From joker  Fri Jan  8 22:37:03 1993
Received: by mother.ent.rochester.edu (5.57/Ultrix3.0-C)
	id AA01388; Fri, 8 Jan 93 22:37:03 -0500
From: joker@mother (Larry Moss)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 22:37:02 -0500
X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.3 5/22/91)
To: balloon
Subject: Bird in a gilded cage (text)

Here's one of the most elaborate balloon creations I've ever made.  Don't
try it if you're not ready to invest more than a few minutes in twisting.
You'll need 12 260s for the complete bird cage and bird.  6 balloons are
needed for the floor of the cage, 4 for the remainder of the cage, 1 for
the bird, and one for the perch.

The instructions for the entire sculpture is included in this message.
The steps in the text correspond to the pictures.  The instructions and
pictures are divided into three sections to keep things as simple as
possible.  The next three postings will contain the graphics in EPS.

-Larry


Cage bottom
-----------

1.  Inflate three balloons leaving a small tail in each.  Squeeze some air
into the tail of each balloon to soften them up a bit.  Twist all three
together in the middle.  Make a twist one inch from the center in one of
the balloons.  Ear twist the small bubble you just made.  The ear twist
will help to hold all 6 of the long bubbles flat.  I'll refer to those
three balloons as a star.  

2.  Tie the nozzle end of another partially inflated balloon one inch from
the center of one of the balloons in the star.

3.  That balloon will form a ring around the center of the star.  Make a
1.5 inch bubble in the balloon and twist it into the next part of the
star one inch from the center.  Continue to do this until the balloon has
gone completely around the star.  When you get back to the first part of
the star, carefully deflate the remaining portion of the balloon, tie it
off as close to the twist as possible and cut off any remaining tail.

4.  Repeat that procedure with two more balloons, but just slightly
further from the center of the star.  (A fourth ring may be necessary,
depending on the spacing between balloons.)  Make a small bubble in each
point of the star just outside the outer most ring.  Deflate teh
remainder of each point of the balloon, tie them off and cut off excess
balloons.

NOTES:  This is probably the hardest part of the cage.  It can be very
difficult and frustrating to make the cage bottom flat.  I've found it's
easier and looks just fine if it is bowl shaped.  It is possible to use
fewer balloons by spiraling out from the center rather than having
separate rings of balloons, but I think the latter looks nicer.


Cage
----

1.  Twist three mostly inflated, but soft balloons together in the center.
With another balloon, make a ring 10 inches from teh center of the new
star.

2.  Twist the six ends (nozzles and tails) from this star to the outer
bubbles of the cage bottom.


Bird
----

Any small balloon bird should do.  I've just included a simple one to be
complete.

1.  Inflate a 16-inch bubble in a balloon.  Make a tiny bubble, followed
by a 1-inch bubble.

2.  Twist the nozzle around the second twist you made.  This forms a head
and beak.  

3.  Make three 6-inch bubbles.

4.  Create the bird body with these three bubbles.  Lock twist the first
two bubbles at the birds neck.  Roll the third bubble through the first
two.

5.  Make two more small bubbles.

6.  Ear twist each of those small bubbles to form feet.

7.  The perch is made with one mostly inflated balloon.  Make an apple
twist in the nozzle end of the balloon.  Twist the tail end of the
balloon into the twist at the base of the apple twist.  The apple twist
is the top of the perch.  Twist the feet of the bird into the balloon
opposite the apple twist so the bird is sitting on the perch.

8.  Place the bird and perch inside the cage.  Slide the apple twist
between two bars on teh top center of the cage so the perch hangs from
the ceiling of the cage.  The apple twist is a small knob on top of the
cage.  If you want you can tie a string to the knob and hang it from
somewhere.