Kate Lawler has hit back at "party Karens" who trolled her for making her own DIY balloon arch.
The ex-Big Brother star turned This Morning presenter took to Instagram to share snaps of her homemade party decorations after admitting she had “never done anything like this before” and was pretty proud of her efforts, particularly as the whole thing cost just £67 rather than the £250 she was quoted by professionals.
She joked: “I’ve never felt more like Stacey Solomon (just not as creative). Anyway after receiving quotes from a few businesses I thought I’d try making my own welcome board and balloon arch for the mother-in-law’s 70th birthday over the weekend.
“I bought the white, folding easel from Amazon for £16.99, which I can use again. The welcome board I bought on Etsy for £30 and the balloon arch kit I bought from my fave new website for party planning, Ginger Ray, for £20. Total cost: £67 Bosh! I realise it’s not as good as the professionals but for a small gathering at your house it totally worked. Feeling proud of myself and feel like I’d do a much better job when I make another now I know what I’m doing. What do we think??? Would you make your own or pay a professional? x”
But while some fans praised her “great work”, others were not so kind and seemed to go a bit overboard in the comments section. One sniped: “As a balloon/prop/decor company that does exactly these sort of set ups – I think you just highlighted why it would be £200 from professionals. Yours does the job but it doesn’t compare.”
Another quipped: “Thanks Kate, considering you obviously know nothing about a professional balloon artist and how much goes into our work. Not just that we put our heart and soul into our business, but it’s also our time. How do you expect us to work for free? Maybe people want to think carefully before criticising how much it actually costs.”
A third chimed in: “You get what you paid for and I think you just seriously dissed all of us balloon artists. Our costs include luxury branded balloons, skill and labour.” While a fourth jibed: “I guess if you’re happy then well done BUT to me it looks bloody awful so so many mistakes but hey ho whatever floats your boat!”
This led one of Kate’s followers to write: “My God. The comments from the balloon people are ridiculous. Have you lot been sniffing the helium?” And in a new post a couple of days afterwards Kate posted another video hitting back at so-called "Karens".
Holding her head in her hands, she said: “Guys, I’m getting absolutely torn apart on Instagram and I can’t cope. I’ve got to have my say, I’ve got to stick up for myself. All I did was buy an easel off Amazon, a welcome board off Etsy and some balloons from Ginger Ray UK. I’m being annihilated. I’m abusing and criticising the balloon arch community. Oh the Karens are out in force!
“You should be ashamed of yourself Kate for not supporting small business! You’ve just shown the internet what kind of person you really are, Kate! I just made my own balloon arch! Honestly, I can’t cope! There are also people out there right, who can’t afford to pay £250 for a balloon arch if they are just having a small gathering at home for 20 people, like I was for Sue’s birthday. The average age was 70. They don’t give a s*** about big balloon arches.” Kate then hilariously danced with the balloons from her homemade arch as she mouthed the words to the song Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down by Kris Kristofferson.
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTubeand Threads
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us atwebcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033