As promised, here are instructions for the Balloon Banner we made for June’s 1st birthday celebration. I hope you find the perfect excuse to make one too!
HOW TO MAKE YOUR VERY OWN BALLOON BANNER
1) Start by grouping balloons in to groups of 4. We used rainbow colors, but using all the same color, or lots of different shades of blue would be neat too.
2) Blow up each set of 4 balloons and tie the ends. (I’m awful at tying balloons! But Maude is really good, so she was a big help.) No need for helium, your own lungs should do the trick. Do your best to get the balloons fairly equal in size.
3) Thread some good twine (I used a waxed kitchen twine) on a big needle — upholstery size is perfect. Technically, a small needle would work too, you just need the eye to be big enough to pass the twine through.
4) Pass the needle through the tail of all 4 balloons in your set. Be careful — needles are known for popping balloons. : )
5) Slide the balloons to the end of the string and trim off threaded needle and remaining length (you’ll use them to thread the next set of balloons). Leave a 2 or 3 inch tail on either side of the 4 threaded balloons.
6) Cinch the four balloons together and use a square knot (right over left, left over right) to keep them nice and tight.
7) Do the same thing for all your sets of 4. For our banner, we made 18 sets of 4. Three sets of 6 colors.
8) When you have all your sets made, thread the needle again, but don’t trim the thread from the spool.
9) Pass the needle through the center of a balloon set. Use the point to go through at least of couple of the balloon ends so that the set is secure on the twine.
10) Use the needle to add another balloon set, push each set along the twine at intervals of 5 or 6 inches. If you’re going for the same rainbow look we used, you’ll thread all the red sets first, then all the orange sets, then all the yellow sets, etc.
11) Keep adding sets with the needle and sliding them along the twine till you’ve completed your banner. Leave a long tail of twine on either side of the balloons so that you can tie the banner to a wall or arch or window. Then cut the twine from the spool.
The balloon banner is so light that it’s easy to hang. We used push pins in the wall and then wrapped the twine around the push pins.
That’s it! Your DIY balloon banner is done! Now you can find the perfect place to hang your banner. Yay!
P.S. Here are some behind the scenes photos from the day we made June’s banner:
My inspiration for this balloon banner project was something I saw in Amsterdam. We arrived in the city the day after Queen’s Day and lots of festive decorations were still up. The orange crepe paper fringe is so cute! It would make a fun replacement for the ribbons we used on our banner.
Thanks for the instructions! We’ll be making this for my son’s first birthday party this weekend!
My 7 year old came up behind me as I was reading this and said, “How do you make THAT!!” So, thanks for the tutorial -we will definitely need to put one together soon!
This is fantastic! I’ve been obsessed with banners lately — I just made some tiny bunting as a cake topper for a graduation party last weekend (http://goo.gl/tPTBm), but I think this supersized balloon version would be perfect for my nephew’s birthday next week. Thanks for the how-to!
Yay! Thanks so much for the instructions. My daughter turns ONE on Wednesday and this will be perfect to celebrate her!!!
I always wondered how these were made. They look awesome!! Thank you so much for the tutorial!
LOVE IT! She’s adorable and the balloons are so fun.
Thanks. : )
I am going to make it for a 1 year old photo shoot on Wednesday. How far in advance do you think I could make it and it would last? If I make it tomorrow night do you think it will still be good by Wednesday afternoon?
I think I might need to make this, just cause. It’s that awesome.
Awesome! I love it!
Love it, love it! :D Thanks for sharing. I just might make one or more of those, LOL. Now I know how to actually make them nicely.
Adorable girl you’ve got there! :)
My son’s 2nd birthday party is next weekend and I have been looking for something like this…I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks!
I will be co-chair of the 5th grade moving up ceremony next year at my childrens elementary school. I’m copying the directions and putting them in our folder for next year!! Decorations are always the hardest ideas to come up with!!!
How great! I just pinned it onto my Pinterest Board! http://pinterest.com/phsiu/pins/
Love the rainbow. On a different note a friend of mines kids made a balloon rainbow for her when she returned from the hospital. and then saved the broken baloons and put them by color in a arched shaped glass to save .
so cool! my little man will be having his birthday this month; i’d love to try my hand at it…
I was so happy to see this post, b/c it was just what I was looking for for my daughter’s first birthday party decor (except better!). I followed this guide pretty close except, I made the balloons in sets of 3s instead of 4s, and it was still lovely. But as a note to all of “y’all” who live in the South of the U.S. like me– balloons and 85 degree weather do not mix. I tried hanging my banner up prior to her 5:00 party (at 3 p.m., which is the hottest part of the day in these parts), just to check one more thing off my to do list, and very quickly the balloons started popping. (Kind of a dunce move on my part.) So I moved the banner inside until 5 and it was fine. But if you’re expecting really warm weather this might work best indoors.
Oh wow! Just love this balloon banner – I was at a birthday party last week where another clever mama had done this – it really made such a difference to the decor. I’ll definitely give this a try.
Plan to make it this weekend for my son’s 5th birthday. I’m going to do red, white and blue for 4th of July! Thanks for the info!
I worked at a a party store, it may be simpler to tie the ends of two balloons together (make two sets). When you have both, set them up to look like an X like in the picture of the 4 yellow balloons being tied together with string. Laying one set over the other (by the tied together ends), spin two balloons (from different sets) over one another to attach them together, and then do the same to the other balloons. This will hold them together, especially if the balloons are blow up big enough they will push together and hold each other.
Thank you so much for this beautiful tutorial. Can’t wait to make this for my daughter’s party.
Thanks for the great idea! We made one just like it for our daughters rainbow birthday party.
