MORRISTOWN, Minn. — When dairy farmer Clarissa Kuball tried making a kit balloon arch from Amazon in 2021 for her daughter’s first birthday, it did not go well.
“I wanted to have that Pinterest look,” Kuball said. “I spent hours on a little tiny section of balloons, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this again for next year.’”
After her first bad balloon experience, Kuball said she wished there was someone who created balloon decor professionally.
“I didn’t really think it was a thing until I started looking at professional brand balloons and looking up who did certain setups on Instagram,” Kuball said.
Kuball is a full-time dairy farmer at her family’s farm, Du-Ayr Dairy, near Faribault. There, alongside her parents, Paul and Audrey Duban, and brothers, Chad and Scott, Kuball cares for their 160-cow herd.
Kuball started practicing and gradually grew her skills by watching tutorials and vlogs on Instagram and YouTube. In May 2023, after receiving requests for estimates wondering what her balloon art would cost or whether she could do specific projects, Kuball decided to file as a business with the state of Minnesota, and Kuballoons was born.
“It’s a creative outlet for me,” Kuball said. “I can think about that instead of thinking about farming all the time, (or) being a mom. It takes me away.”
On the farm, Kuball is in charge of cow management and chores as well as computer work. The herd at Du-Ayr Dairy is milked with two robotic milking units. The mom of two brings her daughters, 4-year-old Hallie and 8-month-old Rilah, to the farm to be with her while she works because her husband, Chris, works full time for the highway department as well as crop farming and contract raises hogs. Grandma Audrey also helps with the girls.
“It’s hard some days,” Kuball said. “They’re with me five days a week.”
Kuball works on Kuballoons during her free time, mostly in the evenings, in the basement of her home near Morristown after she gets back from the farm.
“Blowing up the balloons and sitting down here, sometimes by myself, sometimes the girls are with me down here too … it’s a stress reliever,” she said.
Kuball said her daughters are why she does her business, so she likes to keep them involved. Some of her favorite memories are of Hallie helping her blow up balloons or wanting to go help her do a setup.
Demand for her balloon art varies on the seasons. Popular birthday months are busy as well as June for graduation parties. Kuball offers both grab-and-go garlands that customers can pick up at her home as well as larger arches and balloon decor that she sets up at the venue. Kuball does 3-4 jobs a month, plus more during busy months. She limits herself to one setup per weekend.
“I don’t want to take too much time away from my family,” Kuball said. “I don’t want to spend my whole night doing that when I come home either. I try to find a balance.”
Kuball makes balloon decor for any party or celebration. She has done showers, business events, birthdays, graduation parties and homecoming at Owatonna High School, which was her favorite event so far.
Customers start their inquiries through her website. After establishing a budget and other basic information, Kuball prepares the design with a color collage taken from their inspiration pictures or invitation color scheme. Once an invoice and deposit have been received, Kuball orders balloons and supplies.
Kuball’s basement houses her large collection of clear plastic bins filled with balloons. Kuball buys professional-grade balloons made of thicker, higher-quality latex.
“That’s why they last so long,” Kuball said. “They’re not just going to deflate right away or pop.”
One foot of garland is about six balloons. A cluster uses five, 11-inch balloons and one 17-inch balloon. Grander displays also use larger and smaller balloons. Balloons are tied together with their necks, not stuck to a piece of sticky tape like balloon garland kits have, Kuball said. Also, she said many balloon arch/garland kits contain balloons all the same size. However, she uses different-sized balloons to create dimension.
Kuball also maintains an inventory of rental backdrops and other pieces that her husband made for the business.
For a balloon arch, which is her most popular piece, Kuball spends 2-3 hours at home with her machine blowing up the balloons. Balloons are inflated and then some of the air is released to round them for a professional look. The whole project will also include another two hours of set up at the venue plus time for any ordering, inventory work and communicating with clients beforehand.
“There’s a lot of time involved,” Kuball said. “I don’t really make much money. I mostly invest it back into my stuff.”
Kuball has grown her business via word of mouth and social media, both her own posts and others sharing her work.
“It’s slowly gotten more and more as my name has gotten out there,” Kuball said. “It hasn’t just blown up overnight.”
Right now, Kuball feels comfortable with her volume of business. She wants to balance Kuballoons between being a hobby and hustle and said she does not want this to be a full-time job.
“I want to keep enjoying it,” Kuball said. “I don’t want it to be something that I get sick of or something. I want it to keep being fun.”
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