Uncategorized Archives - Come To My Party

Balloon Twisting Weddings

Balloon modelling works great at weddings!

Not just for the kids either – if anything we are more popular with the adults!!

Think of a balloon twister in the same capacity as you would book a close up magician. We carry the balloons in an apron round the waist worn over a 50s style dress – we are always beautifully presented and fit in with the elegance of the evening. We are fully mobile and can walk from table to table creating balloons for your guests. We use a lot of headbands and wearable designs which will look wonderful later in the dance-floor. Our beautiful fascinators are always popular as are the fun hats, jet packs, helicopters, wings and more! We can also make balloon caricatures of your guests – people love having a balloon mini me! We can also make bespoke bride and groom sculptures to be ordered in advance – either a small table top design right up to life sized models! These reflect the couples colourings, hair and dress style. A real talking point! imag1553

Testimonials

We love hearing back from you after the party!

Here are some recent comments! (and drawings too!)

“Kerry arranged for Georgia to be the entertainer at my daughters 6th Birthday party. It’s the first time I had used an entertainer and I was a little worried but Come to my Party had an excellent Fairy party package and my daughter wanted a fairy theme. Kerry and Georgia were flexible and worked the party schedule around some other ideas that my daughter wanted me to include, which I provided. On the day Georgia was great. She spent time getting to know my daughter and when it came to some of the party games it was obvious as she knew which songs she did and didn’t like. She engaged with all the other party guests too and expertly handled the odd ‘testing’ guests to make sure everyone enjoyed the party and they all had a fair turn at the games which all the children took part in and thoroughlyenjoyed. I would highly recommend Georgia, she was a real pro and made the party really enjoyable for all the girls. The parents that stayed to the party all commented on how good she was. Thank you x” Gill “Thankyou Kerry for a great party , the kids loved all the games and balloons , will highly recommend you , thanks again xx” Anna “” Hi Kerry, could you please say a big thank you to Ryan for today, Eli had a fantastic time and he was really great! Thanks again,” Ella “Kerry and Spidey – We just wanted to say what fantastic party entertainers you both are! Jack and the kids had the time of their life. It was hugely enjoyable, awesome in fact. Thank you both so much – lots of positive feedback from parents and kids! We would DEFINITELY recommend you!! A great double act and thanks for the other touches too – the Spiderman balloon for Jack and the spare balloon swords…Many thanks again – superb!” Neil & Marian Hi Kerry just to say the party was great thank you, Verity loved it and Pirate Ryan was brilliant at keeping 27 kids engaged! Can you please thank him again from us” Sarah Hi Kerry I’ve been meaning to email you ever since Daisy’s party to say how brilliant Georgia was. Daisy got a bit overwhelmed by things and sat part of the party out (typical!) but she was mesmerised by it all and her friends all had a brilliant time. The mum’s loved it too and got involved with a bit of singing and dancing. Georgia was fantastic with the kids, the games were pitched just right and everyone loved all the Frozen theming and music. I wanted to let you know how impressed I was. The feedback from all the mums was wonderful with everyone saying what a brilliant time they and their children had had. The sweetest moment came at the end when Georgia was saying her goodbyes and one of the girls came up to her and said, “Elsa, would you like to come upstairs and play with me?” They were so captivated her, their belief that she really was Elsa was adorable! Anyway, a big thank you for your part in the organisation of everything. Please do pass on my comments to Georgia who really was lovely. Top marks. I will certainly be recommending you to others!” Kate “Thank you for an amazing party!! My son and his friends loved it. Cannot recommend Kerry highly enough.” Lucy “Hi Kerry, Just wanted to thank you for a wonderful party for Will today. He and the other children loved it! Thanks again” Natalie “We were all really impressed with Georgia, she was brilliant with the kids, especially the snowman game! Thanks again” Fern “Just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you for coming to my rescue at such short notice. Ryan was brilliant and the girls had a great time. Thank you again.” Sian “Hi Kerry, Just wanted to say thank you once again for such a fab party yesterday, all the children loved it! When I asked Holly what her favourite thing about the party was, she said ‘Princess Anna’! I had a message from one of the mums this morning which said ‘I didn’t realise it was possible to be even more enthusiastic about Frozen, but it is!’ I think her little girl really enjoyed herself! So, thank you once again! We shall recommend you wholeheartedly” Cheryl “Thanks so much for a fab Frozen party today Grace had a lovely time and loved meeting Princess Anna 🙂 the children all enjoyed it and the games and songs were great. Thank you! X” Helen “Just wanted to thank you for a fantastic Pirate party at the weekend. I’m not sure how you managed to get every single one of the kids involved, but they all loved all the crafts, games and dancing and the glitter tattoos went down a treat! So many of the adults commented on how brilliant you were too. Thank you again for making Jack’s 3rd birthday so special!” Jane “Brilliant, friendly and the children loved princess Anna being at the party! Highly recommend.” Vix “Thank you for the amazing balloons you made for Lilia’s Christening! I love them! xx” Steph “The balloons have gone down so well, the perfect finishing touch, thank you so much Kerry. xxx” Rosie “booked for @spangles diner party was so great kids and grown ups loved the balloons x” Kelly “Kerry, Had loads of compliments for you so really helped make the day for us.” Glen “Kerry was fab with my lo and his friends at his Pirate Birthday Party – she kept them all entertained with her fantastic balloon modelling. Highly recommended :-)” Stephanie “Kerry did my son’s 5th birthday party and it was amazing. The children had a fab time leaving me to get on with food prep. Definitely recommend x” Andrea “Thanks so very much for making Elizabeth’s party so special I had lots of complements, everyone really enjoyed it!” Pam “I just wanted to say a big thank you for Daisy’s party yesterday. Daisy and all her friends had such a great time and I had lots of comments from parents about how fab you were. Daisy said she really liked you and that ‘Kerry was full of surprises!” Wendy “Thank you so much, Kerry for the most wonderful children’s party on Sunday. The twins had a magical and fantastic time and haven’t stopped telling people about the fairy that came to visit them at their party! The adults all had a great time too and everyone has been talking about how great you were, particularly at getting all the children involved, despite the age range. Thanks for accommodating everyone’s balloon requests, no matter how unconventional and apologies for the demanding adults wanting balloons too! Everyone thought you were amazing and I will definitely be recommending you to anyone interested in a party.” Sian “Hi Kerry. I meant to email you last Sunday, but have been so busy I haven’t had a chance: thanks so much for your wonderful work with the balloons. The kids absolutely loved your terrific designs — I think it really made the party. We’ll hope to book you again next year, if we do something similar! All the best” Suzanne

