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Balloon Kite

by Ralph Dewey Balloon Kite by Ralph Dewey

This time I'll show you how to make a fun kite. You'll need several #260 and #160 balloons. Fully inflate the first #260 except for about 1-1/2 inches and tie off the nozzle. Twist off bubbles in this order, 8", 12", 12" and 8". Tie the ends of the bubbles together and discard any excess balloon. This forms the outline of the kite.

kite directions

To make a vertical brace, fully inflate another #260 except for about 3" and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 1" bubble and ear twist it. Twist off a 6" and a 9" bubble. Let the 6" bubble un-twist temporarily. Twist off a 1" bubble and ear twist it. Cut off and discard any excess balloon.

kite directions

To make the horizontal brace, fully inflate another #260 except for about 5" and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 1" bubble and ear twist it. Twist off a 5-1/2" bubble and hold it. Reestablish the 6" bubble on the vertical brace and twist the two braces together. Continue on the horizontal brace by twisting off another 5-1/2" bubble and a 1" bubble. Ear twist the 1" bubble. Cut and discard any excess balloon. You should have a cross shape at this stage of the process. Connect each of the 1" ear twists on the braces to the twist joints on the kiteoutline.

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You can make the kites tail two ways. Either make a #160 spiral (see photos below) or make bows for the tail. You can make a spiral by wrapping the #160 around a pipe or similar object, then inflating it.

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To make bows for the tail, fully inflate a #160 fully except for about 2" and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 7" bubble and two 1" bubbles. Ear twist the 1" bubbles. Twist off two 5" bubbles and fold twist them. Arrange them so that there is an ear twist on opposite sides.

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directions

Repeat the same steps to make the second bow. Use part of another #160 to make the third bow. Connect it to the first two bows as shown in the photos. Tie the knot of the bows to the bottom of the kiteoutline.

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For the kitestring, fully inflate a #260 and tie off the nozzle. Twist off a 1" bubble and connect it to the center of the vertical and horizontal braces. Curve the balloon slightly. This completes the kite.

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However, as an alternative, you can twist the kite"string" into a hat if you like so that it becomes a cool kitehat.

finished kite

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