrations and events, including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and more. Tip from a professional balloon decorator: Once you inflate a balloon, gently squeeze it between your hands, with the top and knot against your palms. This way the balloons will take the shape of a ball, rather than the typical balloon shape.

Common questions about DIY balloon garlands:

See also: ‘Easy Mermaid Birthday Cake’» How to make a balloon garland – the easy way for beginners!

I realized after filling a couple of balloons with my electric balloon pump that we were making them pear-shaped instead of round. You definitely want round balloons, so if you overfill balloons into pears then just let out a little bit of air before tying. We ended up hiding these pear-shaped balloons deep inside the arch. Here’s the pastel balloon garland kit that used for Elise’s unicorn balloon arch. The balloon arch kit included 100 good-quality balloons (only 1 popped while filling) in five pastel colors: pink, blue, purple, yellow, mint green. Each color had 10 (ten) 5-inch balloons, 8 (eight) 10-inch balloons, and 2 (two) 18-inch balloons. I had a handful of balloons leftover to decorate other areas of the room. Pull the knot of the balloon completely through the decorating strip. Be sure that you’ve pulled the entire knot through the hole rather than just the loose end. It depends on the size of the arch. Shoot for 100 balloons in three sizes for contrast (18″, 10″ and 5″ balloon sizes) to make a 16-foot-long arch, and if you have some balloons left over then you can use them for future parties. How many days in advance can you make a balloon garland?Etsy has a lot of super cute balloon garland kits with custom colors and unique balloons such as confetti and metallic.