A Fun and Festive Surprise: Our Fix Price Party Decorations Experience

Hello everyone!

I still can't believe how fast this year flew by, and here we are again, my husband and I, gathering our air-filled balloon garland from Fix Price in the middle of the night.

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Fix Price Party Decorations with Balloons and Paper Accessories

Fix Price Party Decorations with Balloons and Paper AccessoriesFix Price Party Decorations with Balloons and Paper Accessoriesxa0xa0

Product Details

Manufacturer - China

Price - 249 rubles

Place of purchase - Fix Price

Shelf life - not limited

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Buying

In Fix Price this time, there was only one type of balloon garland available, but in several color variations. From the colorful multicolored, pink, and strict silver-blue, I chose the last one. Over the past year, the balloons have increased in price by 50 rubles, and now they cost 249 rubles.

Fix Price Party Decorations with Balloons and Paper Accessoriesxa0

Packaging

I was really excited to use the Party decoration set for my last celebration, and I have to say it's a great way to add some flair to the party space! Before you start, make sure to check the instructions on the packaging. The set comes with 32 balloons, 10 triangular flags, a 'Congratulations!' banner, a balloon tie, a ribbon, and 20 double-sided adhesive pads. The balloons are 28-30 cm in diameter.

The set is made of latex, paper, polyester, polystyrene, and silica gel. And the best part? It's available in a range of colors and designs!

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Party Decoration Set with Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyParty Decoration Set with Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyThe set includes:- balloons (eight transparent balloons with glitter, eight white, eight blue, and nine silver - I think the manufacturer accidentally included an extra one!). The quality of the balloons is a bit different, with the silver ones being slightly thinner than the white ones. And let me tell you, the blue balloons were completely black when I first took them out of the package - I was a bit worried!

Party Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyParty Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Party- the tie-down strip, like last time, I got a huge surplus of it.

Party Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Party- the adhesive dots, I'm not entirely sure what they're for in this garland, maybe to attach balloons to each other.

Party Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Party- the strip, which is meant for hanging flags and congratulatory streamers.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Party- Flags with the words "Happy Birthday". Honestly, that's old-school for me, but there were no balloon sets without streamers this time around. It's made from super-thin cardboard or dense paper - just enough to stick to the wall.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyDecorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyDecorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Partyxa0

Assembly

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Party Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyParty Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyI have to admit, last year my husband and I thought we'd already conquered the challenge of blowing up balloons without a pump. But, as it often does, that painful experience slipped my mind. Let's just say I'll be buying a pump way ahead of time next year - maybe even the week after. And I'm strongly advising against trying to blow up balloons with your mouth.So, the task at hand: blow up 33 balloons using the lightweight ones. It sounds like a breeze, but it took my husband exactly an hour to do it. And he barely took a break, despite my pleading. I guess our trip to the pool wasn't a waste of time after all.

The most challenging part was blowing up the balloons with confetti. To prevent the sparkles from falling out, the balloon's 'tail' is tied with a thin string. We were afraid to remove it, fearing my husband might inhale the confetti. And to blow up the balloon through the string, you need to apply some extra effort - and it's not weak.

Party Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyParty Decorations from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyAnd to be honest, the hardest part is getting the first breath out to inflate the balloon, so it starts to stretch out gradually.

I'm not exactly the knot-tying type, so my husband and I used a regular piece of string to tie the balloons. We tied a few knots at once to be safe.

