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You may recognize my name as I was mentioned in Ralph Dewey's December 2004 column. This time, I am finally writing my own, something I've hoped to do for quite some time and hope to continue doing.
I've chosen to share with you an idea I came up with recently while I was watching Don Caldwell's "Things That Go Pop in the Night." The toad design that he covers on the video reminded me of his frog design that I saw while visiting the All American Balloon Supply website, featured in their "Twister's Corner." By combining the two ideas I came up with an idea for a baby frog, which in turn lead me to creating other balloon babies. Today I'll share with you the instructions for a Smiling Balloon Baby.
You'll need four balloons for this Baby: Two yellow 260s, one 5" Yellow Smile Face, and one 5" Yellow Round.
First, inflate the Yellow Smile Face to about four inches. Then inflate the yellow 5" round to about four inches and burp it to keep it soft. Tie the knot high up on the nozzle of the ballon since you will be twisting it.
Next, make a one-inch ear twist in the smile face and a one-and-a-half inch pinch twist in the round. Connect these together at the twists.
Now Inflate the two yellow 260s, leaving a hands' length at the tail. Make a one-inch bubble and a three-inch loop twist in one of them. Then twist two four-inch bubbles, another three-inch loop twist, and a one-inch bubble, then break off and tie the balloon. Repeat with the other yellow 260. If you make the arms and legs smaller both can be done with just one 260 or 160 balloon.
Retwist one of the yellow 260s and attach it between the two pinch twists of the yellow 5" rounds. Twist a one-inch bubble on the bottom of the yellow 5" round and twist the other yellow 260 around it.
*Optional: Use a marker to add detail such as a belly button, nose, etc.
As with most balloon creations, there are multiple ways that this can be made. Another way to make this is to put the pinch twists in one of the 260s (the one that will be the arms) instead of the rounds, and then simply tie the rounds together and attach them to the 260 at the pinch twists. Also you can skip twisting the bubble on the bottom of the round and instead add a raisin inside it to attach the legs. If you use the raisin method I recommend that you tie a scrap around it, add a pinch twist to the 260 that will be the legs, and wrap the scrap around the pinch twist. However, I have found that the 1" bubble at the bottom of the round is the most secure. I recommend that you experiment and see what works best for you.
This is a lot like Ken Stillman's Hitch Hiker as it can be done with any kind of rounds. For instance, you can use a Qualatex 5" Stars-A-Round or perhaps the Safari Imprints for the body. The Head of the Baby is open to ANYTHING !!!! You can use a plain 5" round and a marker to make your own face, or you can attach any of the imprinted rounds that are available. Here are a few more Balloon Babies ideas: Baby Alien, Baby Bird, Baby Dracula ( or any of the Halloween imprints), Baby Heart Head Guy, Baby Kittie ( I used the end of the arms as a tail ), Baby Frog (done with a raisin twist) or even Baby Spidey. These are just a few of many that I have already come up with, and I'm sure that there are many more out there. Furthermore, this is yet another reason to try the new Qualatex imprints.
I hope you all have enjoyed reading this and I also hope that you have learned something useful. Thanks for reading, and until next time, Happy Twisting!
Michael Philo
Magical Balloon Michael
Questions and coments welcomed at magical_balloon_michael@yahoo.com
