The Cartoon Alphabet 0 comments

The rainy season has come with a vengeance. I was on the way home, stuck in our car which was virtually motionless in a sea of flashing headlights and honking horns. We had left the party 10:00 pm, comfortable that we had more than enough time to head back home to catch some much needed rest.

It was already midnight. And I felt like peeing.

So my sister and I started this game to take my mind off home and our lovely convenience room. For lack of a better name, let's call it the Cartoon Alphabet. You (or your opponent) start with the first letter of the alphabet, and think of a name of a cartoon character that starts with that letter. Once you've done so, your opponent takes his/her turn thinking of another name that starts with the next letter in the alphabet, and so on. The person who fails to think of a name gets a penalty. I know this game may sound corny, but believe me, it becomes fun with the challenging letters (Z?? X??), and the more creative you get with the names.

Our own game went like this:

A - Astroboy
B - Barney
C - Casper
D - Dora
E - Eeyore
F - Fiona (from Shrek)
G - George Jetson
H - Homer Simpson
I - Igor
J - Jem (and the Holograms!)
K - Kim (Possible!)
L - Leonardo (from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
M - Mandark (from Dexter's Lab)
N - Nemo
O - Optimus Prime (yea!!)
P - Patrick the Starfish
Q - Quasimodo
R - Road Runner
S - Superman (too easy)
T - Tom (and Jerry)
U - Ursula (great thinking!!)
V - Voltes V
W - Winnie the Pooh
X - X-men (Ok this is not a cartoon character but a cartoon series. I cheated...)
Y - Yogi Bear
Z - Zelda

Hope you enjoy this game!

BW
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How to estimate the number of balloons needed for balloon garlands 0 comments

Let's say you're one of those DIY overly enthusiastic mommies planning your son or daughter's birthday bash, and for some reason you're in charge of purchasing latex balloons for the decoration. Let's also say that one of the decorations you're planning to make is the balloon garland. Here comes a key questions - how would you know how many balloons you need to buy for that garland?

Never ever underestimate the usefulness of this information, as there have been many times during a decoration process where I though I had enough balloons on hand, only to find out that I needed to buy more!! This can be extra frustrating when the party will be starting in a matter of hours and you just can't find anyone who sell on such a short notice!

Balloon Garlands

First, let's begin with the basics. What is a baloon garland anyway??

garlands wrapped around columns

Garlands are collections of tightly packed balloon clusters. Balloon clusters are simply a number of balloons (usually 4-6) twisted together. Garlands can be used for arches, swags, columns. The picture above shows two-tone garlands wrapped around columns.

Number of Balloons Needed for 1 Meter of Garland

So there you have it. If for example you are planning to make a 10-meter balloon garland, simply multiply the number of balloons on the right column by 10.

Also remember that these numbers, although very useful, are only reliable estimates. The actual number of balloons you will use may vary depending on the way and the extent to which you inflate your balloons. But it's better than going to war blind, right?

Til next,

BW
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How to make the most out of your star foil mylar balloons 0 comments

Your usual star foil mylar balloons can be used in so many different ways. Putting them on a stick and placing curling ribbons does not maximize the potential of your balloon to "wow" your guests.

So I'm going to throw off some ideas which you can try for your next party, or maybe you yourself can put up your small business in creating these pieces and selling them at a affordable prices.


Centerpiece

Combine your star foil and 5" round latex balloons and thick bow ribbons to create a playful centerpiece. These centerpieces can be used for your Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Celestial/ Galactic, Music and Hollywood inspired themes. You can create any color combination that would suit your party theme. (Available colors in Party Magic are: silver, gold, red, green, fuchsia, and blue.) These can also be used as a base for helium-filled bouquets of balloons as shown below:

Balloon bouquet


The trick is simple: Make your balloons stand out. Create this bouquet using the centerpiece above as base to your helium balloons. Combine Happy Birthday mylar balloons with your star foil balloons and mix them up with all-over print latex balloons (Party Magic will soon have all-over print star latex balloons).

Balloon pillars

These pillars are almost effortless to make but sure looks more expensive than they really are. Simple chain columns (Party Magic will soon have chain balloons) topped off with your star balloon or any of your themed foil balloons sets the stage for your big birthday bash!




