Easy

Gudetama

Gudetama is a “lazy egg,” one of Sanrio’s newer cartoon characters (2014). I made this balloon for my niece’s birthday, although I could not give it to her, as we are all sheltering-in-place during this pandemic. But we were able to celebrate remotely. πŸ™‚

Gudetama, the lazy egg

This balloon is pretty easy to make. Check out Chibicoro Balloons for photos and instructions, and lots of other cute balloons. The text is in Japanese, but you can use Google Translate.

While everyone is at home, Qualatex hosted a week-long online balloon convention, which was really cool. You can check out the recordings on their YouTube channel.

I think we all feel a bit like Gudetama on some days, especially during this pandemic. Hope everyone is doing okay, and staying healthy and safe!

[ Chibicoro Balloons ]

Icosahedron variant

This is the last balloon I made in 2018. Because we were going to watch the ball drop (during the New Year countdown), I thought I’d make something like a ball. Next time I might put a lit round balloon inside. My niece said it’s like a disco ball.

This balloon is a variant of the icosahedron balloon I often make. (I also used it to make the battle mace.) The only difference is that when you twist each unit, you include an extra 3-5″ bubble on each end. Each balloon will be fully used – inflate to almost one inch remaining, and when nearing the end, push the air so that the whole balloon is filled.

Icosahedron variant