How to Make a Balloon Bunch

I learnt how to make these balloon bunches for my 21st birthday, and I have made them many times over the years, as they are so easy and look so fabulous at a party! 

To make a bunch, you need 6 balloons, a balloon pump (or your mouth) and a peg.

I am lucky because my husband has a compressor at home, so usually he helps me to get the balloons blown up in no time!  But a balloon pump is a pretty easy alternative...

1.  Blow up one balloon, twist the top and place a peg over the twist. 

2.  Blow up a second balloon, pinch it with one hand, and carefully remove the peg from the first balloon with your other hand.  Then tie the two balloons together using a double knot.  By tying only one knot at this step (instead of what would otherwise be 3 - each balloon once, then together), you save time, but you also save your fingers.  I know that when I am tying 50+ balloons, my fingers are always stinging by the end of it!

3.  Repeat this process two more times, until you have 3 pairs of balloons tied together.

4.  Take two pairs of balloons, and place them in an 'x' shape, with the knots overlapping.

5.  Twist the pairs of balloons, so that the knots become entertwined, and you have a bunch that looks like this:

6.  Take the bunch of 4 balloons and your last pair of balloons, and push the knot of the final pair into the twisted knot of the first 2 pairs.  Don't be afraid to grab the balloons and twist them them forcefully.  So long as they are not over-inflated, they will be fine ;)

7.  Finally, twist the balloons, so that all knots are entertwined and your bunch looks like this:

You can do bunches with two or more colours, to match whatever theme you are having.

I love doing four of one colour and two of another, as it looks kind of like a flower when bunched together!

This also works really well with mini-balloons, which makes a great table decoration.  You just slide the bunch onto a balloon stick and anchor the stick somehow so that it stands up straight.  Party shops sell mini buckets of concrete for this purpose, or I have even used a potato that I wrapped in foil and then in cellophane!

Below are the balloons I made for my 21st birthday.  Here I have used a block of wood as an anchor for the stick.  My dad drilled a hole in the top of the wood, and then I wrapped the wood in paper and decorated with ribbon like a present.  We used these anchors over and over for many different events.  

You can use up to 12 balloons to make the mini-bunch, just keep twisting in new pairs of balloons, until you reach the effect that you desire.  You can twirl curling ribbon around the balloon stick, just as an added feature.

And you can also easily slide curling ribbon in between the balloons to hang down as an added decoration, or to help tie the big balloon bunch up high, like we did for my sister's hens party earlier this year.

I highly recommend buying good quality balloons.  Not only do they last longer, but they are much easier to tie (and kinder to your fingers!). 

 

And finally, I thought it would be funny to share - this is what my car usually looks like from behind when I am heading out to a party! I can never see out my windows, but I smile the whole way there :)