Mark Drury is back from Pioneer to show us how to create a Spoooky QuickLink character for Halloween! This design uses a mixture of small and large balloons, regular shape and QuickLinks, and a foil head to top it off. All these balloons are from Qualatex, so you can be sure that the colours match across the different types of latex balloon.

For this design you will need:

• 5” latex balloons, we used 4 x Purple-Violet and 12 x Black balloons.
• 11” latex balloons, 5 x Black.
• 6” QuickLink balloons, 2 x Black.
• 12” QuickLink balloons, 1 x Black and 1 x Purple-Violet.
• 260Q balloons, 2 x Black and 4 x Mocha-Brown.
• A foil shape for the head.
• A weight.

Creating the Base

So let’s get started! First we need a weight. For this Mark has removed the inside from one of our frilly weights and covered it in an 11″ black balloon, so that the colour matches the others. He then places a black 4-balloon cluster on top of the weight, stretching the neck of the weight and wrapping it around the cluster to attach them. This will cause a strong bond, and you won’t even need to tie a knot! This first balloon cluster is made from Qualatex 11 inch black balloons, inflated only to 9 inches.

If you’re new to clusters, they are made by tying four balloons together at the knot end. The easiest way to do this is to take two balloons, inflate them and tie them together to create a Duplate. Cross two Duplates over each other and wrap the balloons around to create a tight bond. For more information on how to make clusters, take a look at our bonus video here.

Now back to the decoration. We are going to add a 5” cluster on top of the 9” cluster. This one is made from purple violet 5” balloons inflated all the way to 5 inches. You can use the same neck from the weight that you used to wrap around the first cluster. Next is another black cluster, but this time its 5 inch balloons inflated to 4 inches. At this point we’ll have run out of neck from our weight, so for this layer we will use a neck from the purple-violet cluster. Stretch it up and wrap it around in the same way to secure the layer.

Adding the Body

Now that the base is done, we move onto the body. For this Mark ties two QuickLinks together at the neck ends. It doesn’t matter which way round you tie these balloons, as they have an extra latex tip at each end for tying. Wrap the end of one of the QuickLinks into the top cluster, using the familiar under and over method. To hide the balloon knots and to make the body more stable, tie on another black 4” cluster between the two QuickLinks. This is the basic design for the body of any character; simply change the colour scheme and head to match different events or seasons of the year. We are using a Witch’s head balloon (from Qualatex) for the head of this character since it’s nearly Halloween, but why not try a Santa head for a Christmas decoration or rabbit for Easter?

Mark has Helium filled the witches head for this design as this is a sure fire way to make the decoration stand up straight. You can air fill this whole decoration if you want but you need to make sure that all the clusters are tight enough to give the whole structure rigidity. The weight of an air-filled head will often cause the design to lean forward and flop about, so we personally recommend you helium-fill the top balloon. There is enough perceived value in this balloon decoration to make it profitable and to cover your helium costs so you won’t be losing out. Simply tie the head balloon to the top QuickLink (be careful of hitting anyone in the face when you do this!) and hide the knot with, you guessed it, a 4” black cluster!

Going that little bit further

You could leave the design like this if you want to, but Mark goes one step further by adding some arms. To do this, he starts by inflating two 6 inch black QuickLink balloons and tying them off individually before tying them together. This creates a gap in between each balloon, allowing you to slot them over the top cluster to give the character shoulders. Next are the arms: Mark inflates a black 260Q balloon three-quarters full and creates a loop twist and a pinch twist at one end to make a ‘mittened’ hand. At the other end he makes a pinch twist for an attachment point. He then ties the arms straight in to the shoulder points and cuts off any excess balloon sticking out. For more information on how to perform these twists, check out our bonus video here.

Now the design is still missing something… It needs a broomstick! For this Mark fully inflates a mocha-brown 260Q balloon and performs three pinch twists together at one end. Next he ties together the ends of three half-inflated 260Qs, and drags them through the three-knot pinch twists. Using a spare piece of 260Q (remember, never throw anything away!) Mark then secures the three bristles together. After a bit of manipulation to the bristles, the broomstick is done!

Attach the broom to witch’s hands using the spare 260Q that you tied the bristles with. Stretch the latex out and wrap it around one of the hands, and then you can attach to the other hand with another spare piece of 260Q.

So there you go, the design is complete! You could use this in a shop to advertise your Halloween stock, or simply as a novel decoration for any Halloween trick-or-treat party.

Rob

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