Ceiling decor

Star-o-Sphere


You will need 12 star balloons to create this Star-o-Sphere. Simply tape or use a low-temp glue gun to attach the ends of your star balloon with each other. Hang this at the center of the room, attach some foil danglers or foil strips at the bottom, or let your swags meet at the top of your sphere. Will post soon a more detailed discussion on how to pull this star-o-sphere soon.

Hopefully all these ideas have piqued the inner balloon decorator within you! Send me comments if you want to share other decorator ideas or have questions and requests.

Happy Ballooning,

BW
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The Rain, Life, and the Party Business 1 comments

For some reason I am not in my usual playful mood today. Maybe it's all the rain, maybe something else. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm getting old...and I'm letting time slip by me instead of making the most out of it...In any case I am once again sunk into my emo mood where I seem to be musing about various things about life.

My sister gave birth to her second child, a son, recently. Oh how the world of my family lit up. Suddenly rooms seem to be noisier, dinners more alive, smiles more easy to make.

My dad once said of this, "That's just how life is. People are born, grow up, get married, and have children. Then they get old, and their children grow up and have their own children, and so on. That was how it was with my parents and my parents' parents, and how it will be for me and you." How simple yet complex.

Maybe that is why the party business is so seductive. We deal with people who perhaps are at the happiest point of their lives - celebrating the new life they've created. We are in the business of balloons and happiness and babies. It's ironic though how I'm talking about happiness while being sad.

BW
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An EaSY Way to Cover Pillars with Balloons 0 comments

Here's an interesting way to cover pillars with balloons. It is a technique developed by E. Yoshikawa, a Brazilian Balloon Designer, and presented by the first time in USA in August 2008 at the Balloon Camp, Las Vegas:

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Have fun decorating!

BW

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Anyone Bored? Online Balloon Games to Unleash the Hidden Balloonist In You 0 comments

Guys, I'm usually the wake-up-early and productive type, but one thing that always kills my daily work routine is online games. Now after an hour or two of mindless mouse clicking and whooping (whoopie killed my first zombie!), I usually muster enough willpower to stop myself from ruining my night's sleep.

Recently though, I discovered a new type of online game that completely destroys my schedule: free online balloon games. In other words,

Free online games = waking up to dirty eyebags and an espresso
Free online games + Balloon theme = waking up to the sound of my boss's voice as he screams expletives over my ears

But how selfish of me to keep these games to myself. Let's share the joy shall we?

Soakamon
This one is the real culprit here. Your like in the wild wild west but instead of guns you're armed with water balloons. Eat my ballz (of urine) sucka!
Click here to play

Evil Balloon Siege
Try to hit monsters coming in and out of doors. Simple enough game but devilishly hard to hit those gremlins...
Click here to play

Bloons
Here you control a monkey shooting missiles out of his arms to hit a specified number of balloons. There's an element of puzzle here so be prepared to get your game on.
Click here to play

Barnyard Balloon
There is a balloon war raging in the farm. Control your farm animal and pop each other's balloons!
Click here to play

Anyone else knows other balloon games?

Happy playing!

BW
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Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a flying priest... 1 comments

Guys, with the movie Up just around the corner, I just remembered this one news story a year ago about a flying priest. Yes you heard me right. About a year ago, a Roman Catholic priest by the name of Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli used 1,000 helium balloons to fly (Folks, keep that in mind. It takes 1,000 helium-filled balloons to lift a single human person. Actually, I've heard it could be done with just 500 balloons). Up, up and away he went as seen in the picture on the left.

The Rev. was aiming to break a flying record in order to raise money for charity. He was equipped with GPS, a satellite phone, flotation equipment, a thermal suit, helmet, and parachute. Sadly though, people lost contact with him when he was blown off course. Later on his colorful balloons were found at sea, but no sign of the daredevil priest. You can check the actual news article in the link below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7360416.stm

Just yesterday, I grew curious and decided to do a search on what happened with the father. Sadly though, I learned that a body was found months later and was confirmed to be his via DNA testing. The link below is the article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/29/world/main4305742.shtml


Farewell Father...may you rest in peace in His arms.

So what's the moral lesson of the story? Kids, when you watch Up, don't try it at home!

BW


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