Mother’s Day is fast becoming one of the biggest events in the calendar for the balloon industry. It’s becoming even bigger than the staple of Valentine’s Day! To honour this trend, Mark Drury from Qualatex has joined us this week to show us how to make to effective Mother’s Day decorations.

Standing design

The first design we are going to create is a standing design with a butterfly theme. To start with, Mark creates a cluster of 11-inch balloons using a butterfly print and then attaches a sand weight into the design by wrapping the neck around the cluster. If you don’t know how to make clusters or sand weights, then check out our balloon basics series where we show you how! Mark then adds a smaller cluster on top (created 5-inch wild berry balloons) and ties the cluster into the weight using the same method.

Next, on top we add a clear 24” deco bubble balloon that has an 18-inch Mother’s Day balloon inside. This has been air filled to save on helium costs! To get the 18-inch foil inside, you need to roll the foil balloon down into a long tube and carefully insert it into the neck of the deco. Inflate the inside foil first and then the outer bubble second. You will notice that the inside foil appears to have shrunk. This isn’t a problem; the pressure of the outside bubble has compressed the helium in the foil. You need to top the foil up with a bit of helium. To tie the balloons, twist the necks together and wrap a 260Q around the necks and stretch out and tie.

Now you’ve got your double bubble, wrap it into the cluster at the bottom using the 260Q and attach another 260Q to the top of the balloon using stretchy balloon tape. Tie the 260Q to secure it. Tie another double bubble into to the top of the first one. Leave a little bit of stretch between the two balloons and add another 5-inch cluster and twist the balloons around. Repeat the process once more so you have three of these bubbles connected with a cluster at the top. Next, just finish off the design by adding a helium filled topper such as this luminous butterfly to the top cluster.

Hot air design

This is a design Mark created for shop windows weeks before the date of the event. So, for instance, this design would stay inflated for the run up to Mother’s Day as an advertisement for Mother’s Day!

For this design, you need an air-filled bubble, a teddy, balloon sticks and a basket. Using stretchy tape, stick the bubble to the sticks and attach the sticks to the basket, either using cable ties or the weave of the basket itself. Add your teddy to the basket and that is basically it! This design is great for decorating with anything you have-to-hand. Mark ties in a few bows using nylon line and adds a 4-inch heart balloon to the balloon stick.

All that remains this week is to ask the Question of the Week: What is your favourite Mother’s Day window design?

Rob

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