‘Bigger, better and impossible to miss.’ This business transforms balloons into spectacular pieces.
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — A husband-and-wife duo is transforming events with impressive balloon artistry, and they are always willing to take on a creative challenge.
Shasti and Ryan Ballard own BLOW IT UP! Parties based in Idaho Falls, and opened the business in 2018. Shasti makes custom balloon arches and garlands. Ryan twists balloons to create animals and characters.
“It all started as a hobby for me back in 2015 when my oldest daughter got pregnant. She found stuff on Pinterest that she liked, and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll teach myself how to do this,'” Shasti said.
Her daughter wanted two baby-bottle balloon columns with helium-filled balloons that looked like pacifiers and rattles.
Shasti did it and decided to continue and create pieces for families. She was getting really good at what she was making out of balloons. Ryan eventually left his full-time work at Kit’s Foundry in Shelley, where he had been for almost 30 years, and decided they should start a business together.
“There was nobody else doing it around here. I looked on Pinterest once we started and I was like, maybe I should learn how to twist balloons. I had never even seen Pinterest before, so it was all new to me. A lot of practice and something just clicked in my head that I can make anything,” Ryan said.
They make event decor for any occasion, including birthdays, baby showers, weddings, grand openings, school events and corporate parties.
“We do arches, columns, garlands, stuffed balloons, treat cups and marquees. I mean, if they can think it, we can usually make it,” Shasti said.
Shasti and Ryan have been married for almost 33 years, have four kids, and grandbaby number nine is on the way. They work well together in the business and can always bounce ideas off each other.
BLOW IT UP! Parties have been getting better and better each year, and this has been the busiest summer yet.
They’ve teamed up with other businesses and nonprofits for events and have worked with the City of Ammon on numerous occasions.
BLOW IT UP! Parties have been a part of “Movies in the Park” this year, which has been running through the summer. The theme has been Disney movies, and they’ve created characters for A Bug’s Life, Hercules, and Aladdin.
“I love the detail in it, how you can get so much detail in balloons to make it look real,” Ryan said.
Shasti said her favorite part about creating balloons for events is the joy and smiles it brings to people. Ryan said their faces light up.
“The happiness that they bring to people, especially the kids. I mean, we’ve had them take a balloon and kiss it. It just melts your heart, and that’s why we do it,” she said.
“We were at an event a few years ago and there was an 80-year-old lady. She’s like, ‘I want a monkey.’ So I made a monkey, and she put it on her shoulder and carried it around. It makes people happy. It’s fun,” Ryan added.
Both Shasti and Ryan have also made lifelong friendships within the business. Ryan said when they first began BLOW IT UP! Parties, they met a mother and her daughter. The daughter was getting married. They did balloon decorations for her wedding.
Later, they decorated for her baby shower. Throughout the years, they’ve been able to make balloons for them on holidays and birthdays.
The possibilities are endless with what they can make. They’ve done crosses for baptisms, flags for people going on church missions and even things you wouldn’t even dream of that can be turned into balloons.
“Our goal is simple: take the stress off you and create something people will remember,” Shasti said in an online video.
They described that their balloons at parties are “bigger, better and impossible to miss.”
“We make your vision come to life and photo-worthy,” Ryan said in the video.
If you are interested in knowing more about BLOW IT UP! Parties, you can contact the business by calling (208) 589-3613 or emailing blowitupparties18@gmail.com. Delivery is offered with a fee, anywhere from Pocatello to Rexburg.
Below are a few pictures of their work. Check out more in this photo gallery online.
