For those of you still trying to figure out how to do the ropes for your balloons, and if you don't mind do handwork, here is a link to a video on how to do a rope stitch:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-do...stitch-191564/
I don't remember where I got the link, might have even been on this thread, but it makes a beautiful rope for the balloons. I have spent several days trying to figure out the best thread to use and finally settled on cotton crochet thread. The one I bought has a gold metallic in it that I thought would be neat, but actually doesn't work well, so I just take the metallic part off before I use the cotton thread. It is working beautifully.