“Hi Kerry, Firstly, thank you so so much for the amazing day that you have provided to the girls today. They, and their friends had the time of their lives and we couldn’t have hoped for a better experience. Your attention to detail, and willingness to accommodate our needs has really been amazing and noticed by everyone who came. I had lots of compliments from guests saying that you were wonderful and a natural with the kids. It takes someone really special to do what you were able to do today! So thank you!” Sandra

“Hi Kerry, thanks so much for today. Ruby has such a lovely time at her party and hasn’t stopped talking about it all afternoon.” Helen

Mercedes Balloon Car

I made this the other weekend to celebrate the Mercedes Grand Prix 2014 Champions Win! It has since been doing the rounds on social media and has over 18000 likes on FB as well as posts in loads of other places!

Mini Balloon bag!

I came up with this idea after a recent mermaid party where balloons were also required. Instead of my big bulky apron I figured a mermaid would carry something a little more sparkly and delicate so here is what I cam up with!

I have since used it loads! For my combination parties such as Princess, Fairy, Superhero, Pirate etc, the majority of the party is taken up with dancing and games and maybe crafts or face paint. The balloons are usually an addition where a quick 1 or 2 balloon design such as flower, sword, wand etc is required. Therefore this is idea to keep mainly larger 260Q balloons in, and the hearts for the wands fit in a side pocket (more on this later) along with a red and black sharpie (For princess / spiderman face for the birthday child!) It is lightweight and goes with most of my costumes and I am really pleased with it! It is based on the TwistemUp balloon bag with the balloon roll idea. I have to say I have ever seen one in the flesh so to speak so have had to improvise a little from pictures, but I have the TwistEmUp apron which my balloon apron was based on. Here is how I made it! I started with a strip from the balloon apron I made previously here and laid it across a rectangle of laminated cotton. When I had the right size allowing for seams and length of balloons I hemmed it.

Poppers were hammered onto the fabric and the strip poppered on.

Next I loaded up the balloon strip with the most used balloons. A rainbow of 260Qs and blush 160Qs in case of an emergency fairy or princess design!

I started to roll up the design and here is where I hit a snag. As you can see the fabric didn’t quite cover the bulk of balloons. This is where it would have been useful to see the official balloon rolls in action! Not to worry though. I sewed on an additional extension of fabric ( I had run out of the original pattern however this one made a nice contrast).

I attached an additional strip of fabric which wrapped around the roll and poppered back to itself to hold the roll in place. I then found a lovely sparkly old belt which was perfect as a strap. This too was poppered on.

It was fine as was but needed some bling! Also a little more structure when in use – I had always intended the roll to be put into a bag. I was just trying to decide on a fabric in which to make the bag when I stumbled across these amazing old sparkly leg warmers!!

Yes I do have some strange things in my stash! They were stretchy and fitter perfectly around the roll! I closed one up at the base and then over lapped them which gave me the bonus of a pocket in which to keep my heart balloons (which I use for wands) and pens (red and black for features). A clip attached my pump and the new balloon bag was ready for action!! I have so many comments on it as I use it – usually “Wow can you really buy balloon bags like that? I am very proud to reply no – I made it! ( Or more often “no – the fairies made it for me!!”)

