Sunday, February 24, 2013

Balloon parrot



Materials: a balloon; an air pump and a permanent marker.

Buy balloons on Amazon (paid link): 
 Buy an air pump on Amazon (paid link): 



Inflate a balloon leaving a four—inch flat tail (Pic 1).

The first two bubbles you twist to make the head. Twist the first three—inch bubble (Pic 2).

Twist the second three—inch bubble (Pic 3).

Fold the two bubbles together (Pic 4).

Lock both ends of the chain of the two (the first  and the 2nd) bubbles in one lock twist (Pic 5 through 7). This step is marked with arrows between points A and B on the scheme.



Twist the third one—inch bubble. It’s the neck (Pic 8).

The next 3 bubbles you twist to make the bird wings and body. You make the twist the bird body fold. Twist the fourth five—inch bubble (Pic 9).

Twist the fifth five—inch bubble (Pic 10).

Lock both ends of the chain of the last two (the 4th and the 5th) bubbles in one lock twist (Pic 11 through 14). This step is marked with arrows between points C and E on the scheme.





You have made the wings of the parrot (Pic 15).

Twist the sixth four—inch bubble (Pic 16).

Lock the free end of the sixth bubble between the fourth and fifth bubbles (Pic 17).

Pull the 4th and 5th bubbles apart to create space between them big enough to roll the sixth bubble through (Pic 18).

Put your thumb on the sixth bubble and hold it firmly. Roll the fourth and fifth bubbles around of the sixth bubble. Apply the pressure at one end of the sixth bubble until it gets between the fourth and fifth bubbles far enough to stay there without your help (Pic 19 through 21).



Important: if you try to just push the sixth bubble hard between the bubbles it may pop up. You have to roll the fourth and fifth bubbles around the sixth bubble. After you have fixed one end of the sixth bubble you may fix the other end of the sixth bubble by using the same technique (Pic 22 through 24).



Bend the sixth bubble by pulling it away from the fourth and the fifth bubble (Pic 25).

The 6th bubble is locked between the 4th and 5th bubbles. You have made the bird body twist/fold (Pic 26). This step is marked with arrows between points D and F on the scheme.

The next 4 bubbles you twist to make the legs of the parrot. Twist the seventh one—inch bubbles (Pic 27).

Twist the eighth one—inch bubble (Pic 28).

Twist the ninth one—inch bubble (Pic 29).

Twist the tenth one—inch bubble (Pic 30).

Lock both ends of the chain of the last four (the 7th through the 10th ) bubbles in one lock twist (Pic 31 and 32).This step is marked with the arrows between points F and G on the scheme.


The rest of the balloon is the eleventh bubble. It’s the tail. You have made the parrot (Pic 33).

Use the permanent marker to draw the parrot (Pic 34 and 35).

Congratulations, you have made the parrot and learn the bird body twist/fold. You will often use this twist to make many others animal bodies, hats, faces and everything else your imagination tells you. There would be just difference in the size and the proportions of the bubbles.
 Have fun and happy twisting :)

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