Make a Balloon Animal

Visit my gallery page to find instructions for all balloons previously posted.

Bugs

As soon as I saw the pictures of the characters for the new Bug's Life movie I knew I'd have to add more bugs to my repertoire. Here's my rendition of a 4-legged ant that walks erect.

Instructions

You will need three matching balloons for the main body of the ant. In addition you will need a matching balloon for the antennae and a scrap of white balloon for the eyes.

The antennae can be either a 16-inch section of a 160 balloon or a regular 260 balloon with a 1/2-inch bubble in each end.
Inflate white scrap about 1 to 1.5 inches. Tie the nozzle to the back of the bubble and cut off the rest. Twist in the middle, catching the knot in the twist, to make two equal sized eyes. If you want to make a queen ant, the remainder can be used for wings.

The head is based on a Frog head that I copied from David Graves.
Inflate a 260 leaving about a 4-inch tail. Twist a soft 2-inch bubble followed by a 4-bubble loop of 2-inch, 1.5, 1.5 and then a 2-inch. Pass one of the antennae through the loop and lock them between the 1.5 inch bubbles. The soft 2-inch will become a flat nose. Set the eyes at the base of the antennae, then pull the nozzle up between the eyes, between the antennae, over the back of the head and down to the neck and twist it in place. Make two 1.5-inch bubbles below the head and give them a pinch twist to form a poseable neck.

Twist a 6 - 8 inch bubble for the body and make the remainder of the balloon into a bird body for the abdomen.

Inflate another 260 and let out a little air to soften it. Find the middle and twist into 2 equal parts. Attach this twist to the waist. Bring the two parts of the new balloon up to the neck and twist, making a 3-bubble body (similar to a bird body). Make a pinch twist about 6 inches down the arms to make elbows. You can make hands in the ends by loop twisting a 4-inch bubble, followed by a 1.5 inch 'thumb'.
The third balloon becomes the legs and feet. Construction is similar to the arms and hands but without the body segments. Attach them at the waist. Curve the antennae for a better look, and use a marker to add eye and mouth details. For the queen or princess ants, make two equal loops from a white 260 and tuck into the body for wings.



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Yes, the wallpaper is a stereogram!