Having taken a weekly job with a national seafood restaurant, I have been trying to come up with some balloon creations depicting various aquatic beings. The most popular have been the lobsters which I make out of red 160s. While experimenting with 160 and heart balloons I have come up with a few other designs, the most popular of which I'd like to share.
Part of my performance each week is entertaining patrons waiting in the lobby by doing short routines and by building large marine theme sculptures. I came up with these two while trying to put together a balloon squid. My first attempt failed as a cephalopod, but succeeded as a jellyfish.
Start with two 6" hearts and eight 260s. White, pink, or light blue work well, as do clear. I've tried a few different color combinations, all of which have their own merit. Clear works best for realism, of course!
Inflate the two 6" hearts until they just start to move from the round stage to the heart stage. Tie the nozzles together. Now, twist a 1" bubble in one lobe section of one heart. Hold that twist in place and make a similar twist in the other heart. Twist these two bubbles together. Repeat these steps for the other two lobe sections. Then twist these two twists together. The nozzle end of the sculpture will now take on a pointed shape.
Slack inflate the eight 260 balloons and tie the nozzles together. If you have trouble tying eight balloons together you can do four at a time, then connect both bundles at the knots. Finally, tuck the knot ends into the center of the twisted lobes of the 6" hearts.
The nozzles of the 6" hearts make a perfect connection point for mounting the jellyfish, using monofilament (fishing, of course!) line. It moves in light breezes in a most jellyfishy way!
Next attempt at the squid actually produced a squid! This one requires one 6" heart and four 160s. Use white or pink for these mostly, and mainly using the same color for the hood as I do for the tentacles.
Under inflate the heart as you did in the jellyfish. Twist a 1" bubble in each lobe section, and twist these together.
Fully inflate the 160 balloons, giving each a good burp.
Connect the 160 balloons at their centers, and connect this twist to the twisted lobes of the heart.
Then twist the "tentacles" together about 3" down from where they are connected to the heart. Position the lobes of the heart between 160s on opposite sides of the "bulb" formed by this last twist. Draw eyes on these bubbles, and position the tentacles. If the tentacles try to disconnect from each other try pushing a couple of them through the gaps in the "bulb" to lock them down.
More fishy things next month!
