Hello all you experienced balloon artists!

I was wondering if any of you would have some advice to offer me about my FIRST public balloon sculpting gig. It will be at my niece's elementary school for their year-end carnival (which, incidentally, has a "carnival" theme). I will be set up outside, for 3 hours, doing one-balloon creatures. The school has at least a couple of hundred students. I'm not super-fast yet, and have a limited number of animals that I can make from memory.

So, if anyone has done anything like this before, could you tell me what you found to be the best method? Should I make some animals ahead of time, to hand out to children that I might not get to? Should I keep extra balloons in a little insulated cooler?

I plan to have a few pictures of the animals that I can make, so kids aren't just randomly choosing an animal. I'll bring a hula hoop to mark the space I need. I have a balloon apron, markers, two pumps, a rubber chicken to "eat" dead balloons, and a pair of cool clown shoes.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

Daisy,
Welcome to the group! What you might try is to just limit them to three things. Like say...a dog, a tickle sword, or a simple hat. From there you could make them one at a time, or have a bag made ahead of time.
Line twisting is very challenging. As fast as you finish it for the first time, you will get a better idea how to do it.Other tricks include not letting them pick their color, if you don't have you balloons sorted. Black, Dark Blue, Green, and Purple are hard to tell apart when not inflated. Get a small hand stamp and Dark ink pad and mark the back of their hand so you know you gave them a balloon. Other wise, a certain few will keep coming back for more.
Best of luck, You can do this! And above all, have fun. Ask them there names, then pronounce them wrong. Do little goofy things with them. Sing loud and bad...
Be a Clown, we're pullin' for you.
Cheers
Scruffy

Reducing choices makes the line go faster. Not only limiting the designs but limiting the colors. You can buy the balloons in single colors. You might want to pick 3 colors for the event.

If you choose to make up balloons ahead of time I would use them just when it was time for you to go. Leaving can be the most difficult time. If you hand them out all day you can't possible have enough made and they miss the time with YOU. No longer are they standing with you while you make them something special. You don't get to talk to the child or make faces ect. In a way the line is self limiting. People will see how long it is so they will wait or go without. You can work harder and harder and the line seems to stay the same.

Resist the temptation to make your best and hardest balloon in the begining just because you seem to have time. You will get to busy and they have now seen your best one walking around and won't understand why they can't have it to.

Also a certain amount of people will not want to carry the balloon around and try to get one just before they leave. It might be a good idea for them but for you it creates a line problem just when you need to leave.

Stamping the hand like scruffy said is a great idea. It can be hard to remember every little face. Besides most kids like to have their hand stamped.

There is a whole thread about ending the line. You might want to give it a glance.

Do take the cooler to hold extra balloons. Do not let the cooler out of your site. May be best to keep a foot on it. See if the school will assign a volunteer to assist you or bring, an assistant if you can. Click on Articles at top of clown forum page. There is a great article on balloon lines. Good Luck.

I have a small black "Carry On" type bag that I keep my balloons in ... Prior to an event I sort out my balloons into gallon ziplock bags. If I'm twisting outside or plan on traveling pretty far I put a couple of those blue freezer packs in small ziplock bags and put those in the pockets of the bag.

Like Scruffy said... Dark Blue, Green, Purple, and Black are hard to tell apart if they aren't sorted... At home while sorting them out I use a bright LED FLashlight and stretch the nozzle end over the light to be able to see the color.

I put my dark blues in the ziplock bag with my light blues, dark greens with the light greens, purples with the pinks, blacks with the whites... etc. This method has never failed me.

I'd like to get another bag... maybe in red or blue or something other than black.I also keep my pumps and my rubber chicken Howard in the pocket of my bag. I never thought of having the rubber chicken "eat" balloon droppings... Thats a neat idea.

I keep my marker (Sharpie click style) and a small pair of ballooning sissors (actually a small pair from a travel sewing kit) on a lanyard that I put around my neck during my twisting time.

The thing I try to remember while twisting is this : "What I lack in twisting ability can be made up for with some marker details and a clever presentation"

The other day I was doing some line work and I had a kid ask me for a blue wolf. So I pulled out a blue balloon. made him the best wolf that I could twist... Dog face, short ears, 2 inch neck, 3 inch legs, and a decent sized tail.... I drew on a face and some furry details and I knelt down onto his level, and made the wolf "howl" ... He loved it. What mattered most to him is that I made it especially for him... He didn't care that it wasn't perfect, just that it was his ... and that I made it for him.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! I will definitely be implementing some of them. I'm sure you've saved me a lot of hassle by sharing your ideas. :applause:

You mentioned one balloon animals but I have some of my best luck doing line work with two balloon hats. There are oodles of different combinations you can do for hats and the two different colors really grab the kids attention. This even allows you to use the school colors.

By the way, what animals are you comfortable with at this point? We might be able to offer a suggestion there as well.

Well, my favorite animals to do are: mouse, snail, rabbit and wiener dog. I can also do a giraffe, swan, crocodile, butterfly, camel, and a few others.

