I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here but I’m having a baby soon (ah!) and we collaborated with Balloon Time to come up with an Epic Rainbow Baby Shower. My team put together the most beautiful shower with lots of inspiration and DIY’s! We even made a video!
The star of the party (besides my giant belly!) was this Rainbow Balloon Wall (click through for full DIY). It was simple enough to put together. We just started out with about 50 balloons and taped each one in place on the floor. I love decor like this that isn’t too complicated but makes a huge impact. You can use it for decor or as a photobooth backdrop.
The Balloon Centerpiece was a labor of love (see the instructions here!) Alison spent all morning making this thing! It was a mixture of different balloons and festooning from the party shop. She also added some frilly balloons to give it a little height. It was so beautiful.
This Balloon Game was inspired buy those classic carnival balloon dart games (without the flying darts!) Each balloon had a prize or fortune or little toy and some had confetti! I only like to play games at showers where you win prizes!
Balloon Game DIY
Supplies: Large Foam Core Board, 35 11” balloons (in 7 rainbow colors), balloon pump, x-acto knife, ruler, pencil, tape, pin
Step 1: Use a pencil and ruler to measure and mark 7 equidistant holes horizontally across the foam core and 5 holes vertically down the foam core. Use these markings as a base to continue creating a grid of equidistant dots on the board.
Step 2: Wherever there is a mark, cut a small triangle hole with an x-acto knife.
Step 3: Fill your balloons with prizes (confetti, candy, small treats, poems, fun facts about a new mom, etc.)
Step 4: Blow up all your balloons half way (or until they are a perfect round sphere.) Tie the balloon tight so it remains a sphere (it will have a long tail.)
Step 5: Pull the tails through the small holes in the foam core until the knot pops all the way through.
Step 6: Attach with tape on the back side.
Step 7: Give everyone a chance to try and pop the balloons with the pin. Share the prizes inside with everyone!
Balloon Centerpiece
Supplies: Chicken wire, wire cutters, gloves, balloon pump, 11” and 5” rainbow balloons, hot glue gun, 5” honeycomb balls, festooning, tissue paper, x-acto knife, tape, ribbon, Balloon Time Helium Tank
Step 1: Measure out the length of your table and cut a piece of chicken wire that fits down the middle of the table (be careful to use gloves so you don’t cut your fingers!)
Step 2: Bend the chicken wire into a wave-like pattern, with varying heights, down the center.
Step 3: Fold the sharp edges of the chicken wire under, so they don’t poke out.
Step 4: Blow up a ton of 11” balloons and 5” balloons (in all different sizes and rainbow colors). Starting with the larger, 11” balloons, begin attaching them to the chicken wire in an ombre rainbow pattern. We tied them to the chicken wire to make them more sturdy.
Step 5: Fill in the gaps with smaller, 5” balloons. Once the chicken wire is covered, you can hot glue additional balloons on top to fill in any gaps. We also added in a few honeycomb balls into the mix.
Step 6: Weave colorful festooning or fringe in between the balloons to add in another layer of texture. (At this point, if you haven’t already, move the centerpiece on top of the table.)
Step 7: Use an x-acto knife to cut fringe from colorful tissue paper strips. Roll the strips up so they create small tassels, and secure with tape.
Step 8: Tie the tassels onto strands of ribbon and attach to an 11” balloon filled with helium. Make sure you don’t tie too many onto one strand or it will be too heavy and weigh the balloon down.
Step 9: Place about 6 balloons at varying heights down the center of the table.
Balloon Backdrop
Supplies: Balloon Time Helium Tank, 50+ balloons in rainbow colors, string (we used rainbow colored embroidery thread so the string matched the balloons), tape
Step 1: Blow up all your balloons using your Balloon Time Helium Tank and tie with string.
Step 2: Sort your balloons into rainbow colors, and begin taping the back layer of balloons down in a wave pattern. We started by taping a yellow balloon in the center, a pink balloon on the right side and purple balloon on the left side, then filling in the remainder of balloons in between. (We had approximately 17 balloons per tier.)
Step 3: Once you’re happy with the wave pattern, begin on the second tier, following the same pattern.
Step 4: Finish with a third tier.
Step 5: Use as a Photo Booth backdrop!
This post is sponsored by Balloon Time.
Video by Ralph Blair
Photos by Paul Ferney
Art Direction by Amy Moss
Crafting by Alison Piepmeyer