Another penguin balloon to start off the new year! 🙂 Penguins are just the best.
Also, I have a lot of black and white balloons (but running low on orange.)
Happy birthday, Angela!
Penguin with flower
Category: Birds
Polka-dotted penguin
Congratulations to my friend Amy Moy on the publication of her wonderful children’s book The Polka-Dotted Penguin, a book about celebrating differences, inclusion, and kindness. Available on Amazon, as well as other bookstores. Also check out Evie the Extraordinary’s YouTube channel!
Learn more about Amy and her daughter Evie, and their story on their web site!
Penguin with Christmas tree
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
I know it’s been another tough year, and things have been difficult.
Here’s a penguin with a Christmas tree, wishing you a wonderful holiday, filled with peace, rest, connection, and great joy! We will get through this together!
Thank you for hosting us, S&M, when we couldn’t do what we originally planned for Christmas. So wonderful to spend the evening with y’all! Our friend named this penguin, Wilbur! Doesn’t it kind of look like a Wilbur? 🙂
Penguin
Penguins are one of animals I have twisted so many different versions of. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of more penguin designs. Plus, I usually have so many black and white balloons to use up. This super cute penguin is designed by the super talented Lily Tan. Instead of giving it a bow, I gave it a heart balloon to hold.
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.
Penguins (again!)
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.
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.)
Check out this video from Holly:
Owl
Here’s a super cute owl, based on a design by TaylorAnnArt. Check out her video (shown below), where you’ll see instructions for both a simple version and an advanced version of this balloon. You’ll also see how it can be worn as a bracelet.
Penguin wearing a Santa hat
Hope everyone is enjoying the end of 2016. I am off from work and have had the chance to do a little more twisting – I plan to get a few more posts in this year. I made a couple of these cute Christmas penguins to put in some gift bags last week.
To make this balloon, you’ll need a black 260, a white 260, a red 260 (scrap), and orange and white 160 scraps. I followed Vyacheslav’s tutorial video. He also adds a Christmas tree and present to the penguin balloon. Penguins are a great balloon to make – they are popular birds, super cute, and a great way to use up any extra white and black balloons.
Birds
Here’s my try at a simple one balloon bird. The bird design by Twistina is super cute, but I wanted a simpler bird.
The large bird to the right in the picture above is made with a single 260 balloon. You won’t need the entire balloon, and I wrapped a portion of the uninflated balloon around the body to hide it, before finishing off the balloon with the tail.
The two birds on the left are made with 160 balloons. As shown, you can easily add a different color for the beak and/or feet, if you are not in a rush. Using just a yellow/orange bubble for the beak will add a lot.
Bird (using a Geo Blossom)
This bird design by Brian Walendziak is super cute! I’ve been trying to figure out other ways to use geo blossom balloons. This design uses a geo blossom balloon turned inside out.
I made a couple small changes – the back of the balloon is all purple. Instead of twisting a cluster of four white bubbles, I used a purple 260 for two bubbles and a white 260 for two bubbles (Brian suggests using four white bubbles to save time.) You also don’t need to twist a bubble to attach the beak. You can just wrap the knot around the balloon where you want to attach it. If you do twist a cluster of four white bubbles, you could make the bird have a face on both sides.
Happy Penguin Awareness Day!
Happy National Penguin Awareness Day!
Quick quiz:
Are penguins birds or mammals?
Penguins live only in cold temperatures: True or False?
Penguins can travel as fast as 15mph: True or False?
More penguins
More penguins! I like penguins, and I also have a plethora of black balloons, so I made more penguins. 🙂
To make this balloon, you’ll need one black 260, one orange 160, and one scrap white 260. This penguin balloon is a slightly modified version of the birds I made before (based on Twistina’s design). You can inflate the black balloon leaving about 3 inches uninflated. You’ll make one less bubble for the body, and will add the white balloon in the front. For the penguin on the right, I also added an extra twist where I attached the beak.
Don’t be surprised if you see more penguin balloons in a future post!
A simpler penguin
D and I met up with some friends visiting from out of town today, and they have two kids. What balloon can you make when aren’t sure what to make? Penguins! Everyone loves penguins!
I’ve made my own penguin design before, but today I tried a simpler penguin design from the Twister Sisters.
