My favorite balloons to twist
2013 in review
Jan 1st
Happy New Year everyone!
I’m looking forward to 2014, and wish you all the best!
Here’s a quick look back at 2013…
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- Gift bow
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- Two-tier cake
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- Beaver
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- Turkey
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- Wally the Green Monster
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- Elmo
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- Minion (from “Despicable Me”)
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- Balloon hat
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- Fish with eyeballs and lips
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- Fish with lips
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- Fish with eyeballs
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- Simple fish
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- Princess Belle
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- Balloon Person
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- Motorcycle
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- Red car
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- Roses
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- 3D heart
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- Love puppy
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- Chimpanzee
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- Cat
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- Orderly tangle / regular polylink
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- Hamster
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- Panda bear
Gift bow
Dec 31st
Last week, when I was wrapping presents and couldn’t find any ribbon, I ended up using a 160 balloon to add this gift bow to a small boxed gift. It was pretty simple and turned out pretty well! I should try making larger gift bows sometime.
Gift bow
Two-tier cake
Dec 22nd
I made this cake for a Christmas party today. I wanted to make a cake larger than the one I usually make, and made this two-tiered six-sided cake.
Two-tier cake
To make this cake, I used fourteen white 260s, two green 260s for the top of the cake, six green 160s for the frosting to decorate, and a couple scraps for the candle. It was the first time I made a cake this size and took 2+ hours.
Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!
Beaver – nature’s engineer
Dec 1st
This past weekend, some friends and I went to watch the MIT men’s basketball game. It was a pretty exciting game – the first half was close, with MIT eventually pulling away from Rhode Island College. Go Engineers!
Beaver
We brought some kids to the game and I made this beaver (MIT’s mascot) beforehand for them. It is made from two 160 brown balloons (actually one plus a small scrap), and a few scraps for the teeth, eyes, and nose. The head is similar to Mr. Penguin‘s head, except with an additional couple of pinch twists in the front and in the back. The rest of the body is made similarly to this cow‘s body, with the addition of a beaver tail and extra bubbles for the back.
One of these days I’ll make TIM the beaver.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov 28th
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I made three turkeys this week – the easier, inedible kind. 🙂 Took about 10+ minutes each after I figured it out. I saw a photo of another version of a balloon turkey online a while ago and wanted to try to make one sometime.
Turkey
To make this balloon, I used a 350 brown balloon, two 260 brown balloons, and part of a white 160 balloon. First, make the main body with the 350 balloon. Do a three bubble roll-through and then wrap/tie the fourth bubble in place. Second, use a 260 balloons to make a wing, slide it through the body, and then make the second wing on the other side. You’ll probably have some balloon left over – pop it or use scissors to remove it. Third, use the other 260 to make the legs. You’ll likely use the entire balloon for the legs. Lastly, add the bone to the legs using the white 160.
Turkey
Congrats to the Boston Red Sox!
Oct 31st
Wally the Green Monster
Congrats to the Boston Red Sox, 2013 World Series Champions!
We’ve had many long nights of exciting baseball. Thanks for a great season!
Here’s Wally the Green Monster, who I made while watching Game 6 last night. He’s composed of a mix of 350, 260, and 160 balloons.
Update:
We brought Wally to the Boston Red Sox Rolling Rally and saw all the Red Sox players on the Duck Boats! Wally got the attention of a number of kids and got some photos taken of him. (One toddler kept calling him Elmo!) What a fun event on a beautiful day!
Wally at the Boston Red Sox Rolling Rally
Elmo
Oct 28th
Elmo
Everybody loves Elmo! Especially those toddlers!
I’ve made Elmo a few times before – a little differently each time. The head I usually make the same way. The body I make differently depending on how much time I have. Here I’ve used a 5-bubble body, and made the arms and legs separately. Or make the arms/legs using simple loop or link twists, and one bubble or a 3-bubble roll-through for the body.
In case you’d like to see some video, here are a couple tutorials:
ChiTwister’s video tutorial
Yonaimy’s video tutorial (easier)
Minion
Oct 21st
Minion (from “Despicable Me”)
Even if you haven’t seen the movie “Despicable Me yet,” you’ve probably seen these little yellow minion creatures around.
This minion balloon is based on unicaw89’s design. I made a few modifications and used smaller balloons – a 350 for the head, 260s for the arms and legs, and 160s for the overalls. I made the eye/goggles a little differently – I used a white 350 scrap and a black 260 scrap to make the eyeball, using something like a tulip twist/link. I wrapped an uninflated gray 350 around the eyeball, and tied an uninflated black 350 to the back of the eyeball for the band.
Next time, I’ll give the minion some black gloves.
Happy Birthday Jeremy!
Motorcycle
Oct 7th
Motorcycle
This motorcycle balloon is based on Mr. Boma’s motorcycle, with a few minor modifications. To make this balloon, I used one black 260, one gray 260 along with a scrap, one yellow 260 along with a scrap, and part of a 160 black balloon for the handlebars. You’ll be using the pinch twist a lot for this balloon!
Motorcycle (side view)
Guy with his motorcycle
I made a person (mini-version of my friend) to go with the motorcycle using 160 balloons. I used the same technique I would with 260 balloons. It’s a little harder to work with the balloon to make such small twists (especially for the head), but not too bad (though you may not be able to add as much detail as easily.)
Guy with his motorcycle
Happy Birthday Bernie!
Balloon hat
Jul 26th
Older kids and adults love fun balloon hats! (Smaller kids, not so much – they usually prefer something they can hold.)
One way to begin, is to make the basic balloon helmet. After that, just be creative! Use lots of different colors. Add a propeller and/or a balloon curly! Hats can draw quite a lot of attention.
Balloon hat
Fishies
Jul 19th
I’ve made many fish before. Now I’ve designed a simpler fish for some friends who are going on a mission trip and are interested in some balloon twisting. This design uses one 260 balloon and one small 5″ round balloon. It’s pretty fast and only requires 2-3 twists.
To get started, inflate the round balloon and the 260 balloon, leaving about 1″ uninflated. Next, tie the ends of the balloon together. Squeeze the 260 balloon to spread the air to inflate the rest of the balloon. Fold the 260 balloon in half. You can probably figure out the rest :).
Simple fish
If you’d like to add more detail/color, you can use another small round balloon twisted in half to add eyeballs.
Fish with eyeballs
You can also add lips to the fish by doing two pinch twists.
Fish with lips
Or, add both eyeballs and lips! Note: if you are adding lips, remember to leave an extra 1/2 inch of the balloon uninflated so that the balloon has room to expand for the two additional pinch twists.
Fish with eyeballs and lips
Princess Belle
Apr 13th
My niece is really into princesses, and so for her birthday this year, I made her a Princess Belle. Last time I made Snow White.
Princess Belle
I made this balloon based on unicaw89’s Princess video. He even includes a rose in a glass jar balloon, but I was running short on time.
To make this balloon, you’ll need 3 yellow 260s and scrap 350 for the dress, a blush 350 scrap for the head, a brown 260 for the hair, and a blush 160 (or 260) for the arms and legs. I added a pink sash and hair bow with a pink 160. I made the shoes/feet a little differently from what is seen in the video – I used a 160 yellow scrap for the shoes. The legs are not too much longer than the dress, and so this balloon is pretty stable and can stand on its own. The dress is made using a pretty neat flower weave, as you’ll see in the video.
Software Engineer
Mar 23rd
Balloon Person
Congrats to one of my former teammates Al on his retirement! Al was one of the original people who built the very successful software product that I’ve been working on. I made this for his last day at work. Thanks for everything and best wishes!
The design of this balloon is similar to the balloon I made of my friend Christian, except that I drew in the eyes instead of using balloon eyes. I also made a 4-bubble body instead of a 3-bubble body. You might notice the tie is made with a 260 balloon instead of a 160 balloon. And I gave him a right hair part.
Cra-Z-Art Metallic Markers
Mar 19th
These Cra-Z-Art Metallic Markers work great on balloons, both light-colored and dark-colored. I love these metallic colors! And no shaking necessary (unlike paint markers.) The ink also will not rub off if the balloon is deflated (unlike permanent markers.)
Here’s an example of what they look like on a black, purple, and a light blue balloon.