Balloon Twisting Bag / Apron

I have been using an Easy Load Deluxe Balloon Apron from Twist Em Up for the last 12 months or so and really enjoy the fantastic design – in particular the easy load balloon strips. I have been dying to give it a go to try and make a similar one for a while and so with a rare child free morning I thought I’d give it a go!

I started with a couple of old jean legs I’d hacked off to make shorts last summer after the knees went! I’m glad I saved them (knew they’d come in handy!).

I cut a strip 45cm x 9cm

Then turned and ironed in the ends and folded it over. I then sewed along each side to make a strip around 3.75cm.

After trimming and turning in the ends of the strip I took a strip of the prickly edged velcro and sewed it on, then cut the furry side of velcro into 10X 9cm strips.

I then started to sew the furry strips on. I marked the centre in chalk and then 5 lines either side. As the strips wrap around the balloons they needed to be sewn on one side of the balloon space, so that made the chalk marks off centre. I have shown in the diagram and also how I positioned and sewed them with the chalk marks in blue and the centre in red. The velcro is sewn furry side up in the opposite direction to the space it will be covering (again see diagram showing velcro in yellow with slightly darker stitching.)

I then positioned and hammered poppers (well actually Dan hammered for me in the end!) on each side of the denim strip plus one in the middle. (You can just about see the one in the middle on this photo – there is also one at either end. )

I made 2 of these strips. Only one needed poppers though as I sewed the other directly to the Apron. And to the Apron. I again up-cycled, this time with Dan’s old work trousers. I had previously used the legs to make beanbags so they were coming in very handy! I cut out the back ‘bottom’ area in a rough apron shape, and also the pocket shown on the bottom right thigh area of the photo below which I thought may come in handy later!

This was positioned on top of my gorgeous Melody Miller Ruby Star Sparkle fabric – left over from the pin-board I made for Angharad and Matt’s wedding last week.

Both fabrics were laid as shown – good side up.

I sewed around the edges with a slight apron style curve, trimmed the edges, and then flipped the Melody Miller fabric inside out.

Ta da!

Dan helped with hammering again as I sewed the top popperless strip to the top of the apron and then the poppers matched up slightly below this strip in the centre and either sides so the first strip I made could snap on.

I got excited at this point and filled it with balloons before I could take photos! Oh – remember that pocket I chopped off Dan’s trousers? That was sewn to the front of the fabric along the sides and bottom. The top was not sewn up so it could function as 2 pockets – both inside and behind. I also sewed on more denim strips as waist ties.

You can see below how the balloons are kept in place with the velcro strips. It is such a clever design as each velcro can take up to 50 balloons but still keep them tightly in place when you are down to your last 5 or so.

Here is also shown how the strips popper on. The second row needs to come off and on, so you can load up the first strip.

The large pocket of the apron needed to be loose and big as to be able to fold all the balloons in once they are secured with the strips. After that however, I wanted the pocket a little tighter which is why I added a popper in the middle of the bag as shown. (The Twist Em Up apron has zips down each side which make loading even easier, but I was after more of a quick project today!)

I then got even more carried away and made an extra pocket for the side and hooks for the other side to attach pump etc!

I was originally intending a few more pockets and probably would if I do it again, but I just couldn’t bear to cover any more of the fab fabric! I’m so pleased with how it turned out though and had such fun making it! My Original Twist Em Up Apron cost me nearly £50 – this one less than a fiver! I can’t wait to give it test run!

Note: I used around 2m of velcro and half a pack of Heavy Duty Silver Nickle Snaps 15mm. Plus fabric remnants and old clothes!

Balloon bag organising

A long 0ver-due sort out of the balloon bags and drawers this afternoon! Before and after shots!!

Jack’s Pirate Party

Captain Kerry and Captain Lewis had great fun at Jack’s Pirate party last weekend! And as it was in a pub the grown ups rather enjoyed it too!!

Superhero fun in Oxford!

Lots of fun was had with Spiderman and all the other mini Superheros at our Superhero Party in Oxford at the weekend!

Cinderella Princess Party Oxford.

Cinderella was out and about partying with some lovely little 5 year olds last week! Here are some photos of the fun!

Local paper advertising

Dear Banbury Guardian. I am a small business running children’s parties. As this is a weekend based business I can only hope to do 4 parties a week with just myself, and with growing demand I wanted to advertise with you for another entertainer. This not a big money business, however even small businesses have to grow which is why a local part time job advertised in your paper might suit someone in Banbury perfectly. HOWEVER – your cheapest advert when I rang to enquire in recruitment was over £3000!!! For 1 WEEK!!! If I can fully book my new recruit with 2 parties a week I could hope to make maybe £20 a week from them. It would therefore take me 3 years to just pay you for your advert! That is assuming that I find exactly the right person in 1 week and that they work out and I get fully booked. This is not supportive of new small businesses. I am trying to provide training and great experience which could really suit someone, and to make a start in growing my company. My local paper really should have been the perfect medium for this, however you have made it impossible.www.cometomyparty.net If anyone reading this does know of anyone who would like to join Come To My Party in children’s party entertainment do get in touch!!

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