From: AVBalloons@aol.com
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 13:15:09 -0400
To: balloon@fooledya.com
Subject: Michael Jordan / Basketball Player Hat. 

I can't take credit for this hat. It is something that I have seen a number
of twisters do. It is very awesome, and lends itself to a number of
variations. 
Change the color of the body and uniform to reflect different teams and
players
Make the body in grey, and add a 130 sword - Poof - it's a knight in shining
armour. OR RoboCop (draw in the face) Make it in White, it's a Star Wars
storm trooper. 

You'll need:

2 Skin tone 260's (I use Brown or Pink)
1 Uniform color 260
1 Yellow 260
1 Clear 260
1 Orange 260 OR an Orange 321 (to make the basketball - I use the 321 if I'm
in a hurry, the 260 if I want it to look good)

To make the instructions easier, I'm making Michael Jordan - Brown 260's for
the body and Red for the jersey. 

Inflate both Brown 260's, leaving a 4" uninflated tail end. Tie
Inflate the Red 260 all the way, and let out enough air to make it soft, but
not to the point where it starts to get shorter. Tie the nozzel to the tail
(make a loop)
Inflate the Yellow all the way, and Tie
Inflate the Clear, leaving a 3" tail. Tie
Inflate the Orange, let out enough air to make it soft, but not to the point
where it starts to get shorter. Tie the ends together. 

Body:

Legs: Using one of the Brown, make a 1" bubble, followed by a 4" loop. Tuck
the 1'" bubble inside the loop (motoycycle wheel). Make a 6" bubble, a 1" ear
twist, an 11" bubble (this will later be twisted in half, so make it soft
enough), another 1" ear twist, another 6" bubble, and another motorcycle
wheel. You should have used all the balloon, If not, play with the
proportions. You have now made a foot, calf, knee, two thighs, another knee,
another calf and the other foot. 

Arms and Head: Make a motorcycle wheel as described above, a 51/2" bubble, a
1" ear twist, a 3" bubble, a 6" loop, another 3" bubble, another 1" ear
twist, another 51/2" bubble and another motorcycle wheel. This is the hand,
forearm, elbow, upper arm, head, upper arm, elbow, forearm and other hand
series. 

Uniform: Take the red balloon that you have tied into a loop, and twist it
into two equal loops. (butterfly wings?) Fold these loops down next to each
other, and twist together in half. What you are now holding is 4 parallel
vertical sections on top of the twist, and two loops below. 

*NOTE!!!!!! Take a minute and look at this. If you make this in Purple, this
is Potsy's amazing Iris. Add a green stem, and it's a great addition to your
flower collection.*

To assemble body . Find the knot of the red balloon (on top of the cluster of
4) Wrap the knot tightly around the base of the loop twist that forms the
head. Arange the arms so that they sit on top of the body section. Then, take
the leg section, and make a twist the thigh section into two equa bubbles.
Twist this twist together with the twist that bisects the body section (The
waist) Tuck the knee of each leg through on of the loops. This makes shorts
out of the red loop/ thigh section. Arrange this so that the brown balloon of
the shorts is on top. 

*NOTE!!! 0 That's it for the body. With this, you can make a number of things
. It's also fully poseable, so you can have fun with different poses. *

Take the yellow balloon, and make a basic helmet hat, making a twist in the
middle of the piece that goes over the head. This is the court.

Take the orange balloon, and make a basketball out of it. I can't describe
this very well, but it's a common twist. You are holdning a loop. Twist it
into three equal sections, fold the sections together and make a ball. 

Alternately, (until you can find someone who can actually describe the
basketball thing) - Make a basketball out of a 321 by making a basic apple
twist. 

Take what ever basketball you've made, and the clear 260. Wrap the clear
around the basketball, (Like you measure a child's hat) With the remaining
clear, make a very small backboard with a 3" bubble, a ear twist, another 3",
another ET, another 3", another ET and another 3". Twist the 1st and last
twist of this series together. Twist the end of the remaining length of clear
into the back of the hat. This is the hoop and backboard. If you want a
bigger hoop, longer stand or bigger backboard, use 2 balloons. 

Take the player you've made, and attach one foot to the twist in the top of
the hat. Take one of the hands, and wrap the nozzel of the 260 from the
basketball OR the "stem" of the 321 around the wrist. 

THAT'S IT!!!! Pose this hat, to make it look like a slam dunk. 

I know, these are awful directions. I'll post step by step pictures ASAP. 
Until then, e-mail me if you're hopelessly lost, and I'll try to confuse you
some more. 

Adrienne