Such Pretty Faces

My cousin is getting married… IN BRANSON! The capital of everything Dolly, family friendly, and cheesy entertainment. Branson is quite possibly one of the most underrated places to visit because it offers so much in the area of family fun. As a child, I remember frequently going to Branson, MO with the ENTIRE extended family for an affordable vacation. So when my favorite cousin said she was getting married in Branson, it only made sense!

The place that has provided many memories for us as a family is the place where she gets to start her family.

One of the funniest fun facts of my family is that they all think “I’m a professional” party planner. This family builds me up my mediocre skills like crazy. I would say, they are the best family- but you probably think that about your own family. (It’s okay, I guess we can all think our families are the best.) I digress, when Christin and my aunt Charlene asked if I would create a fun balloon backdrop for behind the ‘His and Hers’ table, it took negative two seconds for me to SCREAM ‘yeah!’

So how does one bring a backdrop all the way from Texas in a Nissan Pathfinder and three kids? YOU DON’T. You call your sweetheart of a brother-in-law and dad, and convince them to bring all of their tools to Branson. You then strategical break city ordinances and make a masterpiece in the Menard’s Parking lot.

My brother-in-law would say this project was brought to you by GMC, Milwaukee power tools, and Menard’s. I’d have to agree.

Supply List:

• Eucalyptus Hard Board
  • This stuff is CHEAP and light weight!
• Round saw
• Pencils to mark your rounded edges
• Scrap pieces of lumber
• Screws
• Drill
• Paint
• Roller brush
• Roller pan
• Sand bags
• Puddy
• Scraping tool

This was the center board that dad and Shane cut first. Super simple. You just need the right tools.

You can see the backs of the boards with the scrap lumber to make them free standing. We also added sand bags for added weight so they would be sure to not fall.

Note: We tried using only one long piece of wood in the center, but the board was too flimsy for me. So I made them make a frame.

Here are what the backs of the other boards look like:

The heights I chose were 3.5ft, 5ft, and 7ft. I also had them make them 3ft wide.

Before we started to paint, I quickly realized that we needed putty to cover our screws.

Next up, I began to mix my colors to the perfect tint. I used paint from home depot and had them match two of my balloon colors. I chose to mix my colors at 50% of the original balloon colors, but I should have had them lighten the colors to no more than 25%. This was an easy problem to fix, though. I just grabbed a quart of pure white in the same brand and mixed it myself!

I am not telling a single lie when I said we did this in a parking garage. It was hilarious, but also kind of scary because I was worried that we would get busted. It was lots of fun. My Dad only stepped in the paint once and only a few curse words were said.

NOW FOR BALLOON MAKING!

This is a very technical process- 1. Grab some wine and 4 balloon pumps. 2. Lure your sassiest family to your hotel room… AND 3. CREATE A BALLOON MOUNTAIN.

Stay tuned for our next post to show how we turned these balloons into an unforgettable masterpiece! DIY video to follow!