Baby Bottle & Lariat Routine

by Ralph Dewey

Baby Bottle

Here is a simple, yet nice looking baby bottle. It’s just the thing for a baby shower or as prop for a clown skit. It is made from a #260 and a #350 balloon. You will also need a ¼” wooden dowel or sturdy balloon stick.

Begin by cutting off about 2-1/2 inches of the nipple end of the #350. Fill it with air, but don’t inflate it. Tie off the knot. Inflate the #260 about 10 inches or so and tie off the knot. The dowel will be used to make a long apple twist. Lightly powder the dowel or stick with baby powder. This will help facilitate the removal of the dowel. Poke it into the knot and deep into the #260.

With the dowel in about 7 inches, grasp the knot and remove (pull out) the dowel. Twist the knot several times. Deflate the excess balloon and then tie it around the knot. Trim off any excess deflated balloon.

Now add the nipple end of the #350 to the baby bottle (long apple twist) by apple twisting the knots together. Namely, take the knot of the #350 and poke it into the knot on the end of the long apple twist. Grasp the knots from the outside and twist it.

If want to add markings to it, do so with a black Sanford Sharpieâ or Expoâ marker. A slightly larger baby bottle can be made from a #350 balloon as the bottle and a #646 as the nipple.

Lariat Routine

A neat novelty routine that you can do as part of a balloon performance uses a balloon lariat. I ask the audience if they want to see my imitation of a “Lazy Cowboy”. I make the balloon lariat and then twirl it by using a drill.

All it takes is one #160 balloon and a variable speed cordless drill. If you like, there are some toy battery-operated drills on the market you could also use such as the one made by Fisher-Price. Inflate a #160 fully except for about 3/4 inch and tie off the nozzle end. Twist off four small ¾” bubble and twist connect the last three.

Twist off a long 14” bubble, a 27” bubble (approximately) and a 1” bubble at the nipple end. Fold the 27” bubble and twist-connect it.

Shape the 27” loop into a round circle and position the bubbles to look like a lariat. Use a ¼” rod or wooden dowel in the drill. Slip the ¼” rod into the middle of the three ¾” bubbles that were twist connected. Turn on the drill using a low speed and it will spin the lariat around.