Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Tropical Dinner Party DIY Palm Frond Balloons and Centerpiece Ideas

Palm Fronds and Bon Bons Tropical Dinner Party for Balloon Time
DIY Projects, Styling + Text by Studio DIY
Photos by Mary Costa

We’re taking a classic tropical theme and turning it on it’s head! We kept the palm trees and pineapples, but added balloons, cocktails and an elegant color palette to make this theme appropriate for all your summer dinner parties. A “Palm Fronds & Bon Bons” bash is the perfect way to show everyone that balloons and luaus can be modern and sophisticated, too.

DIY Palm Frond Balloons

Who knew you could “decoupage” balloons? We added a fun palm print to plain white balloons with photos of palm fronds and spray adhesive.

Supplies:

Free Printable Palm Leaves (Download here!)
Tissue Paper (That matches your balloons) 8.5” x 11” Cardstock
Inkjet Printer
Masking Tape
Latex Balloons (We used a mix of 11” and 17” balloons)
Balloon Time Helium Tank
Ribbon or String

Cut out several rectangles of tissue paper, about 8” by 10". Tape one of the rectangles (glossy side of the tissue paper DOWN) to a piece of cardstock with masking tape on the top and bottom of the paper (see photo). Feed this through your printer to print the palm leaves, one sheet at a time, onto the tissue paper. Be sure you are feeding the paper through the printer the right way (each printer is different) so that the image prints onto the tissue paper. Remove cardstock and let dry for about 10 minutes while you continue printing additional images.

Cut out the leaves. This doesn’t have to be perfect as the tissue will blend in with the balloon, just a rough cut around the perimeter works.

Inflate balloons with helium and tie with string or fishing line.

Spray the back of each leaf with spray adhesive and let dry slightly until tacky. Adhere the image to the balloon, tacky side down and smooth over with your fingers. Repeat with as many images as desired.

DIY Dinner Party Balloon Centerpiece

If you need an easy way to add a statement to your dinner table, create a balloon centerpiece! This is a great alternative (or addition!) to flowers and adds just as much color, depth and drama.

Supplies:

Latex Balloons (We used a mix of 11” and 17” balloons)
Balloon Time Helium Tank
Fishing Line
Balloon Weights (We used mini pineapples from the grocery store!)
Scissors

First determine how long you’re table will be. To ensure you have one cohesive centerpiece, you’ll want to place clusters of balloons about 12­-18” a part. After you know how many clusters you'll need, start inflating balloons with helium. We had one 17" and five 11" balloons per cluster.

Tie each balloon with fishing line and tie clusters, as desired, to your balloon weights. Place the weights down the center of your table and adjust or fill in balloons as necessary.

Tropical Party Lounge + Treats

Change up a typical dessert bar and incorporate your sips and sweets into a lounge area at your party. We arranged plates of different chocolates, truffles and bon bons on a coffee table in-front of lounge furniture, making for an intimate post-dinner treat! Make a couple extra clusters of balloons and use them as decor flanking each side of the seating area. To take the tropical theme even further, pick up various palm leaves at your local floral supply or garden center and use them as decor on the tables. Happy Luauing!

Disclosure: This is a guest post by Balloon Time. You can connect with Balloon Time on Facebook.

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