Product Description

Turn any time into party time with balloon creations that are more fun, and easier to make, than you'll find in any other book! Simple twist-and-turn techniques show how to loop and tie balloons together to create colorful creatures, large and small, make balloon costumes and hats, and transform any space indoors or out into a magic kingdom. Brilliant color photos show finished projects and close-ups of each step. For starters, turn single balloon into flowers or animals, hats or jewelry. Then try your hand at a stegosaurus, butterfly, dragon, or school of fish. Move on to eye-popping airplanes and space ships, a Halloween spider and web, your choice of a birthday centerpiece, braids and bracelets, and costumes for pirates, angels, fairies, and robots. There's even a section on building your own funhouse or festooning your entryway. Before you know it, you can host your own version of a Macy's Parade!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #568441 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Grab a balloon and The Ultimate Balloon Book: 46 Projects to Blow Up, Bend & Twist by Shar Levine and Michael Ouchi for hours of fun. After a quick overview of balloon types, safety tips and techniques, the volume offers step-by-step diagrams of how to create a dog, a stegosaurus and a guitar. Chapters titled "Wearable Balloons" and "Fun and Games with Balloons" give hints about what's in store. ( June)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-A terrific how-to guide. The book begins with a discussion of the supplies needed, techniques used, safety tips, and tricks of the trade. Following this introduction are clear, step-by-step instructions for a number of projects. Each one is illustrated with easy-to-understand line drawings and a photograph of the completed creation. There are balloon animals, plants, airplanes, hats, bracelets, costumes, decorations, houses, and games to make and play with. An exciting invitation to fun.

Cynde Marcengill, formerly at Horry County Memorial Library, Surfside Beach, SC

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Levine, author of books such as Awesome YoYo Tricks (2000) and The Magnet Book (1997), teams up with street performer Michael Ouchi to explore the possibilities and the methods of making animals, bracelets, hats, costumes, and even playhouses from balloons. Long, skinny balloons twisted into dachshunds are just the beginning here (difficulty scale: 1 out of 5). More advanced students of the art may want to attempt the dragon, the space ship, or the "three-braid maze with racing balloon balls." Beginning with information about materials, techniques, and safety, the book goes on to explain how to make a wide variety of projects, which are clearly illustrated with step-by-step line drawings as well as colorful photos of the evolving shapes. An appealing and practical guide. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Good for beginners
This book tries to cover a lot of ground with only a few pages. The result is a cursory look into the art of balloon sculpting. It contains a brief section a few basic twists (fold, pop, tulip, ear...) then proceeds into a nice little section with some basic and some advanced animals (Dog, Horse, pig, cat, teddy bear, dragonfly- my favorite, dragon, stegasaurus, scorpion, and a very basic fish.) Following the animals the book goes into basic flowers, palm tree, and the tulip. Next is a small section containing the motorcycle, airplane, spaceship and "silly figures" which is basically a latex glove and a sharpie marker. This is followed by basic decorating items, chains, braids, a nice spider and web, and a decent decorating flower. Then there is the section with basic hats and some fun ideas for baloon costumes for children. The book ends with some ideas for baloon playhouses which are simple cubes made with the larger 350 balloons. It also contains some games such as the ring toss and a nifty trick with clear baloons and small loose balloons inside them. All in all it is a great resource for beginners, but those with more experience will find over half the book useless unless you want to pick up a few new twists and don't mind the price. If you're just starting out then this is a great introduction book. Even if it doesn't contain the essential Toe Twist.

The best , so far...
I started twisting at my child's birthday party and, now I'm hooked. I wanted a book with good illustrations and instructions, and this is it. It has 5 difficulty levels and special tecniques.I don't have all the balloon sizes needed , but most items are made with 260 's(the regular long twisty balloons.)I have not been able to make the two-balloon headband, and I can't figure out why. It's only a level one, but it won't stay together. My cousin, who has a Harley, liked the motorcycle (it's a level 5 ).The flower and sword are repeats from another book, but these are more detailed. Have Fun !!!

Helpful, good pictures, lots of different things to make
This is a good book for those trying to get started. There are three presentations for each balloon creation. One version shows how the proportions look on the balloon as it is laid out. Another shows a diagram with the sequence of each twist. For anything complex there are several diagrams showing the creation in steps. And the final presentation shows the finished project. Taken individually these are OK, but together they are very helpful.

I've only looked at a few books so far on folding and twisting balloons, but this is my favorite. If you are trying to learn how to fold balloons, this is a good book to start with.