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DIY Bumble Bee Balloons (Tutorial & Video)

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DIY Bumble Bee Balloons

Buzz, buzz, buzzzzzzzzzzzz! These DIY Bumble Bee Balloons are such a fun project for any bee-themed birthday party or baby shower… or just as a fun surprise to brighten someone’s day!

Here’s how you make them:

Helpful tip: I love using helium with this project to make the bees look like they’re actually “flying”, but this does mean you’ll need to make them the day of your party/surprise so that the helium stays strong… SO, if you’re pressed for time or need to make a lot of them for the occasion, here’s a trick you can use: Fill the balloons with regular air first so that you can paint the stripes and let them dry ahead of time. Then, when it’s time to actually use them, undo the balloon knot carefully to let the regular air out, and re-inflate them with helium!

BUMBLE BEE BALLOONS

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Materials:

  • 12” yellow balloon
  • Balloon Time Helium Tank
  • Bowl
  • Black craft paint
  • Foam paintbrush
  • Tape
  • Double-stick tape
  • Glue Stick
  • Scissors
  • Bumble Bee Printables
  • Fishing wire (or string)

Instructions:

1. Fill a yellow balloon with helium. Flip the balloon upside down and lightly tape it to the bowl using 1 piece of tape on either side. This will keep the balloon from floating away while you work!

Bumble Bee Balloon Tutorial - Step 1

2. Paint two black stripes on the balloon by holding your paint brush hand steady and turning the balloon in place with your other hand. The bowl should make it easy to spin the balloon, (similar to a lazy susan works). Spin the balloon a few times to create stripes that are approximately 2” thick. Let dry for 20 mins.

Painting Black Stripes on Yellow Balloons

3. While the paint dries, cut out the bumble bee eyes, mouth and wings.

Cutting out the Bumble Bee Printables

4. Gently remove the tape from the balloon, flip it right side up, and re-tape to the bowl.

5. Use a glue stick to attach the bumble bee eyes and mouth to the top of the balloon.

Gluing on the face

6. Bend the tips of the wings to create small flaps, and attach them to the balloon with small pieces of double-stick tape.

adding the Bumble Bee wings

7. Tape fishing wire to the “belly” of the bumble bee to make it look like the bees are flying!

DIY Bumble Bee Party Balloons

diy bumble bee balloons and happy kids

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Balloon Time. As always, all thoughts and designs are my own. Thank you so much for supporting the companies that make it possible for me to keep the creative content coming your way!

21 Comments

  1. @GirlyGirlPartea August 10, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    DIY Bumble Bee Balloons (Tutorial & Video) https://t.co/Qw6KBIj8J3

  2. Michelle August 10, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    Cute, cute, cute!!! I loved your commercial for Balloon Time, great job!!!

    • jenn s. August 11, 2016 at 6:54 am

      Thank you, Michelle! :)

  3. Bec August 30, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    Super dooper cute idea! I love little bumble bees, thay make such a cute birthday party or baby shower theme. I have even designed a whole ton of bee themed party printables that would look great with this idea!

  4. Desibillee September 18, 2016 at 10:42 am

    Love the DIY tips! The bumble bee balloons look amazing.

  5. Tiff October 27, 2016 at 1:29 pm

    i Tried this at home and it came out super cute in the beginning, after leaving out to dry the balloons all popped not sure howcome. Was it because of the paint I used? I dont know :/

    • jenn s. October 27, 2016 at 4:42 pm

      Oh no! I’m so sorry – that didn’t happen to me, so I’m not sure what could’ve caused it yet. What type of paint did you use? I used acrylic craft paint… How full were your balloons? I might need to do some tests to help figure this out…

  6. Michelle December 31, 2016 at 6:08 am

    How do you make the bees float horizontal? And prevent it from floating up to the ceiling (how to keep it floating at a perfect height)?

    • jenn s. December 31, 2016 at 10:19 am

      Hi Michelle – The bees are attached to fishing wire, which I taped to their “bellies” – so the string is not in the traditional “balloon tail” place. That’s how they stay horizontal. :)

  7. @B_J_Sherriff January 2, 2017 at 1:00 am

    #NewYear #MotivationMonday DIY Bumble Bee Balloons (Tutorial & Video) https://t.co/KaivpLGkfw

  8. Selina espinoza February 9, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    Did the fishing wire ever get unattached from the balloon?

    • jenn s. February 14, 2017 at 9:41 am

      Hi Selina – I didn’t have an issue with that happening – and used transparent tape to adhere it. Hope that helps!

  9. L Morris May 15, 2017 at 11:32 am

    After you tape the wire to the bottom of the balloon, what do you do with the opposite end? Do u tape it to the floor? How do you get it to stay in place? I can’t see how the opposite end is affixed

    • jenn s. May 20, 2017 at 11:40 am

      You can really affix the balloons however you’d like – the fishing wire can be tied onto a balloon weight, chair, etc – or you can tape it to a hard, flat surface – like a ceramic vase, countertop or tile floor. (For the photo in this post that has a bunch of them showing at once, they are just taped to the floor. Note: completely clear tape or colored duct tape works better than the “invisible gift wrap” style tape.

  10. luz May 15, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    Where can i find the bee faces?

  11. Sharon August 21, 2017 at 5:03 am

    So cute. Having a Bee themed petty with about 40 ladies, a few vent. And 60 dogs. Is it possible for you to email me the printable faces? I eould be so appreciative.

  12. Lorna Olson September 23, 2017 at 11:24 am

    Very cute idea. Will give it a try at the next birthday party. Thanks!

  13. Kelly April 6, 2018 at 10:48 am

    Hi how do you keep the bee balloons turned on their side inteas of them point straight up like a regular balloon? Very cute!

    • jenn s. April 9, 2018 at 8:04 am

      Hi Kelly – I taped fishing wire to where I wanted the “belly” to be so that it stayed sitting that way. :)

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