The Balloon Animals Blog

Balloon Animal Puppets

2010-04-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Just a few balloon animal puppets I made. An instructional DVD is forthcoming. You can reserve your copy by emailing me at mbfloyd@gmail.com and put "balloon puppet DVD" in the the subject line. These will be the first ones able to purchase the DVD.

Pepsi Refresh Project: Elastic Park

2010-01-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

Want to see life size balloon dinosaurs? The video above, is the aspiration of world famous balloon artist Larry Moss. He wants to make a balloon exhibit that displays huge balloon dinosaurs. But he needs funding. Please go to http://www.refresheverything.com and vote for "Elastic Park", so that we can all see the limitations of balloon art pushed to the next level. Voting opens March 1st, 2010.

Voting is now open. Please go to http://www.refresheverything.com/ElasticPark and vote so we can all see a life size balloon dinosaur exhibit.

How to make a balloon Gingerbread Man

2009-12-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

In this video I show you how to make a simple balloon gingerbread man. I a balloon artist, I have used this design for parties and in restaurants for over ten years. You will need:

two brown 260

one brown 5 inch round

one white 260 scrap

Balloon Seahorse

2009-12-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Misty Cain wanted to know how to make a simple balloon seahorse. So I made this video for her. It uses 2 260 of the same color. It was one of the first balloon animals that I figured out when I was making balloons at restaurants.

How to make a balloon snowman

2009-12-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Upon request, I have remade this video in better quality. It is a balloon snowman. It is a staple for balloon twisting at restaurant and line work his time of year.

You will need

one white 260

one black 260

one orange 260

one brown 260

one pipe cleaner

Learn the differernt Twists you can make from a balloon

2009-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

In this video I revisit the different twists you can make from a 260 balloon.

The basics of twisting a balloon

2009-12-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

In this video I show how to hold and twist a balloon quickly and easily.

How to make a simple Wall-E

2009-11-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

You will need

1 black 260

1 yellow 260

2 grey 160

1 white scrap

Optimus Prime Transformer

2009-07-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here is how to make a six balloon Optimus Prime Transformer. It is simpler then it looks and can be made within five minutes with practice.

How to make a Balloon Wolverine Claws

2009-04-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the new Wolverine movie. Now you can learn how to make Wolverine Claws. I uses 3 blue 260s, and 2 gray 160s. I figured this out in the Jam room of Twist-n-Shout. This is a good alternative to a balloon sword. It works great for line work.

How to make a Balloon Oscar Award

2009-02-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

I went to Twist-n-Shout this year. I was amazed not only by all the very talented people, but also by all the people who knew me from my balloon animal site. Everyone was very encouraging. They all said the same things. "I love the balloon twisting forum", I get my balloon animal supplies from you." But the question I got the most was, "When are you going to make more balloon twisting videos?!!!!"

Well, today I start my new schedule of video production. I got up at 6am to make this video. It was requested a long time ago. Sorry it took so long. I will keep my promised every one who had asked and begged for more videos.

Take The Free Hands Challenge

2008-06-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

I am honored that Nokia would use one of my videos as a example for their hands free contest. Guess who they asked to be a judge?

For all you balloon twisters, upload a video of you twisting balloons to their site. Each week someone will win a Nokia N82 and Nokia Bluetooth headset BH-902.

160 and 260 Twisting Balloons

2008-06-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked me about the difference between a 160 balloon and a 260 balloon. I made this video to show what each one looks like and how they compare to each other.

Learn the different ways a balloon can be twisted

2008-05-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

Many people have emailed asking on the different ways to twist a balloon. This video shows how to do 5 basic twisting techniques. It covers the following:

Sausage Twist
Sausage fold/Lock Twist
Pedal Twist
Pinch Twist
Bend "Twist"

All most all balloon sculpture is made from these techniques.

Balloon Story Telling

2008-05-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

Bugs and Balloons is a great example of story telling using balloons. I love how the balloon artist Allynn Gooen incorporates the kids into the show and keeps the costumes simple.

It is very entertaining for all who watch, and will leave people talking about it long after it is over.

Concerto For Balloon Artist

2008-04-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

A young balloon artist makes balloons while a live orchestra accompanies him. It is very interesting to see the emotion that is associated to the balloon sculpture displayed in the music that is being played.

