Odds and Ends
Magical Balloon Michael
Michael Philo
Hello everyone,
This month I will not be sharing step by step instructions but rather a ton of ideas using the Betallatex Odd Shaped balloons. First I must send my thanks to Royal Sorell, Don Caldwell, Ralph Dewey, Tom Myers and all of the Balloon Hq Members. Many of these designs are done with the Betallatex Odd Shaped Balloons and after you see all this great stuff I think you’ll want to try it all. That’s the reason I asked Tom (T. Myers Magic Inc.) to put together an assorted bag of the Betallatex Odd Shapes. You can view them here http://www.tmyers.com/balloon/betallatexodd.html or get them by calling T. Myers Magic and ordering a bag of Betallatex Ast Odds Item # 1286. A list of what you get will be at the bottom of this article.
I have titled this Odds and Ends because I will be discussing the Betallatex Odd shapes and a few ideas using the ends of your 160s, 260s and 350s.
Let’s start with the Don Caldwell Ideas. Below you can see his use for the Large Bear Head and a 260. Fully inflate the Large Bear head and give it a good burp then take a 260, make a set of arms with two pinch twists in the middle and there you have the Happy Boy/Girl.
Now along those same lines I have made the Happy Rabbit and Happy Mouse. The Rabbit is made the same way as the Happy Boy/Girl but with big ears. Now the Happy Mouse can be made two different ways. One way is to make the Happy Rabbit but use two 5″ Rounds as the ears for mouse ears and the second way is to just add arms, legs and a tail to a fully inflated Large Bear Head.
Don’s idea for a baby seal is great as well. This is just two Clown Heads and a 6″ Heart.
Now you can also use the Swan Balloons to make a larger version of this for an adult seal. Just make sure you also use an 11″ Heart.
Ralph Dewey sent me a photo of his Alien with Space Ray Gun (photo id# 1689) but the photo was to big to be formatted therefore I am including the photo id#. The design is a great way to show how you can really mix the shapes to get what you want.
A lot of these shapes can be used for more than one thing. Let’s take the 428 spiral for example. Royal Sorell uses them as giant Birthday Candles, I use them for the obvious, Unicorn Horns, just a puff of air and theres a horn just perfect for your 2 balloon horse. However you can also use them as a great tounge. In the photo below I combined the 428 with the Rattlesnake balloon, added a 260 for a mouth and a 5″ round for the eyes for an awesome monster snake. You can also use the 550 spiral balloons for the body of this snake as they are about the same size. Or you could use a 428 for a smaller snake.
Here you can see a 550 used as the body for a super size Dragonfly. I used four 260s for the wings. Again you can also use the Rattlesnake or 428 for this creation.
You can use the 550s and rattlesnakes both as a bouncing balloon by just inserting a super ball into the balloon and then fully inflate it but dont tie it off. Let the ball fall to the bottom and bounce it. This is also well done with the 630s or any size or type of balloon really. A 5 or 9″ Round is fun to watch but doesn’t last as long as the 630. The Doll Shape makes a funny looking bouncing balloon as well. The 630 is used for the body of a Jack Hammer that I designed. Heres the line version of it.
For those of you who like to use the 321 Bee Body as a Rocket (see photo below) you can add more color, shape and size by using a 428, 550 or even one of the Caterpillars.
More Rocket ideas are to use a Prestige 315, 524 or even half of a 350Q.
Here are some more neat things to do with caterpillar balloons. You can do like Ralph Dewey and use just the head for a pretty quick alien. You can also make a great tree from them by tying a 260 to the antennas on top of the head like so. You can also use them for a butterfly or dragonfly.
Glynis and James have some great ideas using the odds. You can view the bee that James made on www.balloonhq.com. Its photo id# is 26297 and instructions can be found at http://www.celebrationindustry.com/ James also has a great snowman photo id# 26296.
The great thing about the balloon world is how one thing can be made in a number of different ways. For example, James used a Seal with Ball balloon for his bee but I use the Doll Shape as well as the Happy Clown. I used a super ball for the nose and twisted a 6″ heart in half then wrapped it around the super ball for eyes. You may want to tie a scrap around the super ball to keep it in place before adding the eyes. The wings can be made from a 160 or 260 and the stinger is just a scrap with two ear twists and wrapped around the tail.
Another example can be a duck. This can of course be made out of a Swan balloon (see Rob Balchunas article here http://www.balloonhq.com/column/balchunas/dec03/ ) but it can also be made out of a Doll Shape, a Happy Clown or a 9 or 11″ Round (not shown).
By using a Clown Head instead of a Swan you can make a Baby Duck.
The great thing about the Clown Heads is that they can be made into a better version of just about anything that can be made with a heart. For example, here on the left is a guy made with the Clown Head and on the right is a guy made with a 6″ heart.
Below is the helicopter made with a Clown Head.
Now lets backup for a second to the Swan Balloons. Two of these can make a great antler hat by tying them together and adding them to a basic helmet hat. I like to add a pinch twist in the top of the hat to help make the swan balloons stable. They also can make a great seal.
You can also make a quick peacock out of the Swan or a Baby Peacock out of the Clown Head.
Lets not forget the Small Bear Heads. You can make a quick and easy hitch hiker with them. I also like to use them with four 260s and a scrap of a 260 to make a cute little squid. Just twist the ears together add the legs and a beak.
One of the things to keep in mind when using the odds is the fact that due to the way they are made the latex is spread out so make sure that you give all of them a good burp. You will pop them from time to time no matter what just like any other balloon. You must be gentle with them.
For even more ideas using the odd shapes you can check out some photos by Dustin Queary found here http://simpleshonna.balloonhq.com/ .
Another Odd type balloon not made by Betallatex is the Wobbly Worm. You can get these at www.btydirect.com They too can be quick alien heads, rockets or a tree with a smile.
Now for the Ends. I don’t have as much to say about them really just a few tips. I recommend only saving certain colors such as black, white, red, pink and yellow. These colors are all I need but it would be a good idea to figure out what color scraps (ends) you should save. Make a list of everything you make that you could use a scrap of balloon for such as Ralph Deweys Bat Hat in Balloon Magic # 34 which could use two scraps of a black balloon. Another use for a black scrap is a Scooby Type Dog, for which you only need a small piece of black. White has a spot here too because you can use a scrap of white for his eyes. Red is a great color for most noses and yellow is a very good eye color. Just a few tips to help out and perhaps make things a little easier.
As promised here’s the list off the odd shapes you get in the assorted bag and what you can use them for:
- Small Bear Head = Hitch Hiker, Squid, Baby Mouse
- Large Bear Head = Happy Boy/Girl, Happy Rabbit, Happy Mouse
- Swan = Duck, Seal, Peacock, Antler Hat
- Caterpillar = Butterfly, Dragonfly, Tree Top, Head
- Clown Head = Baby Seal, Helicopter, Baby Duck, Guy
- Doll Shape = Duck, Bee, Bouncing Balloon
- Rattlesnake = Dragonfly, Snake
- Happy Clown = Bee, Duck, Hammer ( twist in half and add a 260)
- 428 Spiral = Unicorn Horn, Small Snake, Tounges, Dragonfly
- 550 Spiral = Snake, Large Dragonfly, Super Tounge
I hope you were able to learn something.
Thanks for reading, Michael
As always questions and comments are welcomed at: [email protected]