Balloon ball (icosahedron)

Here’s a balloon ball. Sure, you could just inflate a round balloon, but this is cooler. 🙂

Balloon ball – icosahedron

In mathematical terms, it’s actually an icosahedron – a polyhedron with 20 triangular sides. It may look complicated, but because of its symmetry and basic units, it’s actually quite easy to put together. I first saw this on Vi Hart’s web site, where she has posted great instructions for this icosahedron, as well as many other mathematical shapes, such as fractals, tangles, and other polyhedra! Check it out!

To make this balloon, I took three 160 balloons and cut each in half. Each section was then used to make one of the six units. (I wanted to make an icosahedron that wasn’t too big.)

If you’d like to read a mathematical paper written about balloon twisting, check out: Computational Balloon Twisting Theory: The Theory of Twisting Polyhedra, co-authored by Hart, Martin Dermaine, and Erik Dermaine (who was one of my college professors!)

[ Vi Hart’s web site – Icosahedron instructions ]

Strawberries

Strawberry

I’ve been trying to think of ways of using my heart balloons, and here’s a good one!

Strawberries

 
You’ll need just one heart balloon, and a part of a green 160 balloon for the stem. To attach the stem to the heart balloon, you’ll use the raisin twist (the same way you attach Hello Kitty’s hair bow.)

Lastly, draw the seeds on the strawberry with a black marker.

These are really cute and really simple! And young kids will be able to recognize them easily!

Bouquet of flowers

Bouquet of flowers
Bouquet of flowers in a vase

Flowers are a great gift for any occasion, and so colorful. As long as you can make a simple flower, you can make a bouquet of flowers! You can also easily add variety by making flowers of different sizes, colors, shapes, and number of petals.

To make this:
Use two yellow and two blue 260 balloons (or whatever colors you prefer) to make the four flower heads. Use two green 160 balloons for the stems of the four flowers (or use 260 balloons if you don’t have 160s). Tie one flower head to each end of the green balloon and twist in half. (Two stems are made from each balloon.) You can twist some leaves for the flowers if you’d like. Another option is that you can inflate a small scrap if you’d like the middle of the flower to be a different color. After you’ve arranged your flowers, use a part of a 160 balloon to make the ribbon to hold the flowers together.

Oh, and remember, balloon flowers (balloons in general) actually don’t like the sun – they last longer in the shade. 🙂

Flower (made with a Geo Blossom)

Flower made with a Geo Blossom balloon

I have a whole bag of Geo Blossom balloons and have yet figure out what to do with them. The most common and obvious thing to make with Geo Blossom balloons is a flower, and so I made this simple flower. It looks the same on both sides.

To make this balloon, I used one Geo Blossom, one small white round, and one green 260. With the white round balloon, first make a small bubble, tie a knot as far in in as possible, thread it through the Geo Blossom, and then make a second bubble on the other side of the Geo Blossom. Then, tie a knot and wrap it around the center of the balloon (like a pinch twist) to hide the knot. Afterwards, inflate the Geo Blossom, and use the green 260 to make the stem and leaves of the flower.

Businessman balloon

Balloon businessman

Christian with his balloon person

Boston is a wonderful city with great people. It’s also quite a transient city, with people coming and going for educational and professional opportunities. Now, it’s time again to bid farewell to one of our friends. Good luck and best wishes to you in your new job and all future endeavors, Christian! Boston will miss you – be sure to visit!

As you can see, the balloon person is dressed business casual with a blue shirt, gray tie, and black dress pants. Someone suggested to give the balloon person large biceps, as Christian’s pretty buff. 🙂 (BTW, can anyone guess what restaurant we’re in front of?)

Sports car

Sports car

Happy Birthday Adam! Adam’s a car guy (he knows so much!), so a car was perfect for him.

To make the car, I used three full 260 blue balloons to make the car frame, two black 350 balloons and part of one 160 silver balloon to make the wheels, and the remaining part of the silver 160 and one blue 260 scrap to make the spoiler.

First, I made the body of the car. (I used these instructions from Michael Floyd to help make the base of the car.) Then I made the wheels using the tulip twist (similar to how I made these donuts) and then attached them. The wheels are a little tricky to twist (mostly because the knot is a little hard to tie) but I thought they looked pretty cool and were worth the effort. (The other option is a simple loop twist.) I tried to give it some chrome hubcaps/rims. Lastly, I added a spoiler to make the car look more like a sports car. If I had more time, I would have made two people to put into the car!

[ Michael Floyd’s instructions for a car balloon ]

Propeller hat

Propeller hat

Here’s another easy hat to make, modeled by another one of my stuffed animals. (Stuffed animals are really good at sitting still for any length of time.) To make this hat, you’ll need one 260 balloon and one scrap 260 balloon. You start by making the basic helmet out of one balloon. Then, with the scrap balloon, make the propellers (similar to the rotors for a helicopter) and twist it to top of the hat. You can hide the knot by twisting it so it’s on the inside. (In the above pictures it isn’t hidden, but in the below two pictures it is.)

