Last Minute Thanksgiving Decoration

Xmass Tree 3

The festive season has got us in its firm grip. Hardly recovered from Halloween's Tricks & Treats, our creative brain half needs to get busy again to prepare the big family get together on Thanksgiving Day.

Whilst you might hold on to the traditional dinner with turkey, potatoes, sweet corn and brussel sprouts, you may want to experiment with your decoration. So, why not try a 'Thanksgiving Balloon Bouquet'? It's quick and easy to make and your family will be impressed, guaranteed!

For one bouquet you'll need:

  • one foil balloon that matches the theme, for example a pumpkin, a smiley pilgrim or - in honour of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - your favourite cartoon character,
  • three high quality 11" latex balloons in a colour that goes well with your foil balloon,
  • colour matching curling ribbon (5mm wide),
  • a small basket, filled with autumn fruit and vegetables (the basket should have a handle where you can attach the ribbons) and
  • a small flask with helium to fill the balloons.

Please keep in mind, that helium filled latex balloons will only float for about 12 hours, so create your bouquet on Thanksgiving Day, whilst the turkey roasts in the oven!

How to make it

Start with preparing the foil balloon for inflating. Take roughly 150cm length of the curling ribbon. Measure 100cm and at that point fold it back over on itself, leaving the remaining 50cm for curling. Attach the ribbon with sticky tape to the neck of the foil balloon, on the opposite side to the self-sealing filling valve.

Gently insert the nozzle of your helium flask into the opening of the balloon valve and start inflating. Continue until the balloon begins to feel firm. Then tie the balloon to the handle of your basket. The height from the base to the bottom of the balloon should be about 80cm.

Now inflate the first of your latex balloons with helium. Before you tie the knot you should make sure that the balloon is fully inflated to its 11" size. This is important as the bouquet will only look good if all balloons are blown up to the same size. There are two easy ways to do this: you could make yourself a simple 'balloon sizer' by cutting a circle of 11" diameter out of a piece of cardboard or you could set up two chairs back to back, so that the distance between them equals 11".

So, before you knot the balloon, pass it through your sizer and if necessary, deflate or inflate the balloon until it fits. Now take about 100cm length from your curling ribbon and tie it to the balloon neck, leaving ca. 30cm loose for curling. Then attach the other end of the ribbon to the handle of your basket, making sure that the latex balloon is just touching the underside of the foil balloon.

Repeat these steps for the remaining two latex balloons. When finished, the three latex balloons should be sitting at an even height with the foil balloon in the centre just above them.

The only thing left to do is to curl the loose ends of the curling ribbon ... oh, and take out the turkey from the oven!

As a picture says more than 100 words, you might want to check out the instructions for a similar decoration on our 'Balloon Decoration Guide'. It is actually a Valentine's Bouquet, but it can easily be altered into a 'Thanksgiving Balloon Bouquet', as described above.

Margit Streifeneder has been a successful Small Business Owner for 10 years. Together with her life partner, a professional balloon decorator, she developed the 'DIY Balloon Decoration Guide' to provide useful how-to-information for everyone interested in creating their own balloon decor.