Just sharing a few....

That first one made me go "ah... oh" in a whisper like a little kid!

Nice stuff Glenda! I love Thelma and Twistina's stuff.....

Metina - You are a powerhouse - already weaving!!!

Krystal - Love the beer mug and the uber cute heart wand! perfect pearl bubbles are something I haven't quite mastered!

Ashley - Love the U cat-ipede thing!! Cool!

You are all bad influences!! ha ha ha ha! Ready to break out my balloons again. Mine have been ravaged by the kids! They love them!!! I get so cranky about them using them knowing they average 10 to 50 cents a piece! Facepainting is cheaper per child for sure. And most kids don't come back asking for a new one or another after they get them!!!!!

WyndyO wrote:

You are all bad influences!! ha ha ha ha! Ready to break out my balloons again. Mine have been ravaged by the kids! They love them!!! I get so cranky about them using them knowing they average 10 to 50 cents a piece! Facepainting is cheaper per child for sure. And most kids don't come back asking for a new one or another after they get them!!!!!

Whoa! 10-50 cents EACH??

If you're buying an average bag of Qualatex(100 count) then they cost .05 cents a piece. The expensive ones(like the agates) are something that I only use once in a while, not with every kid! The Betallatex ones(which are 50 count to a bag) cost about .05 each... actually they cost .053, so a fraction over 5 cents... The 350's by Qualatex are .07, almost .08 cents each... so that's a little closer to your estimate but still not quite 10 cents a piece.

So, if you're doing a 3 balloon piece(what I typically make) then you're spending about .15 cents per kid. Say that you do about 15 sculptures in a one hour party and you've spent $6.75 for the party. If you charged $80, then you've still done pretty well for yourself!

Now, that's not including ANY of the other costs... like a pump, gas, sharpies, all that good stuff.. And it isn't as cheap as face painting.. but it's still not a big expense!

The cheapest balloons that I have found on line are from http://www.larocks.com/balloon/balloons.htm If you order over 200.00 worth of balloons there is free shipping and it is the closest thing to whole sale that I have found over the internet.

It actually says $150 for free shipping. Have you ever ordered from them before? There prices are slightly cheaper than Tmyers and free shipping would be nice. But, I have ordered balloons from an outfit in Florida that had free shipping and I got what I paid for. They took forever to ship and didn't have half the stuff in stock. When I got my order they had sustititued Qualatex for many of the Betallatex I had ordered. I wasn't happy.

I've heard good things about Larocks. I haven't ordered from them myself as they never answered my email about shipping costs to Canada and there's a place over in Detroit that sells them for about the same price... so I drive over there to get my balloons.

We have a major distributor here that is a little cheaper but no shipping with me picking it up.. I have heard allot of balloon twisters and clown that order from larocks. I have not heard anything bad from anyone that buys through them.

Good to know. Just placed a large order with Tmyers two days ago, but will try them for the next order.

Megan in SLC wrote:We have a major distributor here that is a little cheaper but no shipping with me picking it up.. I have heard allot of balloon twisters and clown that order from larocks. I have not heard anything bad from anyone that buys through them.

I think you all just made my day I was ordering from Silly Farm, i hope i'll have the same customer servic...gonna order soon for the festivals and summer whoot whoot...

CABBYJ wrote:Where do you guys buy from?

Balloon Supply.com is our supplier. It was a big selling point for us initially that they had an actual store here in town when we first started buying balloons in individual colors. Sadly, they had to close the store this year. For us that means we now have to pay for shipping, rather than just making a trip to the store a couple times each month.

Megan in SLC wrote:The cheapest balloons that I have found on line are from http://www.larocks.com/balloon/balloons.htm If you order over 200.00 worth of balloons there is free shipping and it is the closest thing to whole sale that I have found over the internet.

I love love love LaRocks. The best customer service. The best prices. The nicest people I have ever dealt with. You will be glad that you gave them a try, they are great.

I Love TMyers too, but the prices from LaRocks just can't be beat. Ordering from either place is win win, and they do carry slightly different things.

Jenny

I've ordered balloons from a lot of places. I'm loyal now to Rainbow Balloons now because I usually get them the next day and I place pretty big orders. BUT, I'd like to share what I've found to be the cheapest if you're not ordering over $400.

LaRocks is great because of the free shipping over $150 AND because they offer such a great variety of items from magic & clown supplies, face paint stuff & more.

If you are ordering Just balloons and not over $150 the cheapest I've found is www.BTYDirect.com ( Stands for Balloons To You Direct).

Good Luck.
Patti

Another twister. Awesome! Glad to have you!

I.M STARTING OUT I LOVE DON !!!!! HERE IS A PIC ITS NOT SO GREAT !!