I let out a sigh of relief when the black balloons after inflation turned a deep blue color. I was worried about them in the store, but it turns out they're really well-painted. The white balloons are also great - they actually look white, not semi-transparent. The silver balloons felt a bit thinner to me, and they inflated more easily than the others. The clear balloons with glitter were a bit foggy after inflation, but that effect disappeared within 5 minutes.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories from Fix Price Party Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories from Fix Price PartyWhen I first opened the package, I was hit with a really strong chemical smell. That's the main reason why I strongly advise against blowing up the balloons by mouth. After blowing them up, my husband complained about the disgusting taste of chemicals in his mouth, and no amount of rinsing his mouth or brushing his teeth helped. Even the next morning, he said he could still taste it in his mouth, and he also had a lingering smell on his hands. Speaking of his hands, after blowing up the balloons, he had a nasty gray residue on his fingers - it was no surprise that it was also on his lips. I'm repeating myself, but our main takeaway and advice to everyone is: if the manufacturer recommends using a pump, use a pump.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyThe next step was attaching the balloon weights to the ribbon. It was just as easy as it was last year. We actually reused the ribbon from last year - it was enough for a second garland. I left the new one for better times. Since there were an even number of balloons, but one more silver one, I decided to alternate the balloons in order, place a silver one in the middle, and then alternate them in reverse order. But at first, I wasn't paying close attention to which side the attached balloons were landing on, and as a result, I ended up with a not-so-interesting row of white balloons. I had to put in a bit of effort to try and separate them - you can swap the balloons to the other side, but it's not very convenient, and you can't really change it up significantly. So, I'd also recommend paying attention to the assembly of the garland from the very beginning, so the balloons alternate nicely.Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price Party Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyBalloons aren't stuck together with adhesive, and the slight flexibility of the garland lets me adjust balloons that aren't perfectly placed, even when I'm hanging it up. Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyI've hung the garland on a bulletin board that's on my wall. If you don't have something like that, it's unlikely that masking tape would hold the garland in place, and I'd rather not poke holes in my walls with push pins.Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories from Fix Price PartyI decided not to hang the streamer with flags and the "Congratulations" sign. Firstly, it's because it's not going anywhere on the wall. And secondly, as I mentioned earlier, I personally think it's a relic from the past. Although the "Congratulations" option is not just for birthdays, but also for weddings, moving, taking office, or September 1st.

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The Effect

The fully assembled garland looks really impressive and festive on the wall. We inflated the balloons to slightly different sizes to make them look more interesting. And amazingly, it looks even more lush than last year's set, despite having three fewer balloons.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories from Fix Price PartyThe color scheme really stands out to me - white and silver are classic, and the bright blue accents make the garland look more stylish and vibrant. These colors would be perfect for congratulating boys (instead of the usual blue), as well as adult men. The transparent balloons add a sense of lightness to the garland, while the glitter inside them isn't particularly noticeable, as it's more fun to play with and move the balloon around.

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyDecorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - Fix Price PartyIn the string of balloons, the ones I used are staying put pretty well, which is a relief since I didn't have to deal with the ones that only had sticky tape last year, which always seemed to come undone. I was worried that the whole garland would fall apart, but so far, so good!

Right after I hung it up, I was a bit disappointed to see that one of the bright blue balloons popped (although I didn't try to blow them up too much). But by the morning, nothing had deflated, which I guess is a testament to my newfound balloon-hanging skills - I made sure to tie the ribbons extra tight this time!

Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - a Great Value for Money from Fix Price Party Decorations for Parties Made from Balloons and Paper Accessories - a Great Value for Money from Fix Price PartyI was a bit skeptical about reusing the balloons from last year's decorations, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they still looked great. However, after a while, they started to lose their shape and I had to replace them. This time, I decided to go for a more durable option, and I'm glad I did. The new balloons are made of a thicker material and they hold their shape much better. One thing that did catch my attention was the strong chemical smell that came from the balloons. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but it eventually went away. I also had to deal with the hassle of inflating the balloons using a pump, which was a bit of a pain. But overall, the experience was worth it, especially considering the great value for money that Fix Price Party offers.

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My Verdict

✅ Easy to assemble and looks great

✅ Great value for money, especially considering the number of balloons you get

✅ My kid and I had a blast setting it up and using it

❌ Strong chemical smell when you first open the package

❌ Had to use a pump to inflate the balloons, which was a bit of a hassle

❌ The flags and ribbons that came with it felt a bit flimsy and outdated