UGlu® is the perfect tool to help you make all kinds of balloon decorations for any party, from simple balloon garlands to complex organic arches. Plus, we’ve got a video demonstration to show you just how easy it is!
I have a large and extended family and there’s always a celebration going on, whether it’s a birthday party, baby shower, gender reveal, retirement or graduation. It so happens that I’m the de facto family party planner and decorator – probably because they know I’m the tape guy, who always has a tape solution! In preparation for such special occasions, I make sure to stock up on UGlu®.
And I’m not the only one! Throughout this post, you’ll be seeing the beautiful work of one of my colleagues, who used UGlu® to create a balloon demi-arch for the birthday of another colleague. You can watch her put the final product together in the video below.
So What is UGlu®?
UGlu® is a special, double-sided adhesive tape. It’s different than any tape you’ve met before. It comes in different sized patches (and dashes), which let you peel and stick it on to almost any surface. It has a powerful hold on whatever you’re sticking, but it’s also removable, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your walls or most surfaces.
Check out our video here to see how easy it is to put UGlu® down and peel it back up.
Helium Shortage Letting the Air out of Balloon Decorating? Nope!
Although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, recent supply chain interruptions have caused shortages in the market. Due to the shortages, the helium that’s left in the market is given priority towards more critical applications such as semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace and healthcare (helium helps cool the coils of wires that conduct electricity in the magnets of MRI machines), making helium much more expensive for non-essential applications such as balloon decorating.
Lucky for us, UGlu® adheres well to latex and foil balloons! With UGlu®, you can make regular latex balloons look like they’re floating -the way helium balloons would- by sticking them to walls and ceilings. Plus, you can hang up other decorations alongside them using the same UGlu® patches – flowers, lights, posters, photos, and more- to create some really lovely décor.
You can use UGlu® to create:
- balloon garlands
- balloon arches (or demi-arches like this one by @moonandblooms)
- “necklace” style arches or organic style arches (visit this website to learn the difference)
- balloon hoops (like this one by @elegantballoons)
- balloon sculptures (like this CRAZY Wreck-it Ralph sculpture by @rejoiceeventdesign in our home state of New Jersey!)
- and so much more!
How to Make Your Own Balloon Arch with UGlu®
You can start off by hooking balloons onto a fishing line the way many tutorials will show you – like this one by ProFlowers on “How on Make a Balloon Arch in 9 Easy Steps.” The steps I take are the same through Step 6.
You take a fishing line and thread it through a needle, then “sew” the fishing line through the tied-off ends of each latex balloon, until you’ve got a nice long line of balloons hanging off of your fishing line. Keep going until you reach the desired length for your arch (or hoop, garland, etc.) Then you tie your fishing line off. It’s a good way to start any arch or sculpture, since you’ll have a balloon “base” to add more balloons on top of.
The Difference with UGlu®
At this point, most tutorials will instruct you to use hooks to hang your garland or balloon arch up, and to start adding more balloons and decorations with a hot glue gun. Call me crazy, but using a hot glue gun on balloons does not seem safe! Glue guns are dangerous, even low temperature ones. As anyone who’s used a hot glue gun before can tell you, there’s a big chance of burning yourself, dripping hot glue all over the place, and in this case bursting the balloons you’re working on.
With UGlu®, there’s no risk of personal injury or damage to your surroundings. UGlu® sticks immediately so there’s no drying time. You just peel the paper liner off, stick it on where you need it, and stick stuff on top. Easy, and safe. UGlu® is also NON-TOXIC, so it’s safe to use for kid’s birthdays and parties. And it’ll remove cleanly from almost any surface without leaving any adhesive residue behind.
The Trick to Removing UGlu®
Now’s a good time to mention this: Just how do you remove UGlu® without leaving residues behind? There’s two methods.
One way is to pick at the corner of your UGlu®, until you can lift it up and start peeling it back neatly. This video offers the perfect demonstration of this first method.
The second method is to twist whatever is attached to your UGlu®. UGlu® is designed to strongly resist upward pulling motions. If you try to pull something straight UP that’s attached with UGlu®, you’ll quickly find out just how strong UGlu® really is! Instead, you need to twist anything that’s attached sideways, as if you’re going to spin it. UGlu® will quickly give up its grip this way. This is how you should remove anything that’s stuck to your walls, ceilings, floors, etc. that can’t be removed with the first method.
For balloons, if you’re going to be taking apart your balloon arch by popping it, then you don’t need to worry about removing the UGlu® between balloons. Just pop away, and throw them out!
Let’s Keep Decorating That Balloon Arch!
So after my fishing line is tied off, I secure my balloon base where ever it needs to go with UGlu®. You can stick it down to stairs, a table, the wall, the ceiling- anything! Just check out how we started sticking balloon bunches to a wall in this demonstration video:
Here’s a few photos from that process as well:
Once my base is secured in place, I then use UGlu® to add smaller balloons to my base. UGlu® helps me add different sizes and colors of balloons to create a beautiful, multi-colored organic arch effect. You can also use UGlu® to adhere flowers and foliage to your balloon arches and garlands. There’s really no limit to what you can add in! UGlu® helps me spice up my decoration with my own personal artistic touch.
UGlu® is versatile – so get creative!
There’s so many additional ways to use UGlu® to make your party decorating easier, faster and safer. I use UGlu® on the bottom of table centerpieces to help prevent them from being knocked over. I use UGlu® to stick LED lights, posters and signs to walls, doors and railings for lovely décor.
Whether you’re a professional party planner or an amateur decorator, you’re making the world a better place through your colorful and joyful designs. Let UGlu® make your work easier!
And be sure to show us how you use UGlu® for your next party planning event by visiting this page here – you can upload your photos for the chance to win assorted prizes!