Betallic 6 Inch Hearts Fashion Assortment

2008-04-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you that need of balloon animal supplies, The balloon store now carries six inch hearts in the Fashion Assortment. These add a touch of romance to any simple sculpture and work well on hats.

TWISTED: A Balloonamentary Trailer

2008-04-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

I found this on youtube. It is a documentary about the experiences of different balloon artists. I might just have to go out and get the DVD.

TWISTED: A Balloonamentary is a feature-length documentary, with an animated segment narrated by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, that explores how eight people's lives are transformed when they discover balloon twisting conventions. We hope you will enjoy this hilarious and heartwarming documentary about passion, salvation, love, death, race, religion, and a whole lot of balloons.

Betallic 260 Twisting Balloons

2008-03-06T07:18:00.001-08:00

Balloon-Animals.com now carries Betallic 260 balloons in different assortments. If you are unfamiliar with the Betallic, they have a line of entertainer balloons called Betallatex.

Their balloons squeak less than other brands. They also come in a resealable bag. This makes the bags easy to store and prevents balloons from falling out of the bag after it as been open.

260B Fashion Assortment 100 Balloons

260B Crystal Assortment 100 Balloons

260B Metallic Assortment 100 Balloons

260B Neon Assortment 100 Balloons

260B Pearl Assortment 100 Balloons

Making a Balloon Ninja Turtle

2008-03-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

This balloon instruction was request by TruckerJunk on the Balloon Artist Forum.

The Ninja Turtle is made from

one red balloon - the mask
one goldenrod balloon - the shell
three green balloons

If you make the Ninja Turtle smaller, you can probably get away with using only two green balloons. Also, to add a bit more detail, you can use a brown balloon for the back of the shell.

Balloon Entertainment Show

2008-03-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

Update: This video has been removed from youtube. Apparently David Deciron companied that Adriano Perelli's show copied from one of his shows and requested the youtube remove it.

I came across this video while scanning Youtube for balloon inspiration. This video stars Adriano Perelli, i assume. I don't really know, I can't read Italian. Never the less, Who ever this guy is, he did a great job in his performance.

I really like how he integrated the music and the lights in with his balloon twisting actions. It was quite impressive. It shouldn't be that difficult to create a music track for a show.

I also liked how he had some balloon creations already made and tucked away to use in his performance. This allowed him to switch between them quickly. No of them were that difficult and probably only took a few moments before the show to make.

The result was a very entertaining balloon show that is certain to impress anyone in the audience, even another balloon artist.

New design for Balloon Animals Site

2008-03-03T07:47:00.001-08:00

This is the new design for the Balloon-Animals.com home page. I will be merging all the separate blogs into one blog. Certain articles and features will be highlighted on the homepage.

You may notice a Main link for the "Members Area". This is just a idea at the present moment. No members' area exits yet, but it will soon.

This section will probably be a monthly subscription designed for the balloon artist that want more complex instructions. There will also be a place for subscribers to display images of their balloon creations

Also, Balloon-Animals.com now carries balloons made by Betallic. Their line of entertainer twisting balloons is called Betallatex. They make great balloons, and if you haven't tried them you should. I especially like that the single colors come in packages of 50 instead of a hundred. This is great for the hobbyist who doesn't want to invest to much money in a large bag of balloons.

So if you need balloons, check out the our balloon twisting supplies store.

Large Balloon Spider

2008-02-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

This is my large balloon spider. This is a large balloon sculpture, but it is very easy to make. The round cartoon eyes add a lot of character to it. It uses:

5 black 260 balloons
1 red 260 balloon
2 cartoon eye round balloons

You can get the cartoon eye balloons from my balloon twisting supply store

Part 1

Part2

Balloon Fireman Hat

2008-02-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

Part 1

Part 2

Here are instructions on how to make a Fireman's Hat. This is a moderately simple hat. It might be a bit difficult for a novice balloon twister.

Since the video in hosted on YouTube, to keep the video from getting blurry, I had to break it in to two parts.

How to Make a Balloon Spiderman On a Stick

2008-02-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is a simple balloon sculpture for any balloon artist
It requires

1 red
1 blue
1 white
1 other balloon of any color

It can be done quickly and easily. Which makes it great for line work or parties.
By having Spidey swing from a stick, you make the balloon much more interactive. Trust me. It is a big hit with any little boy.
Please note that this video is hosted on youtube, so if you can not access youtube.com, you will not be able to see the video.