My favorite balloons to twist
Easy-intermediate
Penguin
Dec 29th
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.
Penguin
Christmas poop
Dec 25th
Merry Christmas to my peeps from my poops! After making Halloween poop, I started thinking about poop emoji balloons for Christmas. Who knew I’d be making so many of these in 2020. 😀
Hope you all have a restful holiday break!
Christmas poop emoji with holly
Snowman poop emoji
Christmas tree poop emoji
Alien poop
Oct 31st
Alien poop
Alien poop
This is “alien poop,” based on the aliens from “Toy Story.”
I put a short piece of pipe cleaner in the antenna so it could be bent.
Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!
Unicorn poop
Oct 31st
Unicorn poop
I didn’t plan on it, but I’ve been making a lot of poop this week! 🙂
My niece suggested this one – unicorn poop!
I didn’t have a 160 balloon in gold chrome, so I stuffed a 160 inside a 260 gold chrome to get the size and color I wanted. It worked well! I think it helped to hold the twist better too.
Unicorn poop
Ghost poop
Oct 28th
Ghost Poop [emoji]
Since making the pumpkin poop, I’ve been thinking about all kinds of other poop. 🙂 This is ghost poop.
Pumpkin poop [emoji]
Oct 27th
Pumpkin poop [emoji]
Here’s another pumpkin; this time, pumpkin poop! Like the poop emoji, except the pumpkin version. 🙂
Whenever I make things like this, kids or people who are around kids recognize what it is supposed to be more easily than others.
Small pumpkin
Oct 15th
Small pumpkin
I’ve been seeing pumpkins and fall/Halloween decorations pretty much everywhere since the beginning of October!
Last year I made a really large pumpkin balloon, which I would love do again if I can find the time. Here’s a small pumpkin – I really like this cute pumpkin design by Graham Lee. He shows you two different ways to twist the stem – one faster/easier and the more intricate design shown here.
Happy fall!
Orderly Tangle
Aug 10th
Orderly tangle of triangles
I’ve posted about this orderly tangle of triangles before. But it’s a fun one to figure out how to put together, and it looks really cool in chrome, so here it is again! 🙂
Try putting it together yourself! You don’t need to use balloons; you could also use popsicle sticks. Whatever you use, just make sure they are the same length. If you’re interested in these types of structures, check out George Hart’s YouTube channel!
Flower bouquet
Jun 13th
Flower bouquet
It’s been a while since my last flower balloon bouquet. I hope to try making some new types of flowers soon.
I ran out of the glass vases I usually use for flower bouquets, but I found the wide mouth canning jars work great for this purpose. They will fit about 6 stems made out of size 160 balloons.
Happy birthday, Evelyn! Always great to meet new friends!
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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:
Flower bouquets
Aug 5th
Flower bouquets are great for all kinds of celebrations – here’s a couple I made for a baby shower (Congrats T&L!) and birthday (Happy birthday C!)
Flower bouquet in vase
Flower bouquet
Tiger
Dec 30th
Happy Birthday K! This was made for a special birthday girl who loves all kinds of cats!
Tiger
Here’s a quick tutorial from the Terrace Balloon Man.
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 ]
Dragonfly
Apr 18th
Dragonfly
Here’s another fun balloon!
To make this balloon, you’ll need one 260 balloon for the body, two 160s for the wings, and one small round for the eyes. Leave about 2.5″ uninflated for the 260. This balloon is easy to make – there are a few pinch twists, which can be tricky for new twisters. Check out Sergey’s tutorial video.
Owl
Apr 13th
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.
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.