This penguin design is a pretty good design for beginners. You don’t need to worry about making sure you inflate/twist the balloons exactly the right length because you won’t use the entire balloon.
You will need three balloons – a black 260, a white 260, and an orange 260. I also used a blue 160 scrap for a bow-tie.
Check out this video from the Twister Sisters to learn how to make this penguin!
Hummingbirds
This hummingbird has a very similar design to the butterfly. I saw this design in Marvin Hardy’s Advanced 260 Balloon Magic book.
The hummingbird is easier to make than the butterfly. There is one less twist for the wings. You’ll leave a couple inches of uninflated balloon for the beak.
In the picture is a blue hummingbird made with a 260 balloon and a second smaller pink one made using half of a 160 balloon.
Mr. Penguin and snow!
This year, Atlanta experienced its first white Christmas since 1882! I remember always wishing for a white Christmas as a child (but now I get tons of snow living in the Northeast.) We got maybe almost 2 inches of snow, and many churches were closed due to the icy roads.
During our family Christmas Eve dinner, some of my cousins suggested I make a penguin balloon. So, being “snowed in” this morning, I took some black, white, and orange balloons and decided to give it a try. I designed this penguin balloon off the top of my head. Below is the resulting Mr. Penguin, playing in the historic Atlanta snow!
To make this penguin, I used two small white 5″ round balloons, two black 260s, an orange 160 (scrap), an orange 260 (scrap), and a red 160 (scrap).
First, I used one (entire) black 260 (inflated with a 4″ tail) to make the head and the first loop for the body. The eyes are made from a white round not fully inflated, twisted in half. The white part of the body is a white round. I then used the second black 260 for the back of the penguin body and tail (you don’t need to use the whole balloon.) The beak is a very small scrap of orange balloon, and the feet and bow tie from 160 scraps. I’m pleased with my first try at a penguin.
One-balloon parrot
This parrot (sitting on a perch) is one of my favorite one-balloon animals to make. It is fast (faster than the dog!) and easy – only requiring about 4 twists, and looks very much like a parrot. If the outside loop (perch) is too small, you can have a kid wear it so that it looks like the parrot is sitting on the kid’s arm/shoulder. Just twist the balloon so that the bird is not in the circle and have a kid put his or her arm through the loop (with the bird sitting on top.)
Birds
Yesterday was my last SS class with the 4-5 year olds – they’ll be moving on to the Kindergarten class next week! They have grown so much! I made the birds above as a little gift.
Last Day of SS
We didn’t have a formal lesson, so I made up some different activities. After a review game, I talked about God’s creation and showed some pictures I had taken recently of some plants and insects, as well as pictures of my family (they happened to be in the same pile and the kids were interested,) and ended with a picture of the class.
Afterward, I brought out the balloons and made a couple simple animals, which the kids enjoyed. (Some of the kids started repeating “I want a ….” so I put the balloons away. My funny assistant replied “I want a hamburger” making the kids laugh.) I asked if they thought these animals I just made were special, and they said yes, as expected. Then, I reminded them that God created each of them and they were all super special!
Making the birds
You’ll need one 160 and one 260. I followed the directions by Twistina. (Really nice instructions and photos!) It took longer than I expected. Adding detail, such as the legs and beak, adds more time, but they sure do look really nice and colorful. It ended up taking me about 15 minutes a bird after I got the hang of it (and some popped balloons.) I was excited to use my 160s for the first time.
I simplified the design of some of the birds: I didn’t add the pinch twist at the tail for some. Also, if I had just the right amount of air left after forming the head, I didn’t break off the last bit of the balloon. I would hide that last air bubble inside the body, or make it into a little chin under the beak, which also looks pretty cool.
To make the eyes: I drew eyes with regular markers on the leftover white part of a sticker sheet and then cut them out. I added a little color to some of the eyes (although you probably can’t see it in the picture.) You can draw the eyes directly onto the balloon with a Sharpie, but I liked the look of having the white part of the eyes. You can also add eyebrows or eyelashes.
I made all the birds the day before, as I knew I wouldn’t have time to make them all during class (about 12-15 kids).
The birdies here are all packed up and ready to go, and they each survived the trip just fine.