Stuffed Balloons Filled with Gifts: The Most Effective Ways and Coolest Ideas

Stuffed balloons can be tricky. Here's how to stuff a balloon with gifts - the three best methods and plenty of great stuffed balloon ideas.9 min


Last updated on August 4th, 2023

Stuffed balloons or stuffed balloons filled with gifts very effectively add extra wonder to the gift-giving occasion. 

Whenever you want to add a flair of extravaganza to any party or event, add some of these stuffed balloon gifts to your decorations, and you get something straight out of the world. Just imagine your guests popping these balloons and gifts of various kinds falling out of them. 

However, there are some technical challenges to making this happen as most of the balloons to fill with gifts available in the market are difficult to use and/or too thin to hold your preferred gifts. 

To overcome these challenges, we have done extensive research to find out how to fill a balloon with gifts so that you can plan your dream party or gift-giving event with as less hassle as possible.

We have found the three most effective ways. First of all, the easiest but the most expensive option.

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The Easiest But the Most Expensive Option for Stuffing Balloons

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This balloon-stuffing machine is one of the most highly-rated machines available in the market. If you do a bit of research online, you will see that most other available options have a lot of negative reviews, but not this one. 

However, the issue is that almost all available balloon-stuffing machines are quite expensive. But if you buy this one recommended here, your task of filling gifts inside balloons will become much easier and faster. 

The machine enables you to stretch and inflate the balloon and then easily pop in any gifts that you would want to insert into the balloons. For clear instructions, see the video on the product page by clicking on the Check It Out button above.  

Don’t be afraid to play with it and destroy a balloon or two before you get the hang of it. 

This machine is 17 inches in diameter. So, you can use it to stuff all of the most common sizes of latex and Bobo balloons. The 5-inch wide neck and protective sleeve make it easy to stuff the balloon with almost anything that can fit through the 5-inch open area. 

This machine comes loaded with eight stuffing balloons you can fill with gifts, but if you need more, here are your best bet: 

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Here’s another similar machine that’s much cheaper in price. It’s much smaller compared to the one above. It was mainly created as a plaything for the kids. But if your balloon stuffing needs are not extensive, this can very well work for you on a tight budget. 

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This machine comes with 12 balloons included in the package. But remember that the manufacturer recommends only Stuffaloons balloons to be used with this machine, so buy this extra pack for more balloons. 

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Now, another easy option but in a much more affordable way. 

Two-Way Stuffed Balloons: Most Cost-Effective and Efficient

Most of the balloons to fill with gifts available rely on the cutting and resealing technique, which is a hassle and requires you to have a sealer. Also, the market is saturated with subpar balloons that easily get deflated or don’t last long. 

But with these two-way balloons, there’s no need to cut open the balloon only to seal it again with a sealer. 

This is a very innovative way of creating stuffed balloons. These two-way balloons are specifically made for filling in gifts inside them. That’s why they have a separate entry point specifically made for inserting gift items.  

The couple of options that we have chosen here for you have the most positive reviews. 

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Also, you can use much bigger balloons than you can do with the stuffing machines mentioned above. 

There are 22 to 30 inches balloons available. 

The opening for filling in the gifts is also much larger than the machine option balloons. 

Image showing the bigger opening of a two-way stuffing balloon
The bigger opening of a two-way stuffing balloon

If you buy one of these recommended balloons, you will get an opening of 7.9 inches, which is pretty great for easily fitting through most of the possible gift items. 

Just make sure you tightly tie up the larger opening before inflating the balloon through the smaller one. And then, tie that one up tightly as well.  

At this stage, you will need balloon deflators to easily and quickly fill the balloons with air.

Here are two best balloon deflators available in the market right now: 

Electric Balloon Pump 

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If you already have an inflatable household item, like an inflatable lounger or a pool, at home, there’s a chance that you might already have an inflator like this. 

However, if you do not have anything like that, then get this one for a pretty affordable price. 

Just put the balloons on the designated nozzle, and it will start to inflate with a press of a button. 

Hand-Held Balloon Pump 

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Now, if you want an option that’s much more affordable, then you can’t get anything better than this hand-held balloon pump. 

It’s also quite easy to inflate a balloon with this pump. Just insert the nozzle into the balloon. Hold the opening tightly onto the nozzle so that no air passes away while you pump.

What’s great about these inflators is that they pump air both on the up and the downstroke allowing your balloons to inflate twice as fast.

Cutting and Resealing Balloons

If you really want to stuff bigger gifts, then cutting and resealing the balloons is the only option. 

For this, you will need traditional stuffing balloons with one opening, like these two:

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Both these are the best available based on customer reviews. The only downside is that they are not pre-stretched, so stretch them well before using; as one reviewer mentions, “Stretch it as your life depends on it”.

Now cut the upper end of the balloons like this:

Image showing the area to cut open to fill a balloon with gifts

Fill in with the gifts you want to use through the opening you have just created.

