Not Your Average Balloon Animals

Never before have I considered the skill of creating balloon animals to be an art, but I think I do now.

Two days ago I went out to breakfast with some friends. As we were eating we noticed a little kid on the other side of the room playing with a balloon animal. It was a fishing pole and line with a fish on the end of the line. It looked really complex. My friends Rob and Clint wanted their own balloon creations, so they asked our waitress if she’d steer the person making them over to our table.

Check out these works of art.

Rob was transformed into a balloon pirate, complete with hat, sword, hook, and parrot. The parrot even stayed on his shoulder by putting a bit of Rob’s shirt in between its feet. That same little kid with the balloon fish looked pretty jealous when he saw Rob all decked out.

Clint has the most awesome balloon animal ever: a balloon monkey in a balloon tree with balloon bananas. As much as I dig Rob’s gear I think this one is even better.

Our balloon technician — a term coined by my friend Shaun — claimed she learned how to make all these on YouTube. Color me intrigued.