Make a Balloon Animal
Visit my gallery page to find instructions
for all balloons previously posted.
NativityBased on A Balloon Nativity by Bill Beatty
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.
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For instructions on how to make these figures, you should get Bill Beatty's
book. I've made notes on things that I've done differently from his
instructons.
The main change I've made on the human figures is to use a separate balloon
for the head. This allows colored costumes and skin-colored faces. Bill says
to make a one inch bubble for the head followed by two half-inch pinch twists
for the neck. I made a two-inch bubble from a blush colored 260Q and caught
one knot between the pinch twists. You can get 4-5 heads out of a 260Q.
Joseph's body and hair are just like Bill's design.
For Mary I made a "bird
body" for the skirt portion of the body and added an extra row of bubbles to
her hair.
For baby Jesus, I made a 3-inch bubble in the nipple end of a white 260 and
tied it to the blush balloon below the arms, for swaddling clothes.
The manger is just a brown rectangle with a series of tiny yellow bubbles
along the top for the hay.
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Bill doesn't include an angel. I made the body like Mary's and added a halo
and wings. For the halo, make a 1.5 inch bubble in a short piece of a yellow
260 and make an apple twist in it. Before you make the apple twist, grab the
knot on the top of the angel's head along with the yellow knot to apple link the
head to the halo. For the wings, make a 3/4 inch bubble at the nozzle and then
two triangles for the wings. Remove any excess balloon and tie it off. Wrap the
nozzle around the neck to secure. The hair is like Mary's except that it is just
wrapped around the halo instead of tied to the knot.
If you want a really fancy angel, there's a good picture at
this link.
For sheep instructions click here.
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The wise men are the same as Bill's except that I used the bubble between
the hands for the gift instead of pop twisting it and adding a gift of a different
color.
For camel instructions click here.
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I didn't include the cow and donkey or the stable and star, all of which
are in Bill's book, as well as a more detailed manger. |
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