Baseball themed centerpieces are one of the most popular types of centerpiece requests we receive year round. Several centerpiece bases or variations are available, although a square base is the most popular. A wide assortment of embellishments is available to further decorate the centerpiece and further support the baseball theme.
Most of our baseball centerpieces start with a square Styrofoam® base. The square represents the diamond figure of a normal baseball infield. A lot of times we cover square base with colored metallic paper. You can also add a terrific enhancement by covering the base with a piece of green indoor/outdoor carpeting. It is a little more difficult to work than metallic papers but it is quite striking and almost looks like real grass.
The indoor/outdoor carpeting is readily available in home improvement stores. It can be purchased off rolls and cut to various lengths. It generally comes nine (9') wide but is sometimes available in remnants.
We cut a carpet square somewhat larger than the Styrofoam® base to properly cover it. Low temperature glue is used to secure the carpet to the base. (Note: Do not use high temperature glue since it melts the Styrofoam®.) Trim the excess off with a sharp scissors.
Next we cut out small white cardboard squares for first, second, and third bases, and the traditional home plate design. These are glued onto the carpeting, again with low temperature glue. We might add small baseball figures in two separate colors to represent the baseball players. These are available from toy and hobby stores and occasionally dollar stores. Sports ribbon is available to cover the sides of the base.
Other decorations you can use include small plastic bats and balls, pop cans, pop corn boxes, carmel corn boxes, fake hot dogs, peanut bags, trophies, candy, fake cotton candy etc. We have used real baseball caps, gloves, pennants (both large and small), baseball cards, etc. Even full sized jerseys can be used on larger centerpieces. Beer cans can be added for an adult party.
In addition, there are 12" baseball figures available, or you can cut profiles of caps or gloves from pieces of Styrofoam® and paint or even glitter them. All of these items can be attached to wooden dowels or plastic picks to add height and bring them above the simulated playing field. (Note: If you use the indoor/outdoor carpet since the backing has a rubber base, you will need a sharp, pointed hobby knife to penetrate it.)
Have fun putting your baseball centerpieces together. Use these ideas and your imagination to find other interesting variations on this great theme table decoration. If needed for place card settings, use player or team names or even baseball stadiums.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Decorate Your DIY Baseball Theme Table Centerpieces with Common Items or Easy to Make Enhancements
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Party Decorations - How to Avoid Common Mistakes, Part II
In "Decorating Your Party: How to avoid common mistakes: Part I" we talked about some of the selections you can consider in order to enhance the look of your party (such as, colors, size of the room, height of the ceiling). This time, let's talk about some of the technical details party decorations and what you can do about them.
1. Production time.
PARTY DECORATIONS
You should be aware of when your room becomes available for your party. Many times, it is only two hours in advance. Make sure to let your decorator know about this at the beginning of your conversation. It does not mean that you can not use extensive balloon decorations! But it should be taken into account. There are several ways to go about it:
a) Sometimes the place where you are renting the room (whether it is a hotel or a community hall) can provide a back room for production of party decorations and then only the installation needs to be accomplished in the two hours.
b) With the help of your decorator you can choose party decorations that are fast to produce and still look astounding.
c) The decorator can get extra help, but may also charge you extra because of the time constraint.
d) The decorator can rent a truck and brings bits and peaces to be assembled on the spot quickly. This also might cost extra, as it is due to the time constraint at your location.
2. Ceiling Sensors.
Some venues have sensors on the ceiling so if a balloon goes up, an alarm sounds and fire truck shows up 20 seconds later. Costly for the owner and may be for you.
Don't panic! You can still use balloons. Almost any party decorations that can be done with helium filled balloons (the type that flies) can be done with air filled balloons on a frame and has no need to be anywhere near the ceiling.
3. Doing it the day before.
If, for some reason, you have to do balloon decorations the day before, keep in mind that regular (11" round) helium filled balloons will be half-dead by the morning and on the floor by the middle of the day.
If all you need are simple balloon bouquets, you can ask the decorator to use high float. This substance keeps balloons from deflating much longer. If you have more elaborate party decorations - use air filled balloons on a frame instead, as I mentioned in the previous point.
4. Transparent balloons.
Just keep in mind that they look great at the first moment, especially if you have bright balloons inside, but in a few hours they will be less transparent, kind of dim and will become more and more opaque as party goes on.
5. Balloon lights.
This is a very effective technique for low-light parties!!! For the regular light or daylight parties they are hardly noticeable. If this is the case, one has to use much stronger lights with larger balloons, cluster the lights together and so on.
6. Centerpiece bases.
Bases for the centerpieces, as well as floral long-and-low centerpieces sometimes are creations of art, as well as a noticeable part of your party decoration budget.
One thing though: they sit on the tabletop together with food. In some cases, the caterer puts so many plates on the table; the food is so colorful and plentiful, that the bases are lost. Actually, the smaller the base, the easier it is for the caterer and the less it gets in the way of your guests and food.
So, when you plan to spend money on the bases of balloon bouquets or other centerpieces - talk to your caterer first.
