Getting Started with the Balloons
So, I had this idea the other day. I really like those huge balloons they have in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. You know, the giant Snoopy, SpongeBob, all those characters floating down the street. Always thought they were cool. I found myself looking at some pictures online and thought, hey, why not put together a little slideshow? Just for fun, something simple to click through.
Finding the Pictures
First thing was getting the pictures. Went online and just started searching. Typed in stuff like “Macy’s parade balloons photos”, “Thanksgiving parade floats”, that kind of thing. Got a whole bunch of results, obviously. Some were great, really clear shots. Others were kinda blurry or taken from weird angles. So, I spent a bit of time just scrolling through, picking out the ones I liked best. Looked for the classic ones, maybe some newer ones too. Downloaded them and put them all into one folder on my computer. Made it easier to keep track.
Putting the Slideshow Together
Okay, got the pictures. Now what? Needed a way to actually make the slideshow. Didn’t want anything complicated. I’ve got that presentation software that comes with most computers, the one for making slides, you know? Decided to just use that. It does the job.
I opened it up, started a new blank presentation. Then, I just started adding the pictures.
- Opened the folder with the balloon pics.
- Dragged the first picture onto the first slide.
- Resized it a little so it looked good, filled most of the slide.
- Made a new slide.
- Dragged the next picture onto that slide.
- Just kept doing that, one picture per slide, until I had used all the ones I picked out.
Ended up with maybe 20 slides. Seemed like a good number.
Adding Some Simple Touches
It looked okay, but a bit plain. Just pictures. Thought maybe I should add the names of the balloons. So, I went back through each slide and added a little text box at the bottom. Typed in “Snoopy”, “Pikachu”, “Olaf”, whatever the balloon was. Kept the text simple, easy to read.
Also made a quick first slide, just a title. Something like “Macy’s Parade Balloons”. Nothing fancy.
I messed around with transitions for a minute, like having the slides fade or wipe. But honestly, it just seemed like too much fuss. Decided to keep it simple, just cut from one picture to the next. Sometimes basic is better, right?
Finishing Up
Last thing was setting the timing. Didn’t want to have to click through manually every time. Went into the settings and made it so each slide stays up for about 5 seconds before automatically going to the next one. Played it back to test. Yeah, 5 seconds felt about right. Enough time to see the balloon properly.
Saved the whole thing. Gave it a simple name like “Macy’s Balloon Show”. Clicked play one more time from the beginning. Watched it run through. Yep, that’s exactly what I wanted. Just a simple little slideshow of those cool parade balloons. Took maybe an hour, start to finish. Pretty straightforward process, really. Just grabbing pictures and putting them in order. It’s nice to have them all in one place to look at.
