MUM HACKS – Reusing Helium Party Balloons

I recently learned that I could have saved myself a fortune by reusing helium party balloons!!! We recently celebrated Erin’s Firth Birthday, and had an amazing Unicorn party with lots of beautiful helium balloons; including a rose gold number 5, a giant unicorn head, and a beautiful iridescent rainbow.

Erin absolutely LOVES balloons, particularly helium ones. There is something incredibly magical about watching her come downstairs into a room with her presents surrounded by floating balloons and as a result, we buy some every single year. Whilst we really enjoy them at the time, their enjoyment is a little limited – we keep them downstairs in the lounge, only to watch them start to drift downwards towards the floor and become a semi deflated bubble no more than a few days after the birthday has passed.

Balloons aren’t cheap, but if you’re anything like me, the majority of them will be popped or slashed with a pair of scissors before promptly being thrown in the bin – mainly to get the room back to some kind of normality and bring back a little bit of space as you attempt to find somewhere to keep all the lovely gifts your child has received for their special day.

Believe it or not, it was only recently that I considered the prospect of reusing helium balloons, and now with a sibling who’s birthday is just a few months after Erin’s – it seems such a waste to not do so. I told some of my friends I would be reusing helium balloons and they looked at me like I was mad. HOW?? Well it turns out, reusing helium balloons is INCREDIBLY easy – here’s how.

• Most balloon shops allow you to refill helium balloons, so by deflating, keeping and reusing helium balloons, you will only need to pay a small fee for the helium (most shops charge £1-2 for a refill).

• Once your balloon has started to go soft or head downwards towards the floor, it’s time to deflate. To do so, you will need a simple plastic drinking straw.

• Simply insert the straw into the opening of the balloon (as per the image above) and push it all the way through until only a tiny bit of the straw remains visible. Once the straw is in far enough, simply press down on the balloon and the remaining helium will start to expel. If it doesn’t, ensure your straw is pushed in as far as possible, and this should start to work.
• Fold the balloon as you press down (as if you were deflating a lilo!) until the balloon is flat enough to fold for storage.

• When the next occasion arrives, simply unfold, take to your local balloon shop or buy a small cannister of helium for home use, and you will save yourself a small fortune! 🙂

Reusing helium balloons is so so easy to do and literally takes a matter of minutes. I now have three beautiful balloons packed away (with their weights!) ready to reuse again for future birthdays.

Hope this helps and do bear this in mind next time your parties have passed! 🙂

 

Lucy x