I really love doing balloon hats, but my family is sick of me practicing on them. I just purchased The Inflatable Crown Balloon Hat Book. It's got so many wonderful ideas, and I can't wait to try them all. Unfortunately, this event is not ideal for fancy hats.

Just because it is fun (don't let yourself get overwhelmed) check out Balloon HQ - Educating the World About Balloons and Balloon Art (http://www.balloonhq.com)

Look at the very basics of the hats they make. Yes they are really fancy and use 10 or 15 balloons but look at the part that actually sits on the head. Usually the base of the hat is one or two balloons and the rest is accents, pretty stuff, but the hat would still look neat without it to the average person on the street. It just wouldn't work for a book if it wasn't so fancy.

Hey, Contra!

Where in Wisconsin are you? I'm over in River Falls.

I want to tell you about a way I organized my balloons last year that really helps me keep all the colors organized.

I sorted the balloons by color and then pulled about 15 or 20 of each color into a geo balloon. Then I strung all of the geo balloons on a piece of heavy twine long enough to go around my waist. I then tied it around my waist and it looked like a balloon belt or tutu. It was a great way to keep track of all the colors. When kids were trying to pick out the colors, I would spin around so they could see all the colors in my tutu.

I suppose it might not be a good thing to do if it's a really hot day, but, as you know, the weather in WI has been so wacky this spring.... (All of you balloon pros: how long can you keep balloons out of the cooler in hot weather?)

Hey, Contra!

Where in Wisconsin are you? I'm over in River Falls.

I want to tell you about a way I organized my balloons last year that really helps me keep all the colors organized.

I sorted the balloons by color and then pulled about 15 or 20 of each color into a geo balloon. Then I strung all of the geo balloons on a piece of heavy twine long enough to go around my waist. I then tied it around my waist and it looked like a balloon belt or tutu. It was a great way to keep track of all the colors. When kids were trying to pick out the colors, I would spin around so they could see all the colors in my tutu.

I suppose it might not be a good thing to do if it's a really hot day, but, as you know, the weather in WI has been so wacky this spring.... (All of you balloon pros: how long can you keep balloons out of the cooler in hot weather?)

What's a geo balloon?

Geo balloon is a donought shaped balloon.

Geo blossom balloons are similar but look more like a flower (the one you use for your avatar)

http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/4/6/1/t_geosix350am_b299e83.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/6/1/f_geosix350am_b299e83.jpg&srv=img27)

Okay, I've seen those before, but don't have any at this time. Maybe I can order some for my next event.

Pickles, I'm in Eau Claire. Do you know if there are many clowns in this area? I didn't see any clown alleys listed online. Maybe they just haven't registered with any websites? I would love to do this with other people.

Pickles, I'm in Eau Claire.

Well, we're in the same neck of the woods! We should get together some time! I know a few clowns in Hudson, one in Roberts, one in Luck.... So they're out there.

That would be cool. I know there is another professional clown in Eau Claire, but I've never talked with her. Maybe Wisconsin is too sparsely populated to support very many clowns!

These days it is more a matter of quality and perception than actual ability to support. It takes time and effort to educate the public that the best bang for their buck is a clown. Why? Because too many people have seen "Jimmy's mother at the school fun fair painting faces with Q-Tips and poster paint, while wearing an outfit that you wouldn't see at Halloween."

I can paint a face in thirty seconds with a roller. The bad part is sanding between coats...

Well, I twisted at the school carnival yesterday, and it was a blast! I can't believe people get paid to have that much fun!

Not everything went perfectly, but I did pretty well. The school actually has 375 kids, more than I had anticipated. The line was continuous, and not all the children got balloons. And the ones left at the end were less than thrilled about the idea of a sticker as a substitute. So next time, I think I will make up a bag of extras.

I learned:
-bring sunscreen
-set up with my back to the wall (they had me in the middle of the playground)
-GET A BIGGER BALLOON APRON
-clown shoes are sweaty
-Never, ever buy cheap balloons (I mixed them in with my Qualatex, and now am regretting it)
-get the Qualatex purple balloon pump, not the blue one
-bring an assistant to take pictures, stamp hands, etc.

I didn't have time to stamp hands, so I did get repeats. I also let the children draw their own faces on their balloons, and they seemed to enjoy that.

So, I had a great time, and can't wait for my next event.

BTW, I did have limited choices: mouse, snail, hummingbird and a basic hat. Some kids just wanted a plain blown up balloon, too.

Thank you all for your advice!

Glad it went well, Daisy, and that you had such a great time.

I've thought about volunteering at my kids' spring carnival, but I haven't because I thought it would be too overwhelming with all those kids and just one clown. Maybe I will reconsider, seeing that you pulled it off.

Good job!

I think the key in pulling it off, is in just letting the organizers know that not all the kids will get balloons. They were understanding. Not all the kids got to do the dunk tank either. I felt sorry for them. :cry: