How to make balloon cake. Balloon flags

Materials: balloons, an air pump, permanent marker, scissors and correction liquid (whitening).

Buy balloons on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3ghxhW6

 Buy an air pump on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3mW1DyJ

This instruction is made as a continuation of the “Fabric 1, Flags" instruction. We are going to make a piece of balloon fabric using the same pattern. Then we will use this piece to make a cake or a basket. The first thing we have to decide how wide the piece of fabric we want to make. We will use one balloon for each row (or column-it depends on how we look at the piece) of the fabric to begin with. The length of the piece we can easily adjust by adding balloons as we need it. We are going to twist all bubbles of the same size—it could be up to the balloon size! Just for purpose of this instruction we are going to twist all bubbles of the same about one—inch size. We will use six balloons of different colors to make it. Inflate all six balloons leaving a seven—inch flat tail (Pic 1).

The next step is to make three pairs of balloons by tying ends of each pair (Pic 2 and 3).

Twist the first yellow and the first brown bubble (Pic 4).

Lock the free end of the first yellow bubble with the free end of the first brown bubble (Pic 5).

Twist the first gray and the first purple bubble (Pic 6).

Lock the free end of the first gray bubble with the free end of the first purple bubble (Pic 7).

Twist the second yellow bubble and the chain of two (the first and the second) blue bubbles (Pic 8).

Lock the free end of the second blue bubble with the free end of the second yellow bubble (Pic 9).

Twist the second brown and the second gray bubble (Pic 10).

Lock the free end of the second brown bubble with the free end of the second gray bubble (Pic 11).

Twist the second purple and the chain of two (the first and the second) pink bubbles (Pic 12).

Lock the free end of the second purple bubble with the free end of the second pink bubble (Pic 13). We made the pattern. Now we will just repeat this pattern to make the fabric piece as long as we need.

Twist the third gray and the third purple bubble (Pic 14).

Lock free end of the third gray bubble with the free end of the third purple bubble (Pic 15).

Twist the third brown and the third yellow bubble (Pic 16).

Lock the free end of the third brown bubble with the free end of the third yellow bubble (Pic 17).

Twist the chain of two (the third and the fourth) pink bubbles and the fourth purple bubble (Pic 18).

Lock the free end of the fourth purple bubble with the free end of the fourth pink bubble (Pic 19).

Twist the fourth brown and the fourth gray bubble (Pic 20).

Lock the free end of the fourth brown bubble with the free end of the fourth gray bubble (Pic 21).

Twist the chain of two (the third and the fourth) blue bubbles and the fourth yellow bubble (Pic 22).

Lock the free end of the fourth blue bubble with the free end of the fourth yellow bubble (Pic 23).

Twist the fifth gray and the fifth purple bubble (Pic 24).

Lock the free end of the fifth gray bubble with the free end of the fifth purple bubble (Pic 25).

Twist the fifth yellow and the fifth brown bubble (Pic 26).

Lock the free end of the fifth yellow bubble with the free end of the fifth brown bubble (Pic 27).

Twist the chain of two (the fifth and the sixth) pink bubbles and the sixth purple bubble (Pic 28).

Lock the free end of the sixth purple bubble with the free end of the sixth pink bubble (Pic 29).

Twist the sixth brown and the sixth gray bubble (Pic 30).

Lock the free end of the sixth brown bubble with the free end of the sixth gray bubble (Pic 31).

Twist the chain of two (the fifth and the sixth) blue bubbles and the sixth yellow bubble (Pic 32).

Lock the free end of the sixth blue bubble with the free end of the sixth yellow bubble (Pic 33). We made the square piece (6 by 6 bubbles) of fabric. We can continue to twist bubbles to make as long piece as we want. Once we run out of balloon, we have to inflate new balloon and tie it to the end of the fabric and keep twisting.

However for the purpose of this instruction, we are going to use this piece of fabric as the top surface of the cake. So, let’s cut off the rest of the balloons and tie off the ends (Pic 34). Previously I published instruction "Cake" where we've made a different cake. You are very welcome to take a look at it as well.

