Balloon hats

This year, I’ve made more balloon hats. They are just fun, and perfect for the birthday person! Here’s a couple recent ones I made for some special birthday people! (And look! I found a way to use my basketball during this pandemic!)

Balloon hat using Qualatex neon balloons

Happy birthday, S!

These are both six-sided hats. The more sides, the more balloon you have to use after building the base. These are also easier than making the birthday cake hat, which requires more twisting, tying of knots, and other details.

Balloon hat

Happy birthday, T!

Small pumpkin

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!



Bicycle

Bicycle

I’ve really enjoyed being outside this summer and fall, as I’m sure many have been during this pandemic. This balloon was made for a friend that I went biking with this summer, something I loved doing as a kid and haven’t done in a long time!

I followed Vyacheslav’s tutorial to make this balloon (linked below.) I’ve also made a tandem bicycle based on this design before.

Orderly Tangle

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!



Celtics hat

Green/gold (Celtics) hat

Happy birthday, Marc! Here’s a green and gold birthday hat (Celtics colors) for the birthday boy, who is a big Boston sports fan.

I was a little short on time, so I went with a five-sided hat instead of six sides. Next time I make a hat like this, I will inflate the green balloons a little less, so that I can use the ends in the same way I used the gold balloons. I will try to keep track of how much is left uninflated.

Can’t wait till live sports are back on (whenever that may be and when it is safe)!

Peppa Pig

Peppa Pig

I followed Sergey Loginov‘s videos to twist this balloon. I substituted a heart for the big round balloon.

This design uses quite a few interesting techniques, especially for the head. The ears are attached on the inside, by tying them after turning the head balloon inside out (similar to how the cherry is attached to the ice cream cone balloon, and how the orange carrot nose is attached to Olaf.) The head also has two balloons inside of it, to help achieve the shape of the head. I’m not anywhere near a master at manipulating balloons inside balloons yet, but I hope to get better at it!

I use dry erase markers when I can to draw the face – then I can erase if needed. But sometimes I only have certain colors in permanent markers.

Happy birthday, S!

Birthday cake

Birthday cake [hat]

A special birthday cake for a very special girl. Happy birthday!
This was the first time I used metallic colors for a birthday cake – I like how they look!

Hope everyone is doing okay, especially during this difficult time with the coronavirus. Hang in there and stay safe! Life has changed so much in many ways. Now, whenever I hear cars honking, I first think that it must be someone’s birthday!

Flower bouquet

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!

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. 🙂

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 ]

Jeep

A very special happy birthday to D, who turned 16 and got a car. 🙂 Well, a balloon car for now.

Jeep

This one is a jeep, it even has a spare tire in the back. I wanted to add more detail, but was crunched for time.
It’s always a balance. (If I wanted to get things perfect, I might not ever get anything done!) I had fun making this one!

Happy birthday, D!

Lobster

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.



2019 in review

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!