Decorating for a party (1)

Decorations have always been an important aspect of any party – party ornaments allude a cheery ambience and add a celebratory vibrancy to the entire room. Let’s explore some fabulous birthday party decorations ideas.

Balloons Lollipops (By Amanda Kingloff and Taryn Mohrman from Parents Magazine)

photo by Francis Janisch
photo by Francis Janisch

These ‘lollipops ’ do downright look cheery – definitely a big hit with the kids.

Materials required:

  • Latex balloons
  • Plastic wraps (from bookstores)
  • Wrapping paper / aluminium foil tubes
  • Clear sticky tape

Detailed step-by-step can be found here.

The “most challenging” material on the list is the wrapping paper / aluminium foil tube. You may have to start asking friends to ‘keep’ those tubes for you. As the tubes may come in beige (as with most of the aluminium foil tubes), you may want to consider painting the tubes white.

Alternatively, craft shops like Artfriend or Spotlight may sell these tubes.

Of course, using the standard balloon holders is also a possibility – no doubt the holder is much thinner and flexible than a wrapping paper tube, we have utmost faith that you, can be creative enough to work your way around the ‘problem’.

Wall Candies (By Amanda Kingloff and Taryn Mohrman from Parents Magazine)

photo by Francis Janisch
photo by Francis Janisch

From the same authors as Balloon lollipop, these wall candies are as sweet as they sound. Fact is, they may even bring back quite some nostalgic memories for some of us adults.

Materials required:

  • Coloured plastic plates
  • Plastic wraps (from bookstores)
  • Clear sticky tape / ribbons

Detailed step-by-step can be found here.

If you want to give it a little 3D twist, then replace the coloured plastic plates with balloons.

See how well it was done here by Celebrate the Big and Small.

PARTY TIME: MADDIE-LICIOUS
PARTY TIME: MADDIE-LICIOUS

Swirly lollipop balloons (by Michael Langerman)

Materials required:

 

Balloons Sculpturing

Honestly, we all have mixed feelings towards balloons. No matter what a person’s age, a grandparent or a new young member of the family, balloons have an undeniable impact on us – they either add a smile on our faces, startle us when they burst (be it expectedly or unexpectedly), make us cringe when we have to tie a knot on those we feel are especially overly large, or tickle a laugh out of us when we, oopsie, accidentally let go of them when attempting to tie the knots (again) and they zoom recklessly all over the room .

Balloons, whatever the size or shape, always have a very uplifting effect on the entire party atmosphere. It is hard to believe it is only air inside these candy coloured latex that is adding the “wowez” to your little Precious One’s birthday celebration. If you are keen to include these age-old toys* at your child’s party and you are not too keen to have the floaty ones, why not consider adding these balloon sculptures onto the scene?

Better still, if your children are of school-going age, and can follow instructions pretty well, then consider having a balloon twisting session during the party. The running about by the children will definitely reduce but not guarantee the noise level. Might even increase…well, the signs of an enjoyable party in progress. If this is the case, it is best you start learning how to go about it before you have to teach the steps in front of kids filled with excitement.

Here, we have a couple of recommended website for you.

If you prefer to learn from photographs and you are not keen to keep pausing watching any video clips, check out

Both these websites offers a variety of balloon sculptures, ranging from animals to headgear to swords. You can easily print them out and make sneak reference to them while “teaching”.

If you are a “you do, I do” type of learner, videos are definitely the way to go. Check out the the steps by the Balloon Man, Dr Fudge.

We have included a sample video for you – Balloon Flowers. So what are you waiting for..whip out those long balloons or buy some here before you click play.

Either way, please enjoy and have fun.

* Did you know that balloons are invented by Michael Faraday in 1824, during experiments with various gases (source: Wikipedia)