Balloon Animals Featured Blog Post, by Balloon Artist Dale Obrochta

How to make a Mermaid out of Balloons

by

This is a fairly easy mermaid… but can be bigger than the child! Little girls LOVE it!

Step 1. Inflate a red (or other hair colored balloon) 260 leaving about a 2″ tip. Make a small loop for her bangs followed by a pinch twist.

Mermaid Hair
Step 2. Inflate a skin toned 260 leaving about a 6″ tip. Twist the nozzle end in at the pinch twist behind the bangs.

Mermaid Hair attached to Balloon Animal

Step 3. Bring a bubble down about 3″ for one side of her hair. Bring a bubble of the same size up and then one more back down for the other side.

Mermaid example Hair - Back of Head
Step 4. Squeeze all of the air to the tip. Make a spiral with the remaining balloon. I make a small bubble at the end of the spiral and twist it at the base of her head.
Example of a Mermaid Balloon AnimalStep 5. Make a loop large enough to go around the child’s head. This is also her arms.

Mermiad Body with Arms

Step 6. The remaining balloon becomes her torso. Using a scrap of a balloon make a very small bubble… oh… less than an inch for her “seashells”. I like to have a knot on each side of the bubble and enough un-inflated length to make the back of her bikini. Pinch in equal halves and tie it around her body.
Mermaid connect body with arms
Step 7. Inflate a Lime Green 260 leaving about a 1″ tip. Give it a good burp as you don’t want it to be too tight. Make 2 pinch twists on the nozzle end.

Mermaid Fin AssemblyStep 8. Fold the balloon in half and twist. Now make two 6 – 8 inch bubbles and twist.

Mermaid FinStep 9. Twist the two bubbles into loops for her fins.

Mermaid Tail
Step 10. Spiral the remaining longer two bubbles toward the tips. Make a small bubble on the tip that doesn’t have the pinch twists. Twist the pinch twists and the small bubble together. This will become the waist of the mermaid. The 3 combined bubble helps to stabilize her body.

It should look like this.

Finished Mermaid Tail

Step 11. Make a 2″ bubble for her torso and discard the rest of the balloon. Twist in at the top of the Lime Green 260.

Attaching the Mermaid Body to the Tail

Step 12. Add artwork and place on the child’s head…

Mermiad Balloon Animal

Balloon Pumps

Leave a Comment