My favorite balloons to twist
Posts tagged two-balloon
Panda bear
Jan 6th
Panda bear
I saw this panda bear balloon while browsing YouTube one day. People have asked me to make a panda bear before, so here’s one version! (I’ll try making my own version sometime.)
This panda bear YouTube video is in Spanish, but you should be able to follow along with the video even if you don’t know Spanish! The balloon artist in the video made a whole set for the panda bear, with bamboo and everything!
To make this balloon, you’ll need one white 260 balloon and one black 260 balloon. This panda bear is somewhat similar to other basic teddy bear designs, but slightly more complicated as you are twisting a black and a white balloon together at the same time. It’s neat how for some parts of the balloon, the color on the back is different from the color on the front. You’ll have plenty leftover of both balloons, so you won’t have to worry about balloon management too much.
[ Yonaimy’s panda bear video ]
Baby pacifier
May 29th
It definitely feels like baby shower season! I made these pacifier balloons and hung them up as decorations for a baby shower.
Pacifiers
To make this pacifier, you’ll need one 5″ round balloon and one 160 balloon.
- Inflate the 160 balloon until there is a little bit less than 1″ uninflated.
- Make one loop for the handle.
- Push the air to fill up any remaining uninflated part of the balloon.
- Make 3 loops for the mouth shield part of the pacifier, leaving a small bubble at the end. You can make the three loops with one twist by first folding the balloon so it has 3 loops (like a sine wave with 1.5 cycles – see picture… actually it’s more like 1.55) and twisting it in the middle (along the x-axis.)
- Hide the remaining small bubble in the handle.
- Then inflate the round balloon, tie it, and wrap the end around the 160 balloon to attach it.
Simple Elephant
May 8th
Elephant
Here’s my version of a simple elephant balloon animal. I’ve seen other simple one-balloon elephants, but in this design I use a second 160 balloon so that the trunk is more in proportion compared to the rest of the body.
This design requires two balloons: one full 260 balloon and a 160 scrap for the trunk.
Inflate the balloon leaving about four inches uninflated. Make a loop twist for the ear, a pinch twist for the head, and another loop twist for the other ear. Then make the rest of the body the way you would for a dog.
For the trunk, inflate the 160 balloon to however long you want the trunk to be, then tie off both ends (and cut off any remaining balloon if necessary.) Wrap one end around the head/ears to attach it to the rest of the elephant. Twist a small pinch twist for the mouth and position the trunk so that it is between the mouth and the head. (You can wrap the trunk around the head again if you’d like.)
Merry Christmas everyone!
Dec 22nd
Last Saturday my church hosted a Children’s Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, with crafts, gifts, and also Koko the clown, who entertained the guests with magic tricks, juggling, balloons, and shared about the meaning of Christmas. At the end, we also gave each kid a balloon animal, with which I helped out.
Because we were expecting possibly 100 kids, I tried to think of simpler balloon animals. We gave out red flowers, camels (which the wise men rode), and sheep (who were present in the stable where baby Jesus slept.) I was out of green 260 balloons, so I cut the red (for the petals) and green (for the stem) 160 balloons into halves to make two smaller flowers.
Camel
Camel: The camel balloon was a pretty simple animal to make. I went with a one-balloon design based on this camel youtube video. I simplified the design a bit – I didn’t do the tulip twist, and because I wanted the knot to be at the tail and not on the head, I started by making the tail first (instead of the head.) You’ll want to leave a little bit less than a 4 inch tail when inflating the balloon. I like to use up the entire balloon, and it may take you a try or two to get the size of the legs and body of the camel just right so that you have just the right amount left for the neck and head. After you are done twisting, bend the neck of the camel upwards, and bend the head downwards.
Sheep
Sheep: The sheep is a little more complex than the camel, as it uses two balloons and requires more knot tying. I followed these instructions from Professor Wonder to make this balloon. I also simplified this balloon in that I didn’t use the tulip (apple) twist to attach the two balloons. Instead I just tied the ends together. (I’m not too good with the tulip twist and often end up popping the balloon.) In addition to white sheep, I also made a few that were blue, pink or purple, and used either black and blush for the head. (The kids preferred blush over black.) I try to use up the entire balloon here as well, so I don’t have do any additional cutting or tying.
Professor Wonder also has a two-balloon camel design, as well as other characters from the nativity scene.
After you finish making the camel and/or sheep, you can use a Sharpie or dry erase marker to draw the eyes and mouth.
[ One-balloon camel video by Charles ]
[ Sheep instructions and other nativity characters by Professor Wonder ]
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas…
Dec 1st
This cute hippo design uses one 260 balloon and one pink heart balloon. I used a gray 260 balloon, but a silver, brown, or even light purple, light green, or light blue one would work well. This is another neat way to use a heart balloon. (I’ve seen a heart balloon used similarly in a cow balloon design as well.)
To make the balloon, follow these hippo balloon instructions by Bonnie Davis.
Hippo
My comments:
When inflating the balloon, you’ll want to leave about a 5 inch tail. (If you leave less of a tail, you’ll run of space for the balloon to expand.)
Near the end, if you find that you’ve run out of balloon or don’t have room to make any additional twists, you can settle for only using four belly balloons (instead of five). Just deflate the remaining bubble that you don’t need, tie a knot, cut off part of the end if it’s too long, and wrap the knot around the body to hide it. Your hippo body will only be made of four bubbles and won’t be as big, but will still look pretty good.
[ Hippo balloon instructions by Bonnie Davis ]
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 ]
Helicopter
Nov 11th
Helicopter
Helicopter
Little kids (especially boys) seem to love trains, trucks, and other vehicles. So, when I came across instructions for this helicopter balloon, I was eager to try it out. This balloon takes two balloons – preferably one 160 (for the rotors) and one 260 (for the helicopter body.) If you only have 260s, two 260s will work just fine.
See the directions from Professor Wonder here.
Helicopter
My comments on the instructions: You will use up the entire balloon for the helicopter body. I found that I quickly ran out of “balloon” and I had to make a lot of the bubbles smaller than what the instructions called for. (For example, the 6 inch bubbles were more like 3.5-4 inch bubbles for me.)
When making the rotors, I inflated the balloon till there was 1-1.5 inches left, not the 3 indicated in the instructions. I wanted to use up as much as I could of the balloon for the rotors.
To take the pictures, I attached a piece of string to the rotors and hung up the helicopter. A helicopter belongs in the air anyway. 🙂 For a kid’s birthday party, if it fit your theme, I imagine you could hang the helicopters (and perhaps some airplanes?) around the room as decorations for a nice touch.
