How to Make a Buggs Bunny Balloon
Learning to Twist Balloons for Charity
I am a balloon artist and I have spent many hours ballooning in shopping centers in Europe, creating sculptures and selling them as a fundraiser for my Missionary Fellowship (TFI).
I started –like most people do--, with small , simple one balloon animals like poodles, horses, giraffes, etc. Once I was more comfortable with twisting, I incorporated some 2 balloon creations, like balloon flowers, ladybugs, bikes with poodle, hearts, etc.
A few months later I dared trying to make bigger sculptures and realized that they were selling very well. I did some research into the work of other artists and tried to duplicate their creations and even came up with some original ones by myself on the long run.
One Easter season day some people started asking me for rabbits. That started me into making Buggs Bunnies of all colors.
This is one of the favourite characters for most children. If they have a choice, they prefer to buy a Bugs Bunny amongst all the other big balloons.
Balloon Twister Kit
Guiding Your Hands to Twist a Buggs Bunny Balloon
To twist a Buggs Bunny balloon, you need 3 light blue or gray 260´s wholesale balloons and one white one. (and a few extra just in case you pop those) Grab your hand pump and get to work.
Inflate the white one, leaving about 15 cms. Make a loop of about 8 cms and twist it. Make another one the same size and secure them. It should look like a number 8. Now measure 6 cms. And twist. With the remaining balloon, measure 20 cms. And make 3 equal parts, twisting it together and leaving a little white ball at the end (which will be the bunny´s tail) . Congratulations! You finished creating the body!
Now inflate a blue balloon all the way --let some air off so it is not too tight--, and tie knot. Divide the balloon in half and make a little bubble in the middle that you will attach in between the 8 looking loop of the white body. This will be Buggs´s nose.
Take the two long halves balloons and twist them together at about 10 cms from the nose. Make one of the ears pass thru the loop you just made –for more security. Mold the ears in different directions to give a more natural look. Now you already have the head and the ears! This was the most difficult part, but once you try it a couple of times, you will see it is not that difficult.
Take another blue balloon and inflate all the way. Again, let some air out so it does not pop when you twist it. By the way, this should be a regular habit when ballooning.
Twist a little bubble at one end and make a long loop of about 15 cms and twist with the bubble. This is the foot. Do the same in the other end. Now you have a balloon with two feet. Measure and twist exactly in the middle of the long balloon. Now attach it to the little white tail. They should be equal and stable when you put it on a hard surface. It can even stand up on its own!
Ok, now you have a rabbit with a head, a body and two legs with big feet. What is missing? The arms, of course. They are very similar to what you did with the legs.
Take the other blue balloon. This time leave a little non inflated, as the arms are to be shorter than the legs. Twist a little thumb, then make a loop of about 8 cms and twist together to form the hand. Do the same thing in the other side. You may have to push the air to the other side to do that, depending on how much of the balloon you did not inflate. Divide in half. Now grabbing both balloons at the meeting point, twist them together making a double bubble of about 4 cms. Curve the arms a bit to give it more reality and introduce one hand thru the opening in the white body. Introduce the other one thru another opening. Close the structure like you would turn a key, by twisting the double bubble in a horizontal position, which will block the arms into the body.
Different Ways to Handle a Buggs Bunny
Buggs Bunnies can be attached to the neck of the child with their long legs, around their head and attached to its forehead with their arms.
The child can just hold one paw , mommy the other and the three of you can walk away with it.
You can inflate a black balloon half way, attach a non inflated black balloon to its end (pretend it is a fishing line) and secure Buggs Bunny to it. The kid will walk away having fished a big balloon.
It can be secured to the handle of the stroller or baby pram.
Buggs Bunny will make the kids and parents happy. They can last almost a week without popping.
