Balloon Recycling: A really Crafty Idea

Started by MisterShuffles, August 07, 2016, 03:10:17 AM

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MisterShuffles

Now If there is anything I utterly *KNOW* about twisters, is that we all wind up with
little popped bits all over the place that we often pick up and re-use, as flower centres
or eyeballs, or noses, or whatever of the 1,000,001 ways to use a scrap.

But did you realize that you could make something else useful and clever out of it too
?
I9 didn't until I ran into a fellow twister at a weekly balloon jam at a local mall, when I was
visiting there in Florida, last year on vacation.  He had a very simple yet effective way
for dealing with the over-abundance of balloon bits.

Scrunchie Bracelets/hair bands.

What he does, and its sooo simple.  I now do it too on occassion and can sometimes
make a great 'craft idea' for to finish up a party after the balloons are done, if there is
still time left and you want them to have something more lasting and memorable.

Take a 160.  Any color.  Doesn't matter.  Then a pair of safety scissors and a big handful
of the colorful of the scraps.

Use the scissors to snip off the round ends if any, and the knots, then trim all the pieces
into lengths, of about call it '3 fingers wide', or 4.  Depending on how much color you wish.
There's no real rules.

Then simply put a pea sized puff of air into the end of the 160 and seal it with a knot.

Take whatever colors of your choice, or you could do alternating patterns, and slip them on
the 160.  Its stiff with air, but un-inflated, sort of like a sewing thread that has gone rigid.

Simply slide your colors on, and bunch them up a bit at the knot.  Not too tight, since you
want a little bit of give.  Pink, red, blue, orange, yellow, green, whatever you like.  Or you
could alternate between two colors, or well, there is so many choices.

Once you have it large enough, since if it goes on wrists you do not want it to cut off
any circulation, simply make sure the last piece on has a nozzle tip that is facing out.

Scrunch it up, tie a good solid granny knot, then for good measure carefully tug the
nozzel knot back over the point where you tied the granny knot.

End result?  Rainbow Bracelet that kids love, and which also if you have enough spare
makes a not bad little attachment for to fasten toy dogs to, for those kids who will
lose it in the breeze.  

Perhaps even alternate it with letter beads spelling out a name or phone number.

Just make sure to use a decent 160.  I have a pack of red balloons someone sold me
last year, that I thought looked good, but they were so old they were no longer able to
hold air properly.  They make do for those bracelets however, since I do not have to
worry about using up good stock.  Though they do tend to break easier.  Might have to
double up on them.

The practice is more common than I thought, having just now looked it up.  They are
known as balloon scrap bracelets.  Not sure if all you lot know of them, but if a few
like I, had not until I was shown, then it should be a decent way to turn all those
hordes of leftovers into either a bit of profit, or as part of a show.

Little 160 already blown at the tip, pre-cut 260q 's in a bucket.. the children select
their colors, string them then you go and tie them.  They get to wear a bracelet that
they did all themselves.  Leaves for more a lasting memory than a balloon on its own
I would think.

Shuffles