I know, I know. Midterms and the fact that October is my busiest month of the year has kicked my butt.
I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to get so far behind.
I have still been taking pictures all along, so I can get myself back to where I need to be.
Day 331: Bumble Bee
I've been working on some new insects. This is a modification on the Bee design that Stretch The Balloon Dude showed me. I really loved the way he made the stinger.
Day 332: Elephant Hat
This is a slightly larger and more detailed version of my elephant hat. This was made for a camp show I did for a daycare center. One of the counselors was nice enough to model it for me.
Day 333: Frank
I'm goofing around with making large headed versions of Halloween monsters. Here is a Frankenstein I built for one of my restaurants.
Day 334: Horse Rider
Here is another of the pieces made for the camp show. This was to create a character of a horseback rider. Again, one of the counselors was nice enough to model it for me.
Day 335: Percy
I've been getting asked a lot for this Percy character. Sometimes they ask if I can give him the detectives hat.
Day 336: Monkeys
More from that camp show I did, we told the story of the 3 monkeys.
Day 337: Birthday Hat
I've been having fun making balloon people birthday hats this week. This is the first version of the birthday person hat.
Day 338: Birthday Hat
This is the second version of the hat. It's a little more structurally sound, and has better legs. This one is a good bit taller also.
Day 339: Big Plane
I neglected to order 350's in my last balloon order, and as a result was making things I'd usually make out of smaller balloons out of 650's. Here is the plane design I worked out.
Day 340: Mario
You recognize this guy, right? This is the quickest design I've come up with for the plumber so far. I'm sure I could do one that is a little more simple, but then I'd be loosing important details that I'm not sure I want to let go.
Day 341: Smurf and Friend
That Smurf movie has caused me to get a lot more Smurf requests than I used to.
Here was a shot at a basic smurf and the cat that chased them around.
Day 342: Strong Man
Another from the camp show. This counselor is dressed up like the strong man from the circus.
Day 343: Tiny Turtle:
At my Donato's Pizza location, the trend of tine balloon animals is catching on. I've got a few families now where the kids ask for tiny versions of the designs.
It helps me think more carefully about my shapes, so it is helping me out as well.
Day 344: Dem Bones
This years balloon skeleton design. He's going for a ride on a Beef O' Brady's balloon in the entryway.
Day 345: Witch Head
Here is a modification of my Chief Wahoo head that I make for going to Cleveland Indians games. If I change the color, adjust the nose, and give it a big black hat... I've got a giant Witch hat.
Who would have thunk it.
Ok. There. Back to where I need to be.
If the weather is nice I will be doing a bunch of ballooning at a local pumpkin farm this weekend. I should be able to get some more pictures there.
Thanks for being patient.
Only 20 days left and I will be at the 1 year mark.
Day 323: I had set up at my hair cutting place a few weeks back, and had fun making balloons for the customers that came in.
I made a few display pieces while I was there also. Here is a balloon stylist that I made, trying to draw peoples attention to the sales that were going on. I tried to make a mini hair dryer for him to hold.
Day 324: Duck Bracelet This lady here has been on a balloon bracelet kick it seems. This week she asked if I could make a duck bracelet. I wonder what she'll ask for next week.
Day 325: Foofa I didn't know what the heck a foofa was, so this girls dad had to show me on his phone. I think I did a good job making a balloon version of this Yo Gabba Gabba character.
Day 326: Sitting Leprechaun I've made a lot of different leprechauns on this blog, two of my weekly restaurants are Irish themed. Here is a design I worked up that has the lil' guy sitting on the counter.
School got really busy over the last week, so I had to let other things slide. This is me making that up.
Day 319: Applebee's
I had a little down time at a Kid's Night at a local Applebee's, so I thought I'd put something up front. I hadn't tried making and apple out of a 640 yet, so I thought I'd see how it looked.
Day 320: Catapult
When asked for medieval things, it's usually things like swords or bows, not siege weapons. This was a first attempt at a catapult. It did work a bit, it launched a balled up napkin a couple feet. I need to spend a little time looking at the design and trying to figure out how to increase the tension.
Day 321: Ribbit
There have been a few different versions of the frog on this blog. It's something that I've gotten a lot of requests for over the last year, so I want to make something that I'm happy to hand out, and that is my own unique design. Since this picture was taken I've changed the back legs a bit, so it's still a work in progress.
Day 322: Royal Beating
This was a fancy princess wand I made for a birthday girl... that could be used as a weapon. Her brother was getting a gun, which means he was going to be shooting his sister all day. I wanted to give her a way to defend herself, and even fight back if needed. This should be able to give a good bopping.
I've been having fun lately making balloons to stay up front at my restaurants. I like to make things that will catch peoples attention and can be left up for at least a couple days so that customers coming in on the days that I'm not there can be like "What's with the balloon?" And then the staff can be like "It's Kid's Night on Thursdays, you should come back and check it out."
Here is a version of a dragon hanging out on the Please Wait To Be Seated sign.
The popularity of the rather addicting Angry Birds game means that I've had to develop versions of these birds that can be made in the time allotted at restaurants.
The design for the birds isn't all that complicated actually, and can be switched out for any of the colors quite easily.
