Eye Catching Helium Balloon Clusters

I don’t know that it’s the formal term, but I call balloons gathered together by their curling ribbon or twisted together to form a group “clusters” of balloons.  Balloon clusters are a great decoration idea for kids parties, to flag your house for an event, or to dress up the boundaries of your party area.

To make a helium cluster like the one in the picture:

1. Follow the instructions for stuffing a balloon inside a balloon but use a Balloon Time Helium Tank to inflate the balloons.  Use one, clear 36″ balloon for the outside balloon and one 12″ balloon for the inside balloon.
2. Attach the stuffed balloon to a desired length of curling ribbon.
3. Inflate one 12″ balloon to full size, but do not tie it off.  Hold the first balloon closed while inflating a second 12″ balloon to full size.  Now tie the two balloons together.
4. Make a second cluster of two balloons by repeating Step 3.
5. Take the two pairs of balloons you created in Step 3 and Step 4 and twist the pairs together.  To do this, hold the pairs together by their tied-off ends and twist one balloon over the center and down through the pair of balloons on the other side.  Twist another balloon over the center and through the balloons on the other side.
6. You should now have a cluster of four balloons.  Attach that to the top of the curling ribbon hanging from the 36″ balloon by taking two balloons of the cluster of four and wrapping them around the curling ribbon.  Then twist one of those balloons over the stem of the other balloon and and then push that balloon again around the balloon on the other side.
7. Repeat steps #3-6 but with 12″ balloons blown only to 5″.

That twisting process is hard to describe, but it’s the same concept as demonstrated in How to Make Elegant Balloon Centerpieces.  Once you understand how to work with balloon pairs to make clusters and to attach them to ribbon, stems or forms of any kind, you’ll be able to master any of the more complicated decorations like columns and arches.