Sizing Balloons Sizing rounds Using a card board or foam board sheet cut a square hole the size that you need. Round balloon are measured from side to side. (the diameter of the balloon) For inside I blow up a 11 balloon and size it down to 10,5 For outside I blow up an 11 and size it down to 10 10 square hole Push balloon through hole while letting the air out Using a slide and size (a ruler with two adjustable uprights) Set the two uprights to the size you need and pull the inflated balloon through while letting the air out to size the balloon. 1
Sizing LOL s Using the slide and size LOL s are measured from tip to tail. Place the tail of the balloon against the upright and let air out until it fits between the two uprights. From this Tail Tip To this When tying the LOL s I always tie tip to tail. When tying them wrap the tip around the tail twice before tying This will make it easier to untie and helps from making small tears in the LOL while tying. 2
Regular (garland) Columns Blow up and size two balloons and tie them together making a duplet. Make another duplet and twist it into the other duplet making a quad. 50 lb fishing line Tie a quad to the fishing line Place the second quad next to the first one and give it a quarter turn so it nests on top of the first quad. Now wrap the fish line around the center of the second quad in a figure 8 manner. Continue adding quad until the desired length is achieved. Columns need to be supported. See page 14 for the column framework. 3
By making a long garland it is possible to make arches. The arches will need support. This is done my using the arch frame. See page 14-15 on arch framework. 4
Arches of a different color Use the pattern on the right to make each column. The patter keeps repeating. Double Spiral Pattern Alternating Pattern Arrow Pattern Cross Over Pattern 5
Arches of a different color Small Diamond Pattern Zig Zag Pattern Large Diamond Pattern Flower Pattern 6
Alternating Square Pack Columns Using two difference sizes of quad you can a make a different kind of column. This type of column allows you to make a much flatter wall than using regular columns. NOTES 7
Duplet Square Packing The balloons for this garland have to be sized perfectly. You make duplets and you tie one duplet on the fish line and you gentle push the next duplet into place so it nests into the first duplet. Wrap the second duplet with the fish line. Repeat. This garland does not have a pretty beginning or end. Once the process is understood you will find that you can actually twist the balloons into quads and square pack them making the process even faster. NOTES 8
Walls Regular 4 pack garland (balloons all the same size) Walls can be held together with 2 paper clips and a rubber band or tied together with modeling balloons. Hook paper clips to fishing line to tie the columns together 9
Alternating Square Pack Wall Alternating sized quads 10
Duplet Square Packed Wall 11
My bases are made from ¾ plywood. Each base is approximately 2 feet by 2 feet. You can get 8 bases from a standard sheet of plywood. I paint them black and use a ¾ flange fastened to the center of the base with bolts using nuts and washers to fasten them on. All materials can be found at HOME Depot or similar stores. 12
These are the bolts, nuts, and washers I use. For each base you will need 4 bolts,4 washers, 4 nuts 13
I use these to screw into the flange. For columns you can use an 18 nipple and use a length of ½ EMT electrical conduit for my upright. How to make a base for a column or an arch. ½ electrical conduit Cut conduit to the length needed. ¾ X 18 black pipe nipple Plywood base 3/4 pipe flange 14
For Arches I use ¾ PVC pipe from the electrical department. For my standard arch I use two pieces. On one of the nipples I screw a ¾ PVC adapter. 2-10 ft pieces of ¾ PVC pipe connected together for arch. PVC Pipe Hub For arch use 18 piece of ½ conduit PVC adapter This makes a nice arch big enough for two people to walk through. 15
LOL Walls (Weaving with balloons) Straight weave wall 16
LOL Walls (Weaving with balloons) Cross Weave 17
Inflate the LOL with helium and tie the balloon tip to tail. Weight the balloons on each end with a water weight wrapped in Mylar paper. Or use a brick covered with paper. Using the template, you can design your wall before you build it. Use colored pencils crayons or use Microsoft paint. 18
Templates Use these to template to design your arch. You can copy and paste this arch from this document to Microsoft paint and color your arch 19