Now we have to make the sides of the cake. There are many different ways to make them. We are going to use basically the same pattern to make two rows of bubbles for the sides. First of all, let’s do a bit of math. Using this pattern we have to twist six bubbles for each side of the square (total of 24 bubbles). We also will need one extra bubble for each point where we attach the side to the square. So, the top row of the side will have a total of 36 bubbles. Inflate two balloons leaving a seven—inch flat tail. Tie nuzzles of both balloons in one knot (Pic 35).

We are going to use the blue balloon for the top row of the side. Twist the chain of two (the first and the second) blue bubbles (Pic 36).

Lock both ends of the second blue bubble in one lock twist (Pic 37). We made the first extra bubble. Later we are going to use it to attach the side to the square.

Twist the chain of two (the first and the second) red bubbles and the third blue bubble (Pic 38). We could use just one red bubble to make a different pattern, but by using two bubbles, we have the option of adding a third row later if we decide to.

Lock free end of the third blue bubble with the free end of the second red bubble (Pic 39). We made a pattern for the side. Now we will just repeat this pattern.

Twist a chain of two (the fourth and the fifth) blue bubbles (Pic 40).

Lock both ends of the fifth bubble in one lock twist (Pic 41).

Twist the chain of the next two (the third and the fourth) red bubbles and the sixth blue bubble (Pic 42).

Lock the free end of the sixth blue bubble with the free end of the fourth red bubble. Repeat the steps described above for the side pattern to make a total of eighteen blue bubbles and twelve red bubbles (Pic 43).

Cut off the rest of the balloons. Tie together the ends of the balloons (Pic 44). We made one half of the sides. I want to stress the fact that we are following a similar pattern to the one used in "Crown". There are some variations in size and number of bubbles, but essentially it is the same. 

Now we have to make the rest of the sides. Inflate two balloons (pink and dark blue) leaving seven—inch flat tail. Tie nozzles of both balloons in one knot (Pic 45).

Tie nozzles of all four balloons in one knot (Pic 46).

Twist and lock the pink balloon and the dark blue balloon in the same fashion as we did the previous two balloons (Pic 47 and 48).

Tie the free ends of all four balloons in one knot (Pic 49 through 50). We made the sides of the cake or the crown. Well, this size crown is probably too large. But my point is just to give you the idea. Generally I don't do the side in this way. I prefer to make the side and attach it to the cake at the same time. 

Now we have to attach the sides to the top. There are three pairs of bubbles on either side of the top. I pointed on them on one side of the square with black arrows (Pic 51).

That’s where we have to attach extra bubbles. Lock one extra bubble at a time working all the way around the top (Pic 52 through 59).

Congratulations, you have made the cake. There are many ways to decorate the cake. For example we can attach a candle on top, or candle in a flower (Pic 60 through 62).

We can use the same technique to make the cake of different sizes and proportions. Our cake has a box shape. Turn it upside down to make a basket for a toy kitten or a nest and etc (Pic 63).

As I mentioned in previous instructions we can use fabric to make many different sculptures. Making flags is one of the use. I am going to add more pictures of flags made in the same fashion to this post.

Click here to see the page with links to other flags made in different ways. 

Have fun and happy twisting :)

Rainbow flags of different sizes:

Rainbow LGBT pride (six colors):

Rainbow LGBT pride (six colors upside down):

Rainbow PACE (Piece) seven colors:

Rainbow PACE (Piece) seven colors (upside down):

Flag of Thailand.

Flag of Argentina.

I use two blue balloons and one white balloon to make the rectangular shape with sides six by ten bubbles. In this example I use each balloon to make two rows. Also, we can use one balloon to make one row (it would take four blue balloons and two white balloons). Then I added one yellow bubble at the center.

Use permanent yellow and black markers to draw symbol.

Flag of Azerbaijan.
In this example I use three balloons (blue, red, green) to make rectangular shape with sides six by ten bubbles. Then use white correction liquid to paint the symbol.