Propeller hat (top)

Propeller hat (front)

Easy rainbow hat

Rainbow hat

I made a hat for my stuffed animal! Ok, it’s almost a little too cute for me, but my teddy bear seemed like a good-sized model for the hat.

Really fun hats can be made easily with just a few twists, and you’ll usually use at least two or balloons for a hat. From my experience, I found that older kids like them, but some younger kids not so much. Younger kids (preschool age) would rather have something they can just hold.

To make this:

I used segments of 160 balloon scraps to make the above hat, which is a mini-size version of a hat you’d make for a person. To make this hat for a real person to wear, you’ll need four 260 balloons, preferably different colors. Start by making the helmet. (The helmet is pink in the photo.) Wrap the balloon around the person’s head to make sure it’ll fit. Then blow up 3 (or more) balloons, leaving a little less than an inch uninflated, and attach them to the ends of the helmet. Pretty simple, huh? You only really need 4 twists to make this hat!

2011 in review

More penguins

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!

Donatello (from TMNT)

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.

[ Instructions from balloonmodels.com ]

One-balloon teddy bear

Teddy bear
Teddy bear

Someone recently asked me about making a teddy bear, and here’s a one-balloon version. I followed these directions from balloondesigns.net (UPDATE: no longer exists.) The purple teddy bear is what you’ll end up with if you follow the instructions above exactly.

Tips: You’ll want to leave almost a 5″ tail when pumping the balloon. When twisting the series of seven bubbles to form the head, twist the 4th and 6th bubbles a little smaller than the others, so that the ears will not be so large. You can draw two different faces – one on each side!

The pink teddy bear is another version. This one has a neck, a tail, and uses only one balloon for the body. I left about a 4″ tail to make this one.

[ Teddy bear instructions ]

A simpler penguin

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!

Another fish

Fish balloon animal
Fish balloon animal (front view)

Here’s yet another fish I made. I came up with this one – it’s similar to the previous fish I blogged about, but it’s a little larger and has a little more detail (stripes.)

To make this balloon, you use a 260 balloon to make the lips and body. This is similar to how you’d start making the last fish, except this time don’t make fins with the 260 balloon. Thus, the body will be a little larger.

Then use one 160 balloon to add the top two stripes and two back fins (top and bottom). Afterward, use a second 160 balloon to add the bottom two stripes, two side fins, and middle back fin. (To attach each 160 balloon to the fish body you’ve already made, wrap the knot around the back of the fish body (where the bubbles intersect each other.))

Use a small white round balloon to make two eyes. Lastly, add a scrap 260 white (or whatever color) balloon to fill in the final middle back fin.

Fish balloon animal (side view)

Gone fishing!

Wow, another year with the 4-5 year olds class has passed by. Last year, for the last day of class, I made birds. This year, I made fish!

Fish balloon bodies

I chose this balloon to make for my class because they don’t take that much time to make, but are still quite detailed. The birds I made last year are were a bit too detailed and took more time than I originally planned. Also, these fish are a bit more sturdy – probably less likely to come undone and will last a little longer.

Fish balloons ready for transport

Tips: As shown in the picture, I made all the fish bodies first. The fish body is made up of one 260 balloon. I found leaving 3 inches uninflated was just right for me. The new neon-colored balloons I just bought looked quite nice.

After making the bodies, I added the fins and the eyes. You can position the eyes to be in the middle, closer to the front, or right in front. You can also mix and match different colors for the body and fins.

I have made this fish balloon before.
I originally saw this balloon on a youtube video (by BusterBalloon.)

To transport the balloons, I used a pop-up laundry hamper, which worked quite well. In the past I’ve used bags for transport. But this way, you can have more assurance the balloons won’t get squished. The laundry hamper also can fit a lot.

[ Video link: Clown Fish by BusterBalloon ]

Products I like

I’ve been in and out on vacation (boy, the summer has gone by quickly!)

I haven’t been twisting as much (and consequently less posts), but I have posted some new pages under “Products I like,” including one that I just added about markers that I like to use on balloons. (Also see “balloons” and “balloon pumps.”)

I’ll continue adding more recommendations and descriptions of balloon (and other) products that I like.

Check them out!

Donuts

Donuts

I’ve just returned from a short trip. Although I have been away, I twisted a number of balloons – for my cousins and family, including a birthday cake for my Grandma!

I made a car for my cousin, and turned some of the wheels that I didn’t use into donuts. They are made using a simple tulip twist and secured with a knot at the end.

Vacuum Cleaner

Introducing a new line of vacuum cleaners…pocket-sized, colorful, and stylish!

Vacuum Cleaners

I saw instructions for a vacuum cleaner in Marvin Hardy’s Advanced 260 Balloon Magic book and it made me chuckle. (I don’t think any kids will ever ask me to make a vacuum cleaner!)

Vacuum cleaners

The blue one is the original design by Marvin Hardy. It is made using one blue 260 and one inflated balloon for the electrical cord. I made a couple other variations, using a different color balloon for the vaccuum cleaner bag and an uninflated piece of balloon for the handle. The two smaller ones were made using 160 balloons. I’ll post a graph description of my design sometime soon.

If only this balloon really worked – my room could use a good vacuuming!

Hummingbirds

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.