Easy Valentine's Day Gift For Him: DIY Balloon Candy Gram

One of my favorite things back in the day was getting a candy gram. I thought they were so ridiculously clever and honestly, I used them as the basis for many of my young women camp handouts. I mean who doesn’t love getting candy? Because most guys love a box of candy, this DIY balloon candy gram makes the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for him! Or her.

For Valentine’s Day this year, I decided to take it one step further and combine two of my favorite things – candy grams and balloons – to make the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for him! This fun gift works for pretty much everyone; I just recommend changing up the candy gram sayings you use depending on who you’re giving it to.

The key to this candy gram and what makes it different is the balloons. Anyone can tape a couple of candy bars to a poster board and put it in someone’s room. For this balloon candy gram, you’re going to tie helium filled balloons to candy bars and put the candy sayings on the balloons. The best part about it is that even after they’ve eaten the candy, they’ll still have a bunch of positive messages on the balloons. It’s pretty much the best of both worlds. (Cue Hannah Montana singing…)

Balloon Candy Gram Supplies

Heart shaped balloons
Balloon Time Helium Tank
White vinyl (and an electronic cutter) or white letter stickers
List of sayings below
Balloon string
Candy bars that go along with chosen sayings
Large cardboard box

Sayings for Candy Grams

These balloon candy grams are simple to make, especially because I’ve already put together a huge list of sayings for you. I separated them by who you’ll most likely want to give them to, but feel free to mix it up. I mean you could always tell a friend they’re hot, not just your significant other.

Candy Gram Ideas for a Friend

Life sucks without you – suckers or hard candy
You rock – pop rocks or candy candy
You make me snicker – Snickers
You’re worth 100 grand – 100 grand
You make life good – Mr. Goodbar
You bring joy to my life – Almond Joy
You’re a sweetheart – Sweetarts
Life would be unbearable without you – Gummy Bears
LIfe’s a dud without you – Milk Duds
You make life peachy – Peach Rings

Candy Gram Ideas for A Valentine

You’re hot – Hot Tamales
You make my heart burst – Starburst
You blow me away – Blow Pops
I’m nuts about you – Peanut M&Ms
You’ll always be my baby – Baby Ruth
I’m stuck on you – Gum
I love you to pieces – Reese’s Pieces
There are 1000 reasons I love you – Riesens
You’ve wormed your way into my heart – gummy worms
I love you beary much – gummy bears

Candy Gram Ideas for Kids

You’re smart – Smarties
You’re the best kid in the galaxy – Milky Way
You make me laugh – Laffy Taffy
You’re sweet – Sweetarts
You’re the beary best – gummy bears
I chews you – Big League Chew
You make every day better – Pay Day
You’re a star – Starbursts
You’re a cool Kat – Kit Kat
You’re mounds of fun – Mounds

How to Make a Balloon Candy Gram

Step 1: Add Sayings

First, cut out sayings in vinyl on an electronic cutting machine. Or if you don’t have one, you could always use stickers as well. For this post, I’m going to assume you have access to vinyl and getting vinyl messages cut. If you don’t, skip to step 2.

One word of caution about the vinyl – if you use too much vinyl, it’ll weigh the balloons down and they won’t float. Love can’t be in the air if the balloons aren’t floating. So keep your vinyl words small, I recommend covering less than half the balloon. You’ll still get the impact without dealing with sinking balloons.

Once the vinyl is cut out, use transfer tape to carefully add the vinyl sayings to heart foil balloons. I recommend the foil balloons because they’re more durable than regular balloons, but those would work too if you’re VERY careful. Oh and with the foil helium-ready balloons, you don’t have to tie them. And if you’ve ever tied balloons for a party before, you know how awesome that is.

Step 2: Add Strings to Balloons

Once your sayings are all added, tie a long string to each of the balloons. You want it long enough to double wrap around a candy bar, so the candy bar doesn’t fall out when someone picks up one of the balloons. You can always add the strings once the balloons are blown up if you forget, but it’s much easier to tie a string on a balloon when it’s empty than when it’s trying to float away.

Step 3: Fill Up Balloons

Once your balloons all have strings, blow up the balloons using a Balloon Time Helium Tank. I recommend buying your own Balloon Time helium tank and blowing them up at home so you don’t have to deal with all the weird looks, questions, and double-paying for balloons that you’ve already bought. And having your own Balloon Time Helium Tank on hand means you can fill up balloons whenever you want, even if you’re a last-minute kind of person like I am! Pretty sure I made this candy gram the night before I was giving it to my son.

If you’ve never used a helium tank before, it’s so easy, especially when you’re using foil helium ready balloons. It’s a bit hard to explain in a post, but the Balloon Time box has great instructions for filling balloons, and seriously it’s so simple. Just pull it out of the box, turn on the helium, and fill.

Step 4: Add Your Candy

Next up, take each of your balloons and double wrap the string around the corresponding candy bar to secure it. To double wrap, just wrap the string all the way around the long side then turn your ribbon and wrap it around the short side, securing the two ribbons together to make a little cradle topped with a bow.

Step 5: Deliver Your Candy Gram

And finally, deliver your candy gram. This is the fun part and honestly you can be as creative as you want with how to deliver it, but I like the balloon in a box method. Place all of your balloons in a great big box and seal the box. Give your friend/family/significant other the box and don’t tell them anything but that it’s a present for them, and maybe write “love is in the air” on the box. When they open the box, the helium filled balloons will rise out and into the air for a fun surprise.

If you try this idea out, I’d love to hear about it! I know my son loved his balloon candy gram, so I can’t wait to see how yours turn out!