My favorite balloons to twist
Gudetama
Apr 8th
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. 🙂
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!
Lobster
Mar 1st
She found her lobster! 🙂
Lobster
To make this balloon, I used a few red 260s, one red 160, and one small white round. I used Michael Floyd’s video below to get started, but made some changes here and there, including having a larger body, different antennae, and white round eyes.
I enjoyed learning a new technique from Michael while making the tail.
Happy bride
Feb 15th
Bride
Happy bridal shower to the lovely bride-to-be! I’m so excited for my friend Kirsten and her upcoming wedding.
To twist the hair, check out JocelynBalloon’s princess hair video.
To twist the dress, check out Unicaw89’s princess video.
2019 in review
Jan 3rd
Happy 2020! Wishing you all the best in this new decade.
Here’s a look back at 2019 in balloons. I enjoyed being a part of different celebrations, and being able to bring some balloon art! I also started making giant balloons for the first time this past year. I look forward to more balloon twisting, big and small, in the coming year/decade!
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- Flower wand
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- Birthday cake
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- Giant pumpkin
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- Big heart
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- Raspberry (wearable costume)
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- Unicorn
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- Turtle
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- Octopuses
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- Graduation Owl
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- 50th birthday cake hat
Flower wand
Dec 31st
Flower wand
Happy birthday, K! You’re a super kid!
I had limited time to make a balloon; but I love this wand design from Balloon Sage and finally found an occasion to make it. Check out his video for all the variations.
Birthday cake with flowers
Dec 29th
Happy birthday, W! Can’t believe you’re two already. It was fun celebrating at Chuck E. Cheese’s – I haven’t been there since I was a kid!
This time I decorated the birthday cake with some small flowers (like the one added to the unicorn.) I’ve enjoyed using the chrome color balloons more – kids and adults like them too!
Birthday cake
Giant pumpkin
Oct 31st
Giant pumpkin
Happy halloween! This giant pumpkin balloon was made for a Fall Harvest Party. Afterwards, I fixed the popped balloons and it sat in my living room for a week and was used as a pumpkin playhouse! I removed one balloon in the back so our playhouse could have a window.
Big heart
Oct 28th
Big heart
Happy Birthday to my friend, Carmen! Now you’ve got two big hearts!
Check out Sue Bowler’s instructions for how to make this. It took me about 2 hours. You’ll use 79 Quick Links/Link-O-Loons and 78 5″ balloons. I inflated the balloons to 7″ and 9″, and the resulting heart was humongous (though I was still able to squeeze the balloon into our SUV for transport.)
Raspberry (wearable costume)
Aug 13th
Raspberry (wearable costume)
This wearable raspberry balloon is probably the largest balloon I’ve made (besides the organic balloon arch.) I listed it under “hard” for difficulty, but it’s mostly more time-consuming than hard.
I used 186 balloons, mostly link-o-loons and round balloons. There are 6 horizontal chains and 8 vertical chains of link-o-loons. I added two 260 segments inside for handlebars.
Happy birthday Kirsten!
Unicorn
Jul 23rd
Unicorn
I’ve been wanting to make this unicorn balloon (designed by Jackie Ochitwa, video linked below), and then a friend asked if I could make a unicorn! (Get well soon, K – you’ll be back up and running in no time!) This design uses a couple more advanced techniques, so I put it as “intermediate” in terms of difficulty, but it’s a fun one to make and easy to put together.
The more advanced techniques include: (1) a raisin twist to attach the ears to the head and (2) making curly balloons. I used different sizes from what Jackie uses in her tutorial. I used what I had – 260s for the body; 160s for the hair, horn, and flower; and a 6″ heart for the head.
You could use this design to make ponies from “My Little Pony” as well. I’ve learned ponies and unicorns are quite popular, especially with 4-5 year olds – my cousin’s daughter just asked me for one the other day.
Another turtle
Jul 6th
I’ve twisted turtles before, and here’s another turtle design I like (from Juan Gonzalez.) Can’t have too many turtles!
I used 160 balloons instead of 260 balloons to make this balloon. It’s a quick one to make and super cute (like this tortoise)! I offered this turtle as one of four choices (along with the octopus) at the Kidsrock appreciation event.
Octopus
Jun 5th
Octopuses
The octopus is one really neat animal, so intelligent and interesting. I almost feel kind of bad for enjoying them at mealtime every now and then. In any case, they are a fun balloon animal to make.
I recently bought these 5″ round polka-dotted balloons, and they great to use for making octopuses. For the eyes, I use one 5″ round white balloon, twisted in half. For the green octopus shown, I used one 160 to form the eight arms. You basically twist one ~6″ bubble (or however long you want the first arm to be), followed by six loops twists, with another ~6″ section left for the eighth arm. This design is a nice, quick one, especially if you are twisting for a crowd and/or have less time.
For the blue octopus shown, I used two 160 balloons to form the arms. You can make a curly balloon (which I’m not a pro at yet.) It takes a little more time as you are using two balloons instead of one and making curly balloons, but you can see that the blue octopus looks a little fuller with longer legs. But whichever design you use, both are fun.
Graduation Owl
May 28th
Graduation Owl
Congratulations to my friend Pam on her graduation! I’m so excited for you and your future students!
This graduation owl is similar to the owl I twisted before, designed by TaylorAnnArt. I added a graduation cap to it, attached by twisting an extra pinch twist in the head and tying the cap to it with the other end of the balloon used to form the tassel.
50th birthday cake
May 6th
50th birthday cake hat
A very special happy 50th birthday to our friend Chris, whom my husband and I have enjoyed getting to know these last two years. Here’s a special birthday cake hat with the numbers 5-0 attached using some clear balloons. I added an extra structural balloon segment inside the cake in order to attach the numbers. Happy birthday Chris! What a memorable birthday with such fun stories.
On another note, I can’t believe it’s already May and this is only my first post! Time flies. Hope to have a few more posts soon, especially with many different celebrations coming up.
2018 in review
Jan 1st
Happy 2019!! Here’s a look back at 2018 in balloons. I didn’t post as much throughout the year as in previous years, probably because I spent more time juggling. Also, many of the balloons I twist are ones I’ve made before, so I don’t bother posting about them again. I did twist a lot, and am happy more of my friends are getting into balloon art!
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- Icosahedron variant
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- Penguin with scarf
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- Penguin with hair bow
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- Shield
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- Organic balloon arch
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- Quick rabbit
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- Flower bouquet
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- Flower bouquet in vase
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- Birthday cake
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- Birthday cake
Icosahedron variant
Dec 31st
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
Penguins (again!)
Dec 28th
Penguin with hair bow
This penguin balloon design is a pretty popular one and a design commonly found when you search YouTube (see the Twister Sister video link below.) I’ve twisted this one before. It’s a fun, easy, and quick design, and I’ve probably made over 20 of them this past month – just because it’s the Christmas/winter season and also for E’s birthday. (Happy birthday E!) I’m reposting to show what you can add to the design to make it just a little khooler. 🙂
In the original post, I added a bow tie. Above, I’ve add a hair bow to the penguin. Below, I’ve added a scarf. Each addition is pretty simple and fast, but adds a lot and gives you a way to personalize each penguin.
Penguin with scarf
More pictures of penguins on-the-move! From left to right:
(1) A waddle of penguins ready for transport.
(2) Mr. Penguin traveled with me through the airport on my suitcase.
(3) Mr. Penguin got a window seat next to me. (Free advertising for Southwest.)
Penguins on-the-move
Check out this video from Holly:
Simple shield
Sep 5th
Shield
A balloon sword is fun; having both a sword for offense and a shield for defense is even better! This balloon is fast to make and great for parties. I made these at a kid’s birthday party, which took place at a playground where kids could run around. Kids like being able to choose their own colors.
Check out this video tutorial from Gregg Ka-Zam:
My first organic balloon arch
Aug 20th
Organic balloon arch
For my grandma’s birthday party, my cousin and I put together this organic balloon arch, using tons of balloons and fishing line. I used uninflated balloons to attach the arch to the curtain rods. (If your wall is empty, you can get some small removable sticky hooks to attach to the wall.)
This was the first organic arch (or any arch) I’ve made. It was a lot of fun to do! One tip is to start with smaller balloons on one end and gradually get larger. Also, include a couple really large balloons.
I didn’t think to get a nice photo, but here’s one that was taken on a phone late at night after we finished. We were in a bit of a time crunch, but it worked out well. At the party, we took many photos with the balloons in the background. I’d love to make another one sometime!
A very special happy birthday to my grandma, whom I’m thankful to have in my life, and who defied doctor’s expectations about her health this year.
Rabbit
Aug 10th
Quick rabbit
I often get asked for rabbits or bunnies. Here’s a quick bunny design I like (see video below by Sergey Loginov). It only requires one balloon and one scrap (for the eyes). I used a 160 balloon instead of a 260. I gave one of the rabbits a white tail, as suggested by my husband. 🙂
Check out the tutorial from Sergey:
