Balloon Arch

A couple of people commented about the balloon arch that I used recently for an event, Abby's college grad dinner, and wrote about here so I thought I'd talk more about that today in this post.

I knew that I had purchased the balloon arch kit a few years ago on Amazon but could not remember exactly when. While logged on Amazon, I did a search of my past purchases on the word "balloon" and found not only the arch that I purchased but all the subsequent purchases of balloon packs to use for the arch. Not surprisingly, the balloon purchases were all around the time frame of the events for which I used the balloon arch. It was kinda a fun stroll down memory balloon arch lane. Of course I had to go to my camera roll and look at the pictures of the events/balloon arch and I will not pass up on an opportunity to share them here again on the blog (I'm certain they were shared when I did a post about whatever event I used the arch for). 

But first, the bad news: the balloon arch kit that I purchased is no longer available for sale. Things sometimes temporarily become unavailable on Amazon and I don't know if this is one of those temporary items that is not for sale or if it is permanently not going to be available. I did find substitutes. 

When I did a search on "balloon arch" on the main page, the first options displayed were for balloon kits that are quite common now as photo ops- balloons are attached to a flexible piece of plastic that you can shape (almost) however you want (however much bend you can achieve with the plastic piece). I had purchased such a kit like this for the same event that I used my balloon arch for recently. 

My balloon arch kit is quite different insofar as it's designed to be attached to a table and definitely in the shape of an arch. The only different way you could shape it would be to not create the arch- you could just have straight up and down balloons. 

Another common product I saw was a balloon arch that was designed to sit on the ground and arch from there. The products all had something weighted at the bottom to hold the arch on the ground.

 

I kept scrolling on the results page and finally did find a few that are almost exactly like the my balloon arch kit- same concept for sure. They are designed to be attached to a table in the shape of an arch. The biggest difference is that I could find none where the tubes were plastic like mine. Rather the tubes are made of fiberglass. I read a few of the reviews on this product and several people complained that they received fiberglass splinters from the tubes and had to put on gloves to protect their fingers. Yikes! I am glad for the plastic tubes of my arch kit. As you can see from the price below, the product is quite reasonable- $13.99. I don't remember what I paid for mine but I think it was around this price. Not a big investment at all, though of  course your expenses aren't over to use the kit- you need to buy balloons for each event that you use your arch. 

Here is a link to one that I found that is very similar to mine. And here is a photo from the main page.

Speaking of buying balloons, I almost always buy balloons packs from Amazon. They have a better selection of balloon colors and specialty type balloons (eg. ones to use for a 21st birthday) than I've found at our local Wal-mart or Hobby Lobby. Here are a few that I've purchased over the years:

My balloon arch- getting it set up- the kit comes with an adjustable piece to attach it to a table. Then the plastic pieces are put together along with these little plastic disks to which you attach inflated balloons.

The arch pieces come apart for storage and then are attached to form an arch. When I put together the arch, I put some of the pieces that the balloons attach to on either side of the arch and then fill in until each side is filled with balloons. 

I purchased an electric balloon inflator from Wal-mart and always use that to inflate the balloons.  Amazon sells electronic inflators as well. 

For the most recent balloon arch that I did, it took me about an hour to inflate the balloons, tie them, and attach them to the arch. It goes faster with two people, of course, but I don't think one hour is too bad for one person.

A few arches from the past- this was from almost exactly a year ago today!! We had Alyssa's HS grad party on June 1st. I brought my balloon arch kit, my electric inflator, and a bunch of balloons with me to the place where we had Alyssa's party. Just made sure that I had plenty of time to install it- which I did- and we had ourselves a festive table display...

We put all of the desserts on the table. 

Alyssa's 18th birthday- pictures with Uncle Doug (her great Uncle Doug)- Doug's table is the one I used to use all the time for the balloon arches. It's one of those six feet tables that folds. I borrowed  it once a long time ago and have not returned it (he says it's fine- if he has a use for it again, he'll let me know!). Now that we have a table behind our sofa, I don't need to use his six foot folding table. 

Abby's 21st- we were lucky that Abby's birthday fell very near to the time that her college had its fall break. She came home every year, I think, very close to her birthday thanks to the fall break.

Alyssa's 17th

Jacob's 22nd

A fire in the fireplace + inflated balloons are not a good mix!! Sooo many balloons popped before I realized why!

I've used the balloon arch several other times as well. I think it helps make any celebratory event more festive for not a whole lot of time or money. 

Linking up with Joanne for Talking About it Tuesday...