Balloon Baboon
It was Keith Flint from the North Essex-based band Prodigy who famously referred to himself as a twisted firestarter. Yet it’s at the opposite side of the same county where this blog post takes us. For from the South Eastern seafront of my beloved county is a sorceress who captures the very air we breathe, manipulates it, shapes it and sells it. A twisted air ballooner, if you will. And like Keith Flint and his cohorts, who transformed the nightclub scene with their infectious take on dance music in the 90s, Balloon Baboon takes the seemingly dull world of balloon modelling and elevates it to a new level that had to be seen to be believed.
The Wrapped Bouquet and Message in a bottle.
I’ve been a long time admirer of Balloon Baboon since I first stumbled across the company on Twitter (even dedicating my Silent Sunday post to their monkey last week). If you follow me there you’ve probably seen me tweeting Jacqueline Gold on a Wednesday afternoon trying to get the company some attention via the #WomenOnWednesday weekly hashtag which the Ann Summers supremo promotes every week.
The site, which can be found at balloonbaboon.co.uk, has pictures of the range of balloons offered by the company, broken down into categories. All you need to do is choose, pay by PayPal and sit back in the knowledge that your choice will be winging it’s way by Royal Mail within a couple of days.
The process of balloon modelling itself is a simple premise. Take a balloon, twist it, and end up with something better than just a balloon. We’ve all seen people making balloon animals, and if you’ve ever tried it, it’s harder than it looks. My attempts at making a balloon dog ended up looking more like a balloon giraffe with two heads - and that was one of my better attempts.
The company mascot, Bubbles, holding the message in a bottle
I’ve ordered from the site a couple of times in the past, and the deliveries have always been quick and on time, and the cost of the product amazing value. It allows you to buy a gift with a twist (ha! Balloon twisting. Geddit?) and given the unusual nature of the product, it always results in a delighted face. In fact, both Alan Carr and Lings Cars have said they are fans!
In fact, I’m such a fan that I approached Julie, the owner and latex-lyricist herself and asked if she minded me reviewing her products for this blog. Having met her a couple of times before, and knowing I was a fan, she quickly agreed, and the conversation culminated in an order for a bunch of Wrapped Bouquet flowers for my girlfriend. Alongside this was the new “message in a bottle” which is being offered on the site, defined by Balloon Baboon themselves as such:
“Everyone loves something a bit different, something they can keep and we think that our new Message in a Bottle is the perfect answer.
So, from now on you can include your message on a little message card or, for a little extra (introductory price of £3.50) we can pop it into one of these cute bottles. Not only that but if you are sending one of our cute balloon characters and they are able to hold it then that is exactly what they will do. A personally delivered message in every sense.”
Close up of the message in a bottle.
I chose my message (which is far too soppy for me to repeat on here), put my order in and requested a delivery date for a couple of days ahead. 48 hours later the box was delivered to my girlfriend, and I was fortunate enough to be there to see her open it. I hadn’t told her that I was getting her anything, and so it was a total surprise. To say she was thrilled is an understatement, and both the bouquet and the message in a bottle now take pride of place in the house. The kids fell in love with them too, especially the monkey which I’d ordered to hold the bottle.
The total cost for the bouquet and the monkey pictured above, including the message in a bottle with hearts or diamonds was £22.95 (plus £3.95 delivery), or £19.45 for the bouquet by itself. For comparison, I looked up flowers on Interflora, and the vast majority of flowers on their homepage are £30 or more. From experience, the balloons will last a few weeks, and though naturally they will start to deflate, they outlast even the strongest-willed flowers, meaning they are excellent value for money.
For regular customers, the company is now offering a loyalty card on orders over £15. The points can be redeemed and used towards discounted delivery or extras that can be added to your next order.
I’m hoping to tie up a competition to win a prize from the company soon, but in the meantime it’s definitely worth checking them out if you want to send a gift that is different to the norm, and something that will make people smile. Julie is one of the friendliest Tweeters around, and will happily chat through your order, and is also often open to a challenge, so if there is something you have in mind which isn’t shown on the website, drop her a message and she’ll let you know how feasible your idea is to put into practice!
You can follow Balloon Baboon on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/balloonbaboon
You can like Balloon Baboon on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/balloonbaboon
Disclaimer: The items were provided free of charge for me to review on the blog. All opinions expressed here are true and honest, and all words are my own. My thanks to everyone at BalloonBaboon.
I love the bouquet!
Donna recently posted…Review: Room To Grow Mini-b Beanbag and Giveaway!
Isn’t it brilliant?
dannyuk recently posted…Balloon Baboon
Twitter: nearlyerica
on January 25, 2014 at 12:00 am
It’s a superb bunch of flowers and still going strong after a week! All my friends have been very impressed 🙂
My idea of HELL. I hate balloons. Hate them. *shudder* Clever though, and quite pretty. Pretty useless comment this eh?
Twitter: tigerfanjane
on January 30, 2014 at 8:22 pm
I wish I could make things like these!
Love these, especially the bouquet 🙂
Love the flowers, amazing , i would love some of them xxx
Personally I would prefer the balloons to real flowers on valentines day or any other day for that matter. Im a strange woman, Im not a fan of flowers, flowers die and then I have to dispose of them and they take up too much room in my bin!!! Least when the balloons deflate they only take up a tiny amount of room in my bin!!! lol!
Good blog by the way!
How cute is that monkey mascot!
Twitter: happyboonisbet
on February 3, 2014 at 8:48 pm
how fab! what a talent
These are amazing. I’ve had a go at balloon modelling and it’s harder than the professionals make it look
Love it they look awesome!
Twitter: robbyprice55
on February 5, 2014 at 12:21 pm
Amazing the flowers look great
Twitter: blondeofcarbs
on February 5, 2014 at 12:49 pm
These are so lovely, what a fantastic idea for valentines xx
these are fantastic i love the the look of them 😀 I couldn’t do it i hate the squeaking noise 😀
I must admit the squeaking would annoy me too!
Oh my! i would love to get these on Valentines Day!
really, really clever!
These are great. Would love to give the valentines flowers to my special man.
They are lovely but they wouldn’t last a minute in my house! My cat hates balloons and would just claw at everyone of them pop pop pop pop lol
these are really unusual but fab
You have an amazing talent.. I’ve once attempted to make a dog with a balloon.. it just wasnt happening! love your stuff x
These are amazing & so cute – you are obviously very talented 🙂
Amazing idea and SO clever. Could just imagine what would happen if I tried to create one of these – *puff* *squeak* *pop* *swear* – yeah, best leave it to the professionals! So much nicer than watching real flowers slowly die on the window ledge too!