I don't have a quick version of making the pigs yet.... they still require raisin twists and inverting balloons and stuff. I'm working on it though.
I was asked for a pair of swimming goggles... this girl often comes up with things I've never been asked for.
I'm also wary of making things that go around a persons face or neck. I'm fine with making hats, but I don't want to risk something popping and getting someone in the eye or tightening around a throat.
I made these with the condition that they not be work.
Here is the Bumble Bee I've been working on. It's based on Stretch the Balloon Dude's design, I'm just trying to work the body segments a little differently.
ARRRR! If I would have realized that today is "Talk Like A Pirate Day!" then I would have tried to have something piratey for this post.
I'm sure I'll get plenty of pirate themed requests at my kid's night tonight, so perhaps I'll have something good for you for tomorrow.
Here is the much larger version of the Hot Air Balloon. It's suspended by a 36" balloon filled with helium.
My plan was to try to get some shots of this balloon with all the huge hot air balloons taking off in the background, but an adorable little girl walked up to my wife and asked if she could buy it because it was her birthday. I gave it to her as a birthday gift, and she was very happy with it. I imagine she walked back to her family and lorded her new prize over all the other children.
There is a local Balloon A-Fair happening this weekend... so guess where I'll be.
For those of you that don't know what a Balloon A-Fair is, it's a huge event where people with hot air balloons set up and launch from a single location. Last year I think there were over 100 balloons in the air at the same time.
This is my test model for a design I'll be building... It worked out like I thought it would, so I'll be heading to pick up the supplies I need to make a grander design.
I've been working on a new balloon bag... my old one broke on me. I was using a bag specially made for balloon professionals, and while at a block party this summer I lifted up the bag and the bottom fell right out of it... my balloons were scattered all over the sidewalk.
I was shown a great design by Stretch the Balloon Dude, and used it as a base for making my own balloon rig.
It's still a work in progress, but here is a picture of the main compartment.
This is where the 160's, 260's, and 350's are stored. I've got a separate section holding the 640's, and I'm working on an efficient way to sort all the varieties of smaller balloons I keep with me.
When the cart is done I'll post a final image of it... perhaps the final design is something other balloon twisters will be interested i trying for themselves.
I posted a different version of a mouse hat a couple months back.
Here is the updated version.
I'll have some better pictures of this once I grab some screen shots from film of the show I made this for.
Day 302: Duck Hat.
Another update of a previous hat I've posted.
I've been making a lot of duck things lately.
Day 303: Dog Hat
Hey! Look! It's another animal hat!
Day 304: Monster High I've been talking with someone about doing a Monster High themed birthday party.
I'm trying to think of things I can do that would work for Monster High.
A girl came into one of my kid's nights with some Monster High toys... and asked if I could make a balloon copy of one of the dolls purses. I think I did a good job with the time I had.
Imagine the voice of Gerard Butler when you read the title.
If I would have planned ahead I would have made a spear or Spartan helmet for today's post... but I didn't think of it.
Instead, I'll show you a balloon Moe.
This was done at a birthday party a few weeks back. One of the dads wanted me to make a balloon Moe to make fun of one of the other guests there that was often compared to Moe from The Simpsons when the teasing began.
I don't think I got Moe's overbite perfect, but over all I'm quite pleases with how the balloon turned out.
Here is a strange one... One of my favorite groups of regulars asked me for all food balloons a couple weeks ago. One asked for a big ol' turkey leg.
I've never made one of these before, but I did see a balloon twister buddy of mine make one at a Christmas party we were both working once... so I gave it a shot.
Certainly, it doesnt' look like it's dripping with juices and delicious to eat... but that's good. I wouldn't want the kids to start chewing on the balloons.
I was rained out at the outdoor festival I was going to be twisting at today. It didn't look like the weather was going to be all that great, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. I was there for all of 20 min before it began raining on me.
I'll give it another shot tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be nicer, and I'll get a chance to sell some of those bracelets.
Today's balloon is a flamingo hat that I made a couple weeks back. The girl didn't seem all that keen to wear it, but she was surrounded by friends and they convinced her it was a good idea.
If you've been following my blog, you have seen a lot of different things that can be made from balloons. For the most part the balloons are inflated and twisted into shapes, but there are a lot of things that can be made from un-inflated balloons as well.
Here is a selection of bracelets made from un-inflated balloon scraps.
I save my scraps anyway, because I often find uses for them when I'm building designs for people... but I accumulate a lot of scraps in a short amount of time.
When I sat down to start cutting the scraps into the proper lengths to make these bracelets I had a plastic grocery bag filled completely with scraps of all different colors... easily 3-4 pounds of balloon scraps.
This weekend is Labor Day weekend, and there is a local festival that I twist at every year. Last year I brought a dozen or so of these to the festival and they were a big hit. I wanted to bring a lot more this time to see if I can start a cool new fashion trend in the area.
Day 332: Elephant Hat
Day 333: Frank
Day 334: Horse Rider
Day 335: Percy
Day 338: Birthday Hat
Day 339: Big Plane
Day 340: Mario
Day 341: Smurf and Friend
Day 342: Strong Man
Day 343: Tiny Turtle:
