I think I got started doing balloons like everyone else. I bought a bag of the Traditional Assortment by Qualatex. I had a lot of people tell me that the jewel tone balloons pop more than the other colors and eventually moved on to the Carnival Assortment. I have to say another issue with the traditional assortment is the challenge of telling Quartz Purple from the Onyx Black before the balloons are inflated. Both colors appear black.
As time went on, I started using more and more balloons. I eventually bought a bag of green balloons for flowers and a bag of red for ladybugs. After a while, I stopped buying the assortments and started only buying individual colors. The assortments are OK for grabbing a bag of balloons for a jam or to test out new colors. The biggest problem I had with the assortments is that I would run out of one or two colors. At Chrismas, I didn’t have enough green, red and white balloons. The cost of my balloon orders increased when I went from buying assortments to buying each color individually. I had to carry a larger inventory of balloons to make sure I had each extras of color.
I am at the point where I can use 100-200 balloons a week (or sometimes more). With that volume, it is easy to justify having inventory of balloons. I know they will all be used within a few months.
I currently have two or three shades of each color balloon. Each time I buy balloons I try one or two new colors.
I keep my balloons organized, both in my bag and overstock supply in rainbow order from pink/red to purple. I think it makes it easier for me to find balloons and keep track of what I need to order. The only problem is the websites I use to order balloons sorts balloons by type and usually lists them in alphabetical order.
Each month, I host a face painting and balloon jam at the Cici’s Pizza in Chantilly. It is normally on the 2nd Monday of the month, and in June, the official jam will be on Monday, June 13th.
This month, we will share ideas for doing events outside. How to keep balloons from popping or face paint designs from melting. For me, that means making more balloon hats/bracelets that won’t hit the grass and pop or not doing designs ear to ear when face painting. Bring your ideas and an open mind for the discussion. The regular Jam will be from 7:00-9:00 pm when the restaurant closes. Bring your balloons and face painting supplies.
Note: The theme is more a conversation starter for the dinner period of the jam. It is not a lecture but an open opportunity to ask questions of the group or share what has worked in the past.
The actual jam portion of the night begins around 7:00 and continues until Cici’s closes at 9:00pm. You can come as early or late as you like.
The jam is open to face painters and balloon twisters of all skill levels.
June Face Painting and Balloon Jam in Chantilly
Monday, June 13th
Buffet from 6:00 – 7:00
Jam from 7:00 – Close
CiCi’s Pizza Buffet
14392 Chantilly Crossing Lane
Chantilly, VA 20151
703-961-9100
I really like dragons. I make them all the time with balloons, but haven’t gotten too many requests for dragons when face painting. Here are some inspiration videos that are worth watching.
If you are serious about what you do, you really need a website. If you are technically savvy, you can create a new website in a day. Now, it will probably take longer if you want to make a good website, complete with pictures of your work, and content that will both help people find you and decide to book you for their event. If you are not technically savvy, find someone who can build and help you maintain your website. Once your website is up and running, it is all to easy to move on to another project and forget about it.
Personally, I think that one of the most important things about a website is that it is up to date. I have visited way too many websites that list an “upcoming event” that is a year or more ago. I guess that event didn’t go well and they are now out of business… More likely, the event went well and they just don’t have time to think about and update their website.
I have several personal websites and I manage the websites for several groups. It takes me time to get around to updating all of those websites. I have linked a few websites to facebook, and since facebook is easier to update, the net effect is that the website also has access to newer content. I know that I am not following my own advice because I have told many people that facebook should send people to your website and not the other way around. I am taking the easy route and using my website to lead people to facebook.
In an ideal world, every month, you should review your website to make sure it is up to date and selling your services. If it isn’t, make the needed changes.
You should also check out your competition. What do you like or not like about their websites? Are there ideas that you can use to improve your own website. Please don’t steal their content, but use it as inspiration.
If you haven’t visited your own website in a while, go take a look and see what needs updating.
Posted in Website News | Comments Off on Maintaining a website
What should a face painter or balloon twister wear to an event? When I go to jams, I will often wear a fun character t-shirt and a goofy hat. But for bigger events, I don’t want to look like the average person on the street.
Last year, I had one event where I was specifically told NOT to wear shorts and that my shirt needed a collar. I have actually considred finding a formal looking outfit for the higher end events, but don’t want to look like the catering crew.
Some events, I were my pair of green and white striped overalls from Game Bibs. Game Bibs targets the college sports fan and makes striped bib overalls in most college team colors. At most events, I will wear my custom designed pair of Converse shoes. Converse has a variety of shoes that can be customized by choosing the colors for each piece of canvas or leather used to make the shoe.
I am always on the lookout for something fun to wear. I find that the websites that sell face paint and balloon supplies seem to offer more shirts and accessories for women. I am also considering getting a custom embroidered
When doing balloons, I generally prefer to work inside. Sure, working inside provides protection from the weather, but it also helps the balloons.
For the most part, surfaces are smoother indoors. Outside, balloons can pop when they come in contact with leaves and grass; concrete and bricks; and a variety of other rough surfaces. Also, on a sunny day, a dark colored surface (especially metal or pavement) can get very hot. These conditions all present popping hazards for balloons.
In addition to issues related to rough surfaces, changes in temperatures can also cause the balloons to pop. The air inside a balloon will expand or contract when exposed to changes in temperature which could lead to popping. After one winter event, I was wearing a balloon hat when I left a gig and walked about 100 yards outside in the cold. When I got inside again, my balloon was about 10-20% smaller. Going from a cool indoor space to a hot outdoor space can have the opposite effect where the balloon will expand 10% and risk popping. I have also noticed that if I make sