My favorite balloons to twist
Reptiles
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.
Dinosaur
Apr 23rd
Dinosaur
I’ve been looking for some dinosaur designs, and here’s one that I like. It only takes one 260 balloon for the body and one white scrap for the eyes. It took me a few tries to get the right amount of air in the balloon – I ran out of space to twist and had to decrease the amount of air. Check out Sergey’s tutorial video! Great for line work!
[ Sergey’s tutorial video ]
Turtle
Apr 8th
Turtle
Happy Birthday to my niece!
Here’s a nice turtle you can make with just four balloons. To make this balloon, you’ll need one green 260 for the turtle head and body, one green 260 scrap for the front two limbs, one brown 260 for the shell (four bubbles,) and one small white round for the eyes. I added a heart at the end.
One-balloon dinosaur
Mar 20th
T-Rex dinosaur
This one-balloon dinosaur (T-Rex) by Rob Driscoll is another fun and fast balloon. You’ll need a black marker to give the dinosaur sharp, scary teeth and eyes.
Check out Rob’s blog – he’s quite a talented balloon artist and photographer, and has been doing a creative series of “Twisted Cinema” balloon posts.
[ Rob Driscoll’s free tutorials ]
Leonardo from TMNT
Mar 15th
Leonardo from TMNT
Happy Birthday to my super energetic and fun nephew! His favorite Ninja Turtle is Leonardo, the leader of the team!
I’ve made Donatello before, following instructions from balloonmodels.com. This time, I figured out a different design.
To make this balloon, I used a green 350 for the head (with the same design as before), a brown and a goldenrod 260s for the shell, green 160s for the arms, a green 350 for the legs, two gray 160s for the swords, and brown 160s for the arm bands and leg bands. I had meant to take a picture of the new design of the shell, but forgot! I finished the balloon by using a a white paint marker and black marker for the face.
Tortoise
May 6th
Tortoise
Here’s a couple tortoises I made by following a video from Rob Driscoll of mydailyballoon.com. The video is quite easy-to-follow! Check out mydailyballoon.com, which has a ton of excellent balloons.
The larger tortoise is made using 260 balloons (as seen in the video); the smaller one I made using 160 balloons. The smaller one has five bubbles for the shell instead of four.
Smaller tortoise
BTW, do you know the differences between a tortoise and a turtle?
Donatello (from TMNT)
Oct 31st
Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Happy Birthday Matt! I was trying to think of a popular cartoon character from my childhood to make and thought of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I watched this cartoon every Saturday morning, as well as played the video games.
To make this balloon, check out this balloonmodels.com blog post for step-by-step instructions. I mostly followed the instructions, but not exactly. I used one 260 green for the legs, one 260 green for the arms, part of a 260 green for the head, a purple 160 scrap for the mask, part of a yellow (golden rod) 260 for the chest, a brown 260 for the shell, and a brown 160 for the staff. If I make this one again, I’ll change the design slightly.
Turtles
May 22nd
Mommy turtle and hatchlings
Here’s a mommy turtle with two little baby turtle hatchlings. I’m currently running low on green 260 balloons, so I used a 350 to make the shell using a three-bubble roll through, and a 160 for the flippers and feet. This design is based on another design I saw a few years ago (the owner has taken that youtube video down since then.)
Froggies! (and snake)
Nov 18th
Frogs and snake
I’ve seen some different frog designs, and here’s a pretty simple one that I like. It uses a green 260 balloon for the frog body, and a bit of yellow or white (you can use a leftover scrap) for the eyes.
See the video here. (The person in the video has also made many other videos which are available from the same site, and are worth a look.)
Comments on the video instructions: You will want to leave about a 4.5 inch tail when blowing up the green balloon. I quickly ran out of “balloon” and had to make sure not to make any bubbles too large. If you do find that you’ve run out of balloon, you can just make the two legs from a second green balloon and then attach them.
To make a simple snake: just make the head of the frog. When blowing up the balloon, leave a smaller tail (around 1.5 inches), as you won’t be making as many twists. After making the head, bend the rest of the balloon into a zig-zag shape. Push the air into the uninflated part of the balloon. I also attached an uninflated piece of leftover red balloon for the snake tongue.
[ Video instructions by Dale Obrochta ]
