Crafty-ness.

Back to the balloon wreath I made.  It seems perfect for birthday parties, but it is also very happy and could work any time.  I have two of them up now, and there are no birthday parties planned at our house for quite some time.

Start with a raffia wreath from a craft store.  Buy the right size for your door.  I bought one size larger than I probably should have (and I bought two of them, front and back door, naturally). 

Buy balloons.  Lots of balloons.  I've seen cute versions of this wreath with color themes (orange and black, red and green, etc.), but I went with a multi-colored pack of large (12" round) balloons.  I got them at Hobby Lobby, but I have now seen similar balloons at dollar-type stores.  I think each wreath used approximately 10 large bags of balloons.  Seriously.  (You could probably do it with fewer, but I liked the tight spacing.)
 
I used straight pins (a lot of them) to attach the balloons.  Some online tutorials advise using these u-shaped floral pins.  Great idea.  They were not to be found at my local craft suppliers.  (Mind you, on my next trip to Hobby Lobby, they will magically appear.)  Regardless, straight pins ... and a thimble to save my fingers ... worked well.

Pin the balloons any way you like to cover the wreath.  Ideally, you will not see the raffia amidst the balloons.  I folded the balloon so that the spout was in the center of the bulb ... It was more or less circular ... and I put a pin in the center of the circle.  And then added another and another and another ...

My first pitfall?  I tried to mix balloon manufacturers midway through the process.  Who knew 12" balloons could be so different?  It did not look right, and I un-pinned a lot of balloons.  Determine your mix at the beginning and keep it up.  Don't change mid-stream.  I didn't like the results.  Hint - buy your balloons from a store that will keep them in stock just in case you don't buy enough.

Find a way to hang your wreath.  I made two wreaths.  The first went smoothly, and I coordinated curling ribbon with the balloons.  I loved the idea, but I really didn't like the curling ribbon in practice.  It looked really ratty, really quickly. 

On the second wreath, I used standard ribbon to create a hanger, and I much prefer the result.  (So much that I cut off all of the curling ribbon and changed the first wreath to match the second.  Fun times.)