Sunday 23 June 2013

Balloon Decoration Course

Would you like to learn how to create your own balloon decorations?

If so then check out this great e-book called Balloon Decor Secrets. Once you know how you will be able to save yourself a lot of money by doing it yourself - and will be in great demand from friends and family too!

At just $12.95 (that's about £8.40 - check current rate here) it's a real steal!

The e-book shows you how to make all the following beautiful balloon decorations in easy step by step instructions. Balloon decorations like:

  • Arches
  • Pillars
  • Clouds
  • Numbers and Letters
  • Canopies
  • Centrepieces
  • Hearts
  • Swags
  • Garlands
  • Trees
  • Clusters & Bouquets
  • Double Bubbles (balloon inside a balloon)
  • Balloon Stuffing
  • Special Effects
It's hard to believe that you get so much information for such a small price so if you ever thought about learning how to create gorgeous balloon decorations for yourself then go read all about it here.



Thursday 6 June 2013

How much helium to fill a 3ft balloon - and help with tying & inflating


A 3ft balloon uses quite a lot of helium to fully inflate it however you don't always need to fill them to bursting. Another consideration is that if you are filling them in a room where they aren't going to be displayed then you have to consider the widths of the doors between where you are and where you need to get to! I learnt my lesson the hard way when decorating in the Sheene Mill in Melbourn which is an old 17th century mill. Having inflated the balloons in the conservatory I went to take it through to the function room on the other side of the building and came across a really narrow door which couldn't have been more than 27" inches wide. Luckily there were french doors in the restaurant and the bride hadn't arrived yet so I was able to transport them around the outside of building.

Having said that I usually only ever inflated to about 30" anyway unless particularly requested otherwise because of the amount of helium used inflating just those few extra inches and if inflated to 30" they will still float for 3-4 days where as inflating to 34" will probably give you an extra day, 3-5 days.

A 3ft balloon inflated to 30" will use 8cu ft of helium (.2266cu m)
A 3ft balloon inflated to 34" will use 15cu ft of helium (.4249cu m)

A large disposable helium tank holds .42cu metres so there is only enough helium to fill one 3ft balloon if inflating to 34" but inflate to about 29" and you will get 2 from it.

If you are looking to inflate more that 1 or 2 then you need to be thinking about renting a tank from someone like Airproducts. You will get about 7 (30") or 4 (34") from a 10litre tank and 15 (30") or 8 (34") from a 20litre tank.


3ft balloons are quite tough to tie by hand. It can be done but you need strong fingers, Hold the inflated balloon in your left hand (if right handed) then pull down on the neck and wrap it half way round the back catching hold of the lip between my 3rd & 4th finger of your left hand. Let go with you right hand and then bring your hand to the front and grab hold of the neck and place it between your thumb and forefinger you can then pull the neck over the lip to tie a knot. To make it easier you can tie a small piece of ribbon to the neck first then you can use the ribbon as leverage to help you pull the lip through.
In the video below the guy is using a balloon seal with ribbon to secure the balloon. A balloon seal folds over the neck and then nips it to stop the helium escaping - not quite as secure as tying a knot but works well.

See how he also uses the cabinets as a measure of the size of the balloon - just measure the space from the nozzle to the cabinet and when the balloon touches the cabinet it is to your desired size. However don't forget to inflate where the handles won't affect your measurements or take them into consideration when measuring if they are unavoidable.

The guy uses a 260Q (modelling balloon) to secure the balloon to the nozzle. Personally I have never found this necessary I have always held them on with my hand but if you want the extra security and don't have a 260Q you could use ribbon, string or a cable tie.

If you do use the balloon seal then make sure you put it on before inflating so that you don't have to fiddle about trying to get it over the neck once filled with helium.


Hope this helps but if you have any question please ask!

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Prom King & Queen Sashes

It's Prom time again and school leavers all over the country will be attending their leaver's proms in their prom clothes & chosen mode of transport - flashy cars, floats and whatever their imaginations can dream up. Don't forget Best Balloon can provide you with ribbons and bows to decorate your vehicles and of course you can have the ribbon personalised with your names & anything else you would like printed.
It has become tradition for most schools to have a Prom King & Queen and we can provide you with sashes for the lucky couple to wear. You can either chose a standard sash that just says "Prom King" or personalised ones that can have the year and/or the name of the school printed on them and you can even have them decorated with little gems tro make them sparkle in the light.

To check out both the ribbons and bows and our sashes just visit the School Prom section of our website.




Sunday 2 June 2013

Personalised Wedding Ribbons & Bows

Handmade wedding bow with peronalised ribbon & tailsI love this time of year when all the orders start rolling in for wedding car bows especially the handmade bows and those with personalised ribbons.

I just thought I would elaborate a bit more on my earlier wedding car bows post and give you a complete breakdown of our full range of wedding car bows which are available with or without personalised ribbon.

The bows all come in complete sets with 6 metres of matching ribbon for the "v" which goes down and back up the bonnet. You can chose between sets of 3 or 5 bows and pick from our wide range of colours - although this year white is by far the most popular colour usually it's a close fought fight between white and ivory but this year white is winning hands down.

Pullbows

The entry level is the pullbows which are basically factory made flat packed bows which you can quickly pull up into pretty little one colour bows. Just tie a knot in the ribbon to secure the bow in place and then tie to the car. The bows are about 4" (10 cm) across when made up.

We then offer a fantastic range of handmade bows that are made to order in your choice of colour and will arrive in a box all ready made up so all you have to do is remove from the box and tie in place (after you've adnired it of course)

Handmade Bows with Pullbows

New for this year be have brought in a single handmade bow for the front of the car with additional pullbows for the mirrors or doors. In this budget crushing climate we are living in at the moment this has proved to be a very popular choice and many brides are using the money saved on the 2 extra handmade bows to splash out on some personalised ribbon on the "v" and sometimes on the bow tails too to make it extra special.

Handmade Bows

Next we offer a range of sets of handmade bows - you can chose from having them all 8" (20cm) across or having a larger bow at the front on the bonnet with slightly smaller omes on the wing mirrors. Our 10" (25cm) bow at the front with 2 x 8" bows is still a very popular choice. Then our top of the range is a 12" (30cm) bow at the front with 2 x 10" bows for the mirrors. You can also order 2 extra 8" or 10" bows at a discounted price if you want to have a total of 5 bows.

All of our handmade bows can be made in up to 3 colours however a single colour is the most popular for weddings although some brides chose a white or ivory set of bows for the main car and bows to match the bridesmaids dresses for the bridesmaids if they are having a separate car. If you do chose to have more than one colour in your bow then the 6 metres of ribbon for the bonnet will be sent in your 1st colour choice so if you want a pink & white bow with white ribbon then you need to put white as your first choice and pink as your 2nd colour choice.

Personalised Ribbon

Personalised wedding car ribbonAll of our options are available with printed ribbon as an optional extra with most brides chosing to have their name, the date of their wedding & a decoration - with the linked hearts still very much the most popular choice. You can chose your font type and also the colour of the ink. However if you chose a dark colour ribbon such as purple it is much better to chose an ink colour like white, silver or even gold. Black won't show up that well and something like red won't reproduce very well.

If we think there is a problem with your choices we will always contact you first before printing so make sure you give us contact details that you will monitor. Alternatively you can always place your order over the phone on 01462 485251.