Questions on ballooning

I thought I would just put all my questions into one post to keep it simple.

My son had been doing simple twisting for me at parties and events, but now that he is in college I can't always have him do events. I still offer balloon twisting, but I haven't had to do both FP and twisting by myself at parties.
I have one booked, and was wondering how you handle the kids. Face paint first and then do balloons is what I was thinking. Or is it easier to paint a kid, then twist their balloon before going on to the next kid. I have a three hour party, and was going to do two hours painting and one twisting.

Also, for summer events/festivals that are outside. Do I need to be concerned about balloons popping in the heat? I am in central TX and it will get hot, hot, hot.
Since I primarily face paint, would it work to sell also pre twisted balloons?

Thanks all!

I escaped the Texas heat and now live in a mild climate at 7000 feet! Hooray! I do miss the great food we ate in the Dallas area.
My daughter (19) does the ballooning at a few of my gigs, too. I can't imagine trying to do both. For those who can.... you're superheros in my book!

Face painting first, balloons second. I would really warn you against balloons first, or paint/twist/paint/twist. Balloons pop, get misplaced, get taken/lost etc, and you don't want your replace/fix time to overrun into your painting time.

Do NOT buy jewel tones for outdoors when it's hot! They will pop like nobody's business. Besides black and clear (which are the only shades of those colours, obviously), I don't buy any jewel tones anymore. They're very pretty, but IMO are way more sensitive to heat. I make a balloon birthday cake hat for birthdays. The base structure is 5 balloons - one day I tried this with quartz purple and I went through something like 14, I kid you not. The damn things kept popping, and I was indoors, albeit with the door open - but I was still across the room.

Don't to pre-twisted balloons. Outdoors, I'll do display pieces and they will oxidize - so they look dusty and not shiny/bright/fresh. Plus, half of the magic is watching them be created

Also, don't pre-inflate for the same reason. It doesn't take that much longer to inflate a balloon, and less waste if you don't use them all

Kristal wrote:Face painting first, balloons second. I would really warn you against balloons first, or paint/twist/paint/twist. Balloons pop, get misplaced, get taken/lost etc, and you don't want your replace/fix time to overrun into your painting time.

Do NOT buy jewel tones for outdoors when it's hot! They will pop like nobody's business. Besides black and clear (which are the only shades of those colours, obviously), I don't buy any jewel tones anymore. They're very pretty, but IMO are way more sensitive to heat. I make a balloon birthday cake hat for birthdays. The base structure is 5 balloons - one day I tried this with quartz purple and I went through something like 14, I kid you not. The damn things kept popping, and I was indoors, albeit with the door open - but I was still across the room.

Don't to pre-twisted balloons. Outdoors, I'll do display pieces and they will oxidize - so they look dusty and not shiny/bright/fresh. Plus, half of the magic is watching them be created

Also, don't pre-inflate for the same reason. It doesn't take that much longer to inflate a balloon, and less waste if you don't use them all

Ditto to all of the above.

We use the neon range, as they don't pop as much and the colours are fantastic, you can also mix it up with some carnival assortment.

And it's quite simple to do the balloons when your painting the kid, chat to them about what type of balloon they would like towards the end of your painting, and as they get of the chair and the new kid sits down and you start asking them what they would like to have painted, by then your balloon will be done. If it's a B'day that's outside, we like to put the kids name on them, and explain that they will get them at the end of the party when you get your party bag, this doesn't always work, but it cuts down on the numer of popped balloons...........have fun twisting

yes to all that...

Paint, balloons, RUN BEFORE THEY POP!!!!

I do paint first. I also premake several balloons and make a few at the parties. It seems to work well for me that way.

Amy

I mix it up for every party. I sell it as painting first and then take a break during cake/ice cream and then I walk and twist for the kids while they are eating and sitting. I also do the name thing and if you have the mom bring a garbage bag you put them all in there and they hand them out at the end. It is a really big hit and usually works out really well for all of my events, great thing to add onto a party.

Thanks everyone for your input.
I did book a party where I am doing two hours of painting and one hour of twisting. Hopefully I can twist fast enough to make the 20 anticipated kids happy. I haven't timed myself, so perhaps I need to work on that.

for 20 in an hour, you will probably have to limit it to swords, flowers and puppies... whatever your faster single balloon things are and maybe quick two balloon things like butterflies. I do it, but it's top speed line work for that many. Any faster than 20-25/hr and you can't ask them what colour they want and stuff... it's important to me that they pick their colour and which animal they want rather than just twisting something and throwing it at them. I never pretwist... watching them being made is the FUN part.

I can likely do fancy swords, butterflies, a cute airplane I just learned, flowers, magic wands.
Will practice and time myself this week.
Thanks everyone!

I like to think it is the fact that we know balloons are only there for a moment. We know that soon they will be gone and must be enjoyed in the moment. Balloons are a great reminder that not everything lasts forever and we should take the time to enjoy them while we have the opportunity.