Make a Balloon Animal

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

Make a Balloon Sculpture

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

Sheep



When we went to Tennessee for my niece's wedding we stayed with some of their friends who raise sheep. Inspired by the black-faced variety on their acreage, I developed the model described here. I began with a design similar to that of Bill "Dr.Twistin" Beatty in his book, A Balloon Nativity, and added a few twists of my own.

See it here!

Bill Beatty's book is no longer in print, but he has given me permission to reproduce it here. CLICK HERE for the full text of A Balloon Nativity by Bill Beatty complete with the original drawings, slightly modified for web format.
Begin by inflating a White 260 about half way, and at least 4 inches of a black 260. Exact length doesn't matter because you will be removing the excess from both balloons.

Connect the black balloon to the white one with an apple link, making a 2-inch bubble in the white balloon.

Make a bubble about 2 inches in the black balloon, followed by a soft 1-inch bubble. Give the 1-inch a toe twist to create the lips and break off the rest of the black balloon. The toe twist should seal the balloon, but wrap any extra balloon around and between the lips to hide it.

Twist a series of six bubbles in the white balloon in the following sizes: 2-inch, four 1.5-inch, another 2-inch. Lock these together in a 6-bubble loop.

Push the black bubble through the loop and make a pinch twist in the first and last 1.5-inch bubbles for ears. The black bubble should be on one side of the loop for the face and the white tulip twist should be on the other side forming the back of the head.
Make a neck, front legs and feet, body, and rear legs and feet as you would for a basic poodle. For the tail, make a 2-inch pinch twist and pop off any remaining balloon. Tie off the broken end and wrap it into the tail twist to hide it.

There are many gospel applications for the sheep. A few examples are Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd...), the Good Shepherd (John 10), and the Passover lamb (Exodus 12).
I think my favorite is the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. Here the shepherd leaves his flock in the safety of the fold to find the one sheep that is lost. Risking his own life, the shepherd braves the dangers of the wild to bring the wandering sheep back home.
It is a beautiful picture of God's love and forgiveness, so dramatically described by the prophet Isaiah who said "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isa. 53:6)



 

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