7. Balloon ceiling (balloons with ribbons on the ceiling)
Things to keep in mind:
a) If the ceiling is a rough surface, many will pop during production, many more during the party.
c) One balloon takes less than a square foot. So, if you are in a large room, you will need a substantial budget to cover the ceiling completely. If you do, it will work, though I would check the alternatives for the money. If you only cover the ceiling partially, the air conditioner or fan will blow the balloons around and will rub them against the ceiling. In most cases this will kill a large portion of them.
8. Balloon Drops
The perfect party decorations for the theatre - type room. That is, a room with a very high ceiling and a, relatively, small floor area. Then balloons on their way down "have time" to fly in all directions and cover everybody in the room.
In a regular-sized room we'll be lucky if we can cover the dance floor. In addition (and this is a matter of a personal opinion) the hanging net full of balloons does very little for decorations, as well as letting everybody know what is coming. On the other hand, if someone is not looking in the right direction at the moment when the balloons are released, they can miss the whole thing.
One solution to these problems is the so-called "explosive balloon", also known as "popping balloons".
Relax! There are no real explosive used! All it is a large (3-foot or larger) balloon, stuffed with smaller balloons and sometimes with confetti (check your contract with the venue!!! It might be a big "NO-NO"!) or even lottery wins. One or several of these balloons are placed on the ceiling and when the time comes, they all pop with the push of button.
You can distribute these balloons all over the room if you want to cover everybody, or use a few in a strategic spot if you choose. No more heavy hanging nets and not a single person can guess at what is coming!
Here, it is worth mentioning that one can put these balloons together to make a wall and then explode the entire wall... Let us talk about it next time.
Party Decorations - How to Avoid Common Mistakes, Part II PARTY DECORATIONSFriday, September 16, 2011
Party Decorations - Balloons - How to Avoid Common Mistakes
In the 18 years that I have been in business, I've had an opportunity to observe many event and party decorations. There are several very common mistakes that surface again and again. This is especially distressing since money, time and effort are invested, but the result - excellent decoration - is not achieved.
Generally speaking, when you plan a party, you should do so keeping your hall or room in mind. This sounds trivial, but you'd be surprised how many times this rule is violated, and yet the same event will require entirely different decorations in two different rooms.
PARTY DECORATIONS
Another thing to keep in mind: we work with human perception, not with the physical size of the space.
Here are some major points that require attention when you decide on how to decorate party:
1. Height of the ceiling.
A common mistake in the room with a low ceiling (say 8') is to use decorations that "hit" the ceiling or that are too bulky. These balloon decorations will take visual space (even if they do not physically take too much) and will make you and your guests feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable.
For instance, if you have a large bulky balloon arch at the entrance, many guests will feel that they have to bend their head, even if they are less than 6 feet high.
If you use balloon centerpieces with large (3-foot) balloons at your tables, in a room with a low ceiling they will have to be too low and will feel oppressive and overdone.
On the contrary, if you use balloon columns (especially, the narrow ones) at the door - they will add height and elegance to the entrance, making both it and the room look taller.
Similarly, if you use slim, upward-reaching centerpieces at your tables, they will create an illusion of an "unreachable" ceiling, uplifting the entire room.
In the room with a high ceiling or one that is too large there are other constraints - you don't want your guests to feel lost in a vast space. You might consider bringing the ceiling down visually by using, for example, a balloon dome or a balloon fountain and to make the room more cozy by adding larger structures (larger balloon arches, balloon walls, etc.).
You can also "shrink" the space by adding structures along the walls but closer to the center - visually making the center smaller and creating an "aisle" along the walls.
2. Colors in the room.
I hear this almost every day: "My colors are gold and white; I want gold and white balloon decorations." Then we get to the room and I see a lot of white ceiling, pale walls and a light floor where white balloons will almost melt into the background and the golden ones will be hardly more noticeable than white. It is even worse, if the room is a white tent.
The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is - choose your colors after you choose the room. This is not always possible, but consider adding or taking away a color to harmonize the colors of the room and the colors of your wedding (baby blue walls will clash with burgundy dresses, but you might be able to introduce a mauve in the decorations to blend them).
3. Small decorations in big room.
As I mentioned earlier, we work with human perception. If you have a party in a very large room or outside, your decorations (balloon decorations or any other type) are competing for attention with other objects in the space.
In a large room it could be a stage, a big banner or elaborate chandeliers. Outside - it will be trees, house, and clouds. So whatever you plan, your decorations should be large, colorful, and juicy or you will be the only one to know that they are there.
For example, small, very detailed centerpieces for a party of 2000 people in a huge gym - is a waste of money. Yes, they are nice, well themed, but how much attention do they get?
By the same token, if for such a party, you plan a huge balloon sculpture, do not waste money on printing your logo on every balloon. Nobody will notice.
More helpful hints on decorating your party are coming. Watch our publications for updates.
Party Decorations - Balloons - How to Avoid Common Mistakes PARTY DECORATIONS