scrap balloon art

When balloon people meet me, I'm usually introduced as 'Ryan Lavallee's girlfriend', or as 'the girl that makes the balloon jewelry.'

Which is fine by me, since I am both of those things. I'm not sure how many people on here also make stuff out of balloons(most don't because it's tedious and ya know... tedious...) But for those that do, I thought that you might get a kick out of my latest creation!

I have been trying to figure out for a while now a way to weave balloon nozzles together in a way so that it forms a fabric-like material. It's not easy to do! But after fiddling around with it last night, I was able to come up with this-


it's a band made completely out of woven balloons. I really like the way that it mimics crochet or knitting... So, I kept playing around and came up with this-


Tada! I was able to increase it's width! Something that has been alluding me for quite a while now.. Thing is, it took me a really long time to make this small piece(about an hour!) so now I'm trying to figure out a weave that isn't as time consuming...

I thought about it a lot to night while watching Invader Zim, and I think that I may have actually figured it out(finally!)

Thanks for looking, I'm just so excited.. I know it's silly, but it's a problem that I've been trying to solve for over a year now! haha

Also, in case you are wondering, this was made completely out of the nozzles from a ton of 5" rounds.. about 346 of them. I collect balloon scraps, so getting a ton of these things isn't hard to do! I made the weave using just a pair of needle nose pliers and my little old fingers

Ashley! Fabulous. That would be a really wicked bracelet!

BTW, it's you that got me doing balloon jewelry - I made a bunch of scrunchy bracelets and nozzle pendants for my last trade show - thank you!

Are you going to be at Twist N Shout this year?

Hey! Awesome nozzle pendant(still one of my favorite things to make!)

I've never been to twist and shout, and I probably won't this year. I'm not even gonna be making it to any of the face painting conventions this year(just not enough funds... thanks school tuition!)

But, I'd like to go one year, if only to make a kick a** sculpture only from scraps and enter it in a competition to piss everyone off..lol.

Did you read the balloonhq column that I wrote about making scrap art?

This thread made me grab all my stuff and make some more pendants I'll try take a pic and post later.

I did read your articles! Love Balloon HQ. That's when I first learned you could make balloon jewelry! Didn't do anything with it, although I did start collecting nozzles (read: leaving little piles of them everywhere until I finally designated them to their own special container ). Someone on clown forum mentioned the scrunchy bracelets in the summer sometime, and I ended up spending something like 5 hours and 3 bags of scraps making bracelets, and finally doing some necklaces, haha.

I need to think of a contest entry! I rewatched "Twisted: A Balloonamentary" the other night in hopes that it would trigger a possibility or two; instead I'm even more flummoxed.

New pendants! I've added some bling...haha.

Ash, how much do you sell yours for?

The creativity on here NEVER ceases to amaze me!

Ohhhhhhh I don't dare let my daughter Angel see this page....lololol She would go and cut up her new balloons just to be able to do this. Forget the concept of saving your scraps from parties until you have enough to work with. She'd go right for the instant gratification of getting the scissors and cutting away.

Very nice Kristal...when you get a price in mind let me know.

wow guys, ive only just started balloon twisting (which is why i havent been on) and i had no idea you could make these pendants out of scraps!!!! do you use the neck or the whole scrap??? i use my scraps as googly eyes in clear balloons which im starting to get the hang of lol

Tamara, at the last tradeshow I was at, I charged $5/necklace. (None of those had gems, and they were on very simple cords with a clasp.) I'm thinking of $7 for the ones with gems...what do you think?

Also, if Angel cuts the nozzles off, you can still pump the balloons up, no harm done - it just might be a bit trickier to get the balloon on the pump!