Where to buy
- I found these at my local Walmart for about $4-5.
- You can also find them on Amazon.com. (The packaging looks a little different, but the product number is the same.)
I use my white paint pen and black marker the most, but having additional color options is great – just a little bit of color can add a lot to a balloon.
Car
Mar 11th
Red car
Here’s a red car balloon for my nephew that I decorated to look like “Lightning McQueen” from Pixar’s movie “Cars.” I made this based on Yonaimy’s video.
To make this balloon, you’ll need one red 260 for the car frame, a white 260 (or just a scrap if you don’t want to make it a bracelet), and a black 260 scrap for the wheels. Then draw the face, headlights, and any other car decorations you’d like to add.
[ Yonaimy’s video ]
Roses
Mar 5th
Roses
Flowers are always nice to have for special occasions, or for any day, real or rubber :). Balloon flowers are nice, bright, and colorful, and don’t require watering (and actually do not like direct sunlight.)
I saw this rose design from Mr. Boma’s youtube video. To make this balloon, I used one pink 160, one red 160, and one green 160. The pattern for twisting petals may be a little tricky at first, but is pretty easy once you figure it out.
Roses
[ Mr. Boma’s rose video ]
Heart balloon
Feb 13th
Happy almost Valentine’s Day! According to Wikipedia, Valentine’s Day is the second most celebrated holiday around the world.
Here’s a heart to make for Valentine’s Day, or for any day!
3D heart
I saw this balloon on Michael Langerman’s YouTube video. It’s not too hard, but requires you to twist 79 bubbles.
To make this balloon, I used 1 red balloon and 3.5 pink balloons. You of course could use all the same color or any combination of colors. You’ll basically start by twisting loops of bubbles, just the same way you would make a necklace. The red outline requires a 15 bubble loop; you’ll also need two 20-bubble loops, a 12-bubble loop, and two 6-bubble loops. I used one balloon to make both the 12-bubble and 6-bubble loops, and used half a balloon to make one of the 6-bubble loops.
Try to make all the bubbles the same size. The more consistent the size, the better. And make sure to twist each bubble a good number of times so it won’t come undone easily.
After you finish making the loops, you’ll make a couple more simple twists and then put all the chains together carefully to make the heart balloon. (Check out the video!) This balloon is pretty cool. It’s 3D and the back is the same as the front.
Love Puppy
Feb 8th
Love puppy
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this balloon is a great one to twist. This balloon is from ChiTwister’s YouTube video.
This balloon is pretty fast and easy to make. The twists are pretty simple. The most difficult part may be doing pinch twists if you have trouble with those.
Love Puppy
[ ChiTwister’s YouTube video ]
Chimpanzee
Feb 3rd
Chimpanzee
This chimpanzee is based on Mr. Boma’s chimpanzee balloon. The video is great and very easy to follow.
To make this balloon, you’ll need two brown balloons (with ~5 inch tail) for the body/arms/legs, one blush for the face/ears/chest, and optionally a white scrap balloon for the eyes. (I was going to make a black and gray gorilla based on this design, but didn’t get to it.) You can easily make this a monkey by adding a tail.
In addition, I used a brown 160 balloon to give this chimpanzee a back, as you can see in the picture below. I tied the end of balloon used for the back to the eyes to help keep it in place.
This balloon will easily stand on its own, which is pretty cool.
Chimpanzee
Cat
Jan 30th
Cat
I don’t really like cats – they’re sneaky and always seem like they want to torment me. Sigh. (Maybe one day I’ll be more comfortable with them…)
But I came across a couple videos on making a cat balloon, and decided I’d make one too. This cat is a combination of some different things I’ve seen, and I tweaked the face a little to get it the way I wanted it to look.
To make this balloon: I used a black 260 balloon (with ~5 inch tail) for the body, a white 260 to make the face and paws, and a red scrap balloon for the nose. First, make the paws, which is essentially 4 pinch twists. Then make the body, inserting the paws when you twist the legs. Lastly, make the face and attach it to the body.
To take this photo, I put a piece of tape on the paws to help it stand. (If you look closely, you’ll see the tape.)
[ Gilberto’s cat video | papaballoon’s cat video]
