Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Balloon Christmas wreath


Supplies: balloons, an air pump, scissors, sewing thread and clear sticky tape.

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

Inflate four green balloons leaving about 7 cm flat tails (Pic 1 and 2).


I am going to use the same weaving technique as described in previously published instruction "How to make balloon arch. Balloon pole" and some other instructions. Tie nozzles of two balloons in one knot. You have to make two pairs of balloons (Pic 3).

Criss cross both pairs of balloons in one hand. Twist and lock bubbles of one pair in one move at the same time. Twist all bubbles of the same about 10 cm size (Pic 4 and 5). 


Twist and lock bubbles of the second pair (Pic 6).

Work in this fashion to the end of balloons (Pic 7).

 I stop making new bubbles leaving rest of the balloons long enough to make at least one more pair of bubbles (Pic 8). Here you can add new set of balloons if you want to make larger size sculpture.

Now we have to tie nozzles of the first pair of balloons between the last bubbles of the same balloons (Pic 9).

After that you can cut off the rest parts of the fist pair of balloons leaving long flat ends (Pic 10 - 12). We are going to use the long flat ends of balloons to attach decorations to the wreath.



Now we have to twist and lock the last bubbles of the second pair of balloons. This time we are going to work one bubble at a time. Twist one bubble of the second pair of balloons. Tie nozzle of the second pair of balloons with the free end of the last bubble (Pic 13). After that you can deflate the rest part of this balloon leaving long flat end.

Twist the second bubble of this pair (Pic 14).

Push the nozzles of the second pair of balloons through the loop of the last bubbles of the first pair to get easier access. And then tie the nozzles of the second pair of balloons with the free end of the last bubble (Pic 15).

Cut off the rest of the balloon (Pic 16 and 17). Congratulations! We have made the balloon wreath. You can use this sculpture as a hat. This size hat fits me. Please check previously published instruction "How to make balloon arch. Balloon pole"for more ideas about using color patterns.


We can decorate our sculpture with flowers, stars or snowflakes. I want to make a bow or a butterfly. Inflate any appropriate color (red, yellow, white and etc.) balloon leaving about 3 - 5 cm flat tail (Pic 18 and 19). 

In this example I made about 4 cm flat tail (Pic 19).

Squeeze the balloon to make it soft and to get rid of the flat end (Pic 20). 

Fold the balloon in half. Hold both parts of the balloon about 20 - 25 cm away from the ends (Pic 21).

Twist and lock in one move both parts of the balloon. We have made a loop with two ends (Pic 22).

Twist about 5 - 7 cm bubble using part of the loop closer to the knot at the center of the sculpture (Pic 23).

Lock both ends of this bubble in one lock twist (Pic 24 and 25). This small bubble covers the knot at the center of the sculpture. You can make another bubble in the same way and place it on the back side of the sculpture if you want to use the bow without attaching it to the wreath. 


Now you have to split the loop on two bubbles of the same size and lock their ends in one lock twist (Pic 26 and 27). We have made the bow.


Now we can use one of the long green flat ends to attach the bow to the wreath (Pic 28 and 29).

Stretch the long green flat end and wrap it between red bubbles of the bow (Pic 29 and 30).

Congratulations! We have made the balloon Christmas wreath. You can rotate the bow around itself to place it at the bottom or at the top of the wreath (Pic 30 and 31).


The knots and flat ends of the green balloons hidden between bubbles of the sculpture (Pic 32).

We can hang the sculpture on windows, doors, walls and etc. using sewing thread and clear sticky tape (Pic 33 and 34).

You will need about 3 - 5 cm long piece of clear sticky tape (Pic 34).

Cut about 20 - 30 cm long piece of sewing thread and wrap it around or between green bubbles at the top of the sculptures. Make sure to bring the thread to the back of the sculpture. Stick the tape to the thread about 3 - 5 cm away from bubbles (Pic 35).

Stick the tape to the wall (Pic 36 and 37). Have fun and happy twisting :)

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