Seal the open end with the sealer like this:

Image showing how to re-seal the opening of the balloon

You will have to use these large sealers for the best results: 

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Then inflate the balloon using your preferred method.  

Okay then, we have all the materials needed to sort out the balloon part of the how to stuff a balloon equation. Now it’s time to get into the gifts aspect of things. 

What Kind of Gifts to Use for Filling a Balloon

If you are planning to stuff soft items like plush toys, flowers, smaller balloons, etc., then you will not need any other accessories. However, if you want to gift items that are hard with sharp edges, here’s a magic idea for you to make this gift in a balloon thing work for you!

Buy any of these round gift boxes or empty capsule balls, depending on the size of your gift items.

Round Gift Balls 

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With the 2-inch and 3-inch options, you have a lot to choose from. You can even put pointy objects like Beyblades into your balloons by first putting them inside these clear round balls. 

Whenever you feel like your selected gift items have a chance of piercing the inflated balloons, put them in these balls and then throw the balls in the balloons. 

Round Gift Boxes

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Use these round gift boxes for larger gift items that the balls above can’t accommodate. 

There are multiple sizes of boxes available to suit your specific needs. The largest one is around 7.5 inches wide, making it suitable for use with the two-way stuffing balloons featured above. 

Both these kinds of gift-carrying balls or boxes will not harm your balloon, and you will easily be able to stuff all the gifts of varying shapes and sizes into your balloon. 

Gift Bags

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Although we recommend using the balls or the boxes for the best balloon stuffing experience, you can also throw in these gift bags for the sake of design preferences and create a variety of stuffed balloons. 

You can even put any type of hard items with any kind of edges, such as candy bars, key rings, jewelry, or whatever you like, as long as they fit into one of these balls and boxes and comfortably get through the balloon opening. 

So, this brings us to stuffed balloon ideas. Exactly what kind of gifts performs the best for stuffed balloons? 

Stuffed Balloon Gifts – 20 Cool Ideas

With the innovative and out-of-the-box thinking of using transparent gift balls and round boxes, you can basically use any gift that you want that fits the size constraints. 

Here are a few items that we have put together to help you with brainstorming. Or, you can just buy some of these without putting any more time and effort into thinking, as we have done the due diligence while picking these gift ideas.  

Click each of the items to check out your options. Mix and match to your heart’s content! 

1. Small Dolls

An Assortment of Small Dolls
Put the edgy ones inside the gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

2. Toys

An Assortment of Small Toys
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

3. Candies

An Assortment of Candies
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

4. Bracelets

An Assortment of Bracelets
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

5. Necklaces

An Assortment of Necklaces
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

6. Keychains

An Assortment of Keychains
A great option for using with the gift ball and boxes

7. Hair Clips

An Assortment of Hairclips
A great option for those gift balls

8. Baby Dresses

An Assortment of Baby Dresses

9. Earrings

An Assortment of Earrings
Definitely put these inside the gift balls shown above

10. Gift Cards

An Assortment of Gift Cards
Put these inside the round gift boxes before stuffing them inside the balloons

11. Small Scented Candles

An Assortment of Small Scented Candles

12. Cosmetics

An Assortment of Different Cosmetics Items
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

13. Fidgets

An Assortment of Fidget Toys
Put the edgy ones inside a gift ball or box (shown above) before stuffing in the balloon

14. Mini Notebooks

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Put inside the gift box of bag as shown above

15. Small Purse

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Multiple color and design variations available

16. Toilet Timer

Katamco The Original Toilet Timer (Classic), As Seen on Shark Tank. Funny Gift for Men, Husband, Dad, Son, Birthday, Christmas, Stocking Stuffer.

A funny gag gift to put inside the stuffed balloons (Use with the ball or box option)

17. Lip Balm

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18. Sunglasses

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19. Cute Socks

An Assortment of Cute Socks

20. Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers

Three different kinds of smartwatches

Check out our exclusive buying guides on preppy things to buy, aesthetic things to buy, ASMR stuff to buy, and cute things to buy for more possible stuffed balloon ideas.

Other Stuffed Balloons Accessories

Here are all the accessories that you might want to add to your stuffed balloon-making adventure to make your creations extra beautiful

Confetti

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Smaller Balloons

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Feathers

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Origami Paper Stars 

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Loose Sequins 

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Fake Dollar Bills and Coins

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Tape for Sticking the Balloons

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Artificial Vine Fake Leaves for Binding and Hanging

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7 Sets Balloon Stand Kits  

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Ribbons

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Stuffing Paper

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Various Balloon Stuffers

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Whether it’s a birthday party, Christmas party, or any other event involving kids or adults, stuffed balloons filled with gifts and goodies never fail to impress. 

We hope our effort to bring out the best tools, methods, and gift ideas for stuffed balloons has enabled you to create the dream stuffed balloon ideas into reality. 

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