This week on BMTV we welcome back the very creative Chris Horne from Amscan as he shows us how to make this incredible organic foil decoration. This came about because of the organic trend we are seeing with latex balloons but Chris focuses primarily on foil balloons and didn’t want to miss out. We are genuinely very excited to show you the techniques involved in this design as it’s something we’ve never ever seen before!

So the principle technique in this design is heat sealing or ironing and Chris refers to it. This is because he uses a craft iron to seal the foil balloons together in interesting and unique ways to create a lot of interesting textures and shapes. You can do this with a normal travel iron if you like, just as long as you’re aware that you won’t be able to use the iron to iron shirts ever again as the ink comes off the balloons and sticks to the iron. Chris would recommend you get a craft iron as these cost around £20 and will give you more control over your designs. You will also need to use something to protect your work surface from the heat of the iron, Chris uses a Teflon coated matt that to he got off the internet. Chris then sets the craft iron to 180 degrees and gets started!

Holly leaf

This is the simplest seal you could do and is something that you can make and will be familiar to many people as something you can do with a bar sealer. All you do with this one is simply fold a star foil in half and make a small seal across the fold. Start a little way from the neck and press down with the iron. Be careful not to iron like you would with a shirt as the balloon will just crumple up, you will be better of pressing, lifting and pressing. But that’s all you need to do, inflate and seal the neck if your balloon doesn’t have a valve.

If your balloon does have a valve however then you need to be aware of where the valve is in the balloon. If you heat seal across the valve then you will shut it permanently and your balloon won’t inflate at all! You can feel the valve in the balloon and heat seal around it or move the valve out of the way. To do this, use a balloon straw and insert it into the valve, you can then manoeuvre the valve out of the way and return it once your seals are made.

Frilly edge leaf

Next thing Chris is going to make is a similar design to start with but with a round balloon. He moves the seal out of the way and then folds the balloon in half. He heat-seals down the middle in a similar technique to before. Then he puts the valve back into the middle of the balloon and takes the stick out. With the balloon still folded in half, Chris then seals around the edges of the balloon which will create a sort of frilly edge to the balloon when inflated. Chris starts in the middle with quite a fat seal and then narrows down to a point in the top and bottom of the balloon. Once you’ve pressed down all the seals, you can now iron the seals again to make sure you’ve got a nice straight seal to the sides of the balloon. Where the balloon was folded in half, the ink has come off the balloon on one side. Chris likes that as it gives the balloon a different texture. If you don’t like it, then lay a cloth over the balloon to begin with and it will just protect the surface of the balloon.

Vein Leaf

Chris going to use a curve balloon for this design. As this balloon is not straight you will struggle to use the craft iron on this. What Chris uses instead is a soldering iron with a thermostat as he can use it like a pen! You don’t need to move the valve out of the way with this one as the valve is off to one side in the curve balloons already. All you do with this one is literally draw your seal like you would with a pen. The really important tip with this is that the end of the seal is quite a weak point. It may tear apart when you inflate so it’s a good idea to seal a blob at the end of your existing seal.

Seed pod

The next technique is to use an Orbz balloon to create a seed pod design. Chris uses the same method that he used when creating the frilly leaf here, he uses the craft iron to seal the edges of the Orbz balloon. Press the iron down, starting wider in the middle and narrowing to a point at the bottom of the balloon. With the Orbz though you may need to iron on both sides of the balloon as they are made of 4 layers of material. The width of the seal will determine the finish look of the design, if you want a thinner frilly edge then do a narrower seal! Chris has also done an experiment with this design, using the soldering iron on the edges to give the design a smother frilly edge.

Not quite sure but interesting

Chris hasn’t quite decided what this design looks like yet but it definitely looks interesting. This design is created using an 18 inch round foil balloon and the soldering iron. You start in the centre and draw 16 lines, equidistant apart around the foil. Create a blob at the end of each seal for security and inflate!

And that’s it

There’s lots there to get stuck in with but this is only the tip of the iceberg. If this is a technique that interests you then you just need to get practicing and experimenting. We’re sure you’ll come up with some great designs so send us some pictures through if you get the chance to try this out. Chris is quick to point out that once you’ve got the technique down, the actual costs of the materials is very small but you can create some fantastically unique and personal designs that no one else is going to come up with.

So, get creating!

Rob

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