How to Create a Balloon Wall for Your Next Celebration

Elevate your celebration's décor with this colorful installation.

festive balloon wall for party
Photo: Simply Adri

This idea comes from our friend Rachel Huntington of Bonjour Fete, based in Los Angeles. Before assembly, determine how many balloons you will need for the backdrop. As a general rule, Huntington uses about two to three balloons per foot of wall space. The below step-by-step instructions to building the garland, which will be used to create each "layer" of the wall. For a more eco-friendly alternative, seek out biodegradable balloons like Qualatex or paper balloons from Hiromi Paper, Paper Tree, and Stylishly Party.

What You'll Need

Materials

  • Balloons
  • Handheld balloon pump (Qualatex Balloon Pump)
  • Monofilament (Berkley Trilene Big Game Monofilament Fishing Line)
  • Command hooks (Command Small Clear Wire Hooks)

Instructions

  1. Determine the dimensions of your balloon garland. (Note: The garlands pictured here are in chunks approximately 5 feet long so that we could build a 6-by-8 foot wall. Garlands look best when the size of the balloons are varied. In total, we used about 150 balloons for this look, varying in sizes 5, 11, 16, and 36 inches.

  2. tying balloons together
    Simply Adri

    Inflate all balloons (with air and not helium) to various sizes using your handheld pump. Push them down a little after they are tied off to make the shape more round than oval. Next, tie groups of two balloons together to create what is called a duplet. Then, twist two groupings together to form a quad of four balloons. Once complete, you are ready to tie several quads together to build your garland.

  3. We use fishing line to build our garlands of quads. To start, tie your fishing line to something (a chair leg will do) and leave at least two feet at the end. Then, grab your balloon quad and weave the string around the balloons in the shape of a figure eight to lock them into place. Repeat, adding on the additional pre-made quads and packing them close together so that there is not a lot of space between each quad until you achieve your desire length.

  4. Remove your garland from the location where it was tied up and get your wall or backdrop ready. In this case, we used Command hooks and applied them directly to the wall. (Tip: Wipe down your wall with an alcohol swab to make sure the command hook has a clean surface.) When applying the adhesive backing to the command hook, be sure the tab is facing down for easy removal. Thread the fishing line into the eyelet on the command hook and tie it off. For this garland we decided to color block in random chunks to match the graphic playfulness of our table set up. To secure garlands to each other, take a new length of fishing line and run it between your garlands securing them to each other to make more of a wall.

  5. building festive color balloon wall
    Simply Adri

    Use what is called a 260Q or twisting balloon to tie in large jumbo balloons into the wall. Take the 260Q and tie it to the 36-inch balloon so that it creates almost a tail on the balloon. You can use this "tail" to secure the 36-inch balloon into the wall by twisting it amongst other quads or tying it to fishing line.

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