I mentioned you and thanked you for your idea on my blog.
http://richterworld.blogspot.com/2011/08/birthday-party-details.html
Katlyn
Where did you find the balloons? Did you have to do purchase each color individually? I want to make this for my little one’s 1st next month. Thanks for the how-to. And so glad I read the comments and saw not to make the day before! :)
What a beautiful idea! Can you please let me know the approximate length of the banner when it was hanging? Thanks so much for sharing this! :)
Love it! Thanks for the step by step guide! Found you thru Pinterest! My daughter will be having a balloon banner soon!
I love this idea!! I can’t wait to try it for my sister-in-laws babyshower I’m throwing! I think this looks better than the original bunting idea I was going to do. Thank you so much for sharing and keep a look out on my blog to be recognized once I complete it! Thank you!
This is the cutest idea for a rainbow birthday party. My daughter had her 6th Birthday party and we made this balloon garland….it was AWESOME!!! I bought the balloons at Wal Mart (the jumbo mixed pack was the cheapest I could find) We used the air compressor to fill the balloons and linked each group of 4 balloons together with a paper clip…then used twine to put them all in a line….it turned out picture perfect. Thank you for the wonderful idea!!!
I made this last night for my sister’s surprise party. It looked amazing and your instructions were perfect. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
Thanks for this idea!! I think I’ll use it for my twins’ first birthday this week!!
This is awesome!!!!!! I’m from New Zealand and it’s random how I came across this site. I’m taking care of the decorations for my cousins 21st and I have no idea how to present a great looking balloon banner like yours!!!!!!! You have an amazing talent and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing your talent with the world :)
http://barbarasbeat.blogspot.com/2012/01/momtreprenuer-crafter-of-day-design.html
We used to make these for sorority events in college. You can also use paperclips (three or four ballons per clip and then reform around fishing line).
just curious how long it is….
Thanks for this tutorial! I used it to make one for my son’s birthday, which you can see here: http://crafting-crazy.com/2012/03/28/jacks-party-decorations/
It was a big hit! Thanks again!
That turned out awesome! I wanted to let you know that I featured you in my Rainbow Ideas round up at: http://printabelle.com/?p=2268 If you would like a featured button, I have one here on my About page: http://printabelle.com/?page_id=724
Just found your lovely rainbow banner on Pinterest! I also live in France (pinch) and will be using this idea for my daughter’s fourth birthday this weekend! Merci beaucoup.
I make these all the time, you don’t need to use a needle, it’s easier to blow 2 balloons up and tie them together, blow up another 2 balloons and tie together and then just twist them round each other to make a group of four. Keep repeating this them place them all on top of each other and wrap a cord or clear fishing line round each of the balloons going up an under to secure them all together.The balloons sit much tighter together if tied to each other and there are no big gaps in the middle. To be honest I used to do them your way until I went on a training course and learnt the secrets…
I’ve done this for years and always get a huge response when I make them. I’ve always done the rainbow theme with mine as well because I’m a sucker for Roy G Biv. I’ve always just strung them on all together and then made sure they were all together and it looks exactly the same as yours. But it only takes me about 5 minutes to string all the balloons on the needle. I like the idea of twine and a bigger needle. I’ve always used fishing line and while it works, sometimes we have a hard time attaching the fishing line to things.
Thanks for sharing your instructions- I made one for my daughter’s birthday as directed and it turned out really pretty and fun! Much less time consuming that I thought it would be too, thanks!
Thank you for sharing this! I definitely want to try this for my daughters birthday next month!
Great tutorial! Skip all the pointed tools and just tie your balloon neck onto the line the first time. . .one knot and you are done. . .they will slide together easier on fish line. The banner will last a week if it is inside. . out of direct sunlight. Keep up the great ideas! Beautiful pictures too!
Doing a rainbow birthday party for my 3 year old tomorrow and just made the balloon rainbow with my cousin for the party. It was really fun!
Looking forward to seeing it hanging up tomorrow
a fast way to get the balloons together instead of threading them is tie two ends together and then with 2 lots of 2 just twist them together at the base and it will hold :)
now thats what you call awesome ! im definetly doing that for my nephews 2nd b-day tommorow he especially loves rainbows
Just made this for my daughter’s first birthday and it looked amazing!!! And pretty simple to do. Thanks so much for the idea :)
There is a much easier way to make this. That would have taken forever. Try tying two balloons together then the second two the same. Twist the sets together to make a cluster of 4. after tying the string to 2 chairs across from each other simply twist the cluster of 4 to the string. The needle is not needed at all.
I am in LOVE with your balloon banner! How cute!! I am doing a Birthday Party Round-up on my blog today and have included this in the list! Feel free to check it out!
http://twoyellowbirdsdecor.blogspot.com/2012/12/birthday-party-roud-up.html
Jill
Wow, this is a great way to do this, but not the easiest. IF you can tie balloons easily, here’s the way professionals do this.
Balloons are tied together in twos. Cross two pairs together and twist a couple of times- there’s your cluster of four. Twist this a couple of times around a string or fish line – push gently up against the next cluster- keep adding and this will create your arch/ banner! ( Slide carefully along your string/fish line or it could cut your balloon.
If you’re using helium do this the same day. Regular air filled balloons can be done days ahead and hung. Want to make balloons on poles/PVC pipes? Tie four balloons to a rubber band- thread then tightly on the pole.
Good luck and have fun!
Just saw Allison’s and haylee’s post! : ) the key here is being able to tie the balloons together and not your fingers, lol.
How far in advance do you think I could do this?
Can you tell me how long this banner was? Really would love to do it for my son party but need to know if I need to make it longer to fit the space I wanna put it in. Thanks.