Did my first bout of balloon twisting last night, and boy are my arms tired.

I volunteered at my kid's school carnival. I had eight basic one and two balloon designs down pretty well (I know I missed a step or two here or there) I thought I would be busy, so I showed up with a few pre-pumped balloons. I had no idea. I worked non-stop for three hours. I had two people helping me - pumping and taking orders down the line. So many flowers - the kind you bear down on and twist by holding it together and hoping for the best (at least that's how I do it). By the end of the night my hands and forearms were so tired I literally couldn't do it. Had to make a dog for a little girl after popping the flower three times in a row.

My brother (one of my helpers) and I tried to figure out how many I'd done in 3 hours. Does 20-30 an hour seem right? I moved along pretty quickly. Tried to do some chit-chat with the kids, make some jokes, but always twisting. Of course then I began to wonder how that would translate into street money.

Anyway, it was a good experience even if the spongeballs and tt I stuffed in my pocket to use during the lulls never saw the light of day.

Matt

Ha! Get used to having to tell kids to leave you alone when it's time for you to go (and more sternly explaining to parents that you need to leave). You will never be without a line. If there is a party with 5 kids and you are there for 2 hours, they'll just be back in line for another one and another one. If you are at a public event with good traffic, your line might reach an hour wait. It's the nature of the beast. I don't know what is happening in a kids head, but they will wait forever for a balloon. I was had a client at a trade show count 70 people waiting in line for a balloon!

Anyways, a few pointers: 1, seriously under inflate your flower. Then before to tie the loop, hug the whole length of balloon until there is almost no tail. You will have a seriously soft balloon to work with. When you do your thirds, start opposite the end with the tail and nozzle, so the air will have just a little more space to move. There should be no hoping for the best. Assuming the balloon is not faulty, this twist should have just as high a success rate as any other.

2, Hands and forearms shouldn't be an issue. I don't remember how I felt after my first gig (besides really sweaty), but I have 5-8 hours days now sometimes and the hands and forearms never go. Maybe it's an endurance that you have to build up, but I don't know. Just be gentle, it's not weight lifting, it's balloon twisting. My pain is in my heels and knees due to bad weight distribution and standing in one spot too long without remembering to bend my legs.

Congrats on getting out there! Good luck at the next one.

I am a VERY experienced balloon worker but my 6 petal flowers almost always pop. The funny thing is one petal pops a few mintues after I finish them. I've gotten used to saying "Ahhh.. the rare 5 petal flower... even more beautiful than the 6 petal version".

But your advice about where to start the "thirds" really makes sense to me. That might be my mistake. I always soften the balloon but I never thought about how I bend it in thirds. Thanks for the suggestion. I hope it works

Something that I learned from an Uncle Curt (and Hugs) video that helped tremendously was instead of burping the balloon, leave a 2"-2.5" tail. Then tie the balloon into the loop using just as little of the tail as you can. Then squeeze the balloon until the tail is gone, and the air is dispersed evenly. That little difference makes a world of difference IMO. Buy Uncle Curt's videos!

I stopped doing the standard method of creating a 6 petal flower about a dozen years ago. Now I start with a 5" tail and do 5-6 fold twists. Looks just the same, takes the same amount of time, or less, and is way easier, imo.

To the OP, looks like you got "baptized by fire", hehe. You were probably doing 50-60 per hour (one per minute), since you were using pre-inflated and had a system of helpers to inflate and take orders. I imagine your forearms were hurting because you hold the balloon away from your body when you twist? Your muscles will get used to it if you do this often enough. Have some ice packs ready for when you get home. And yeah, once you bring out the balloons, you'll almost always have a line and they won't want to see your magic ( )

Sounds like you did a great job for a first timer. There really is no way to know what you're up agianst until you've been there. Welcome!

It's only going to get better from this point forward, $$$$!!

As far as the hnads and arms, you'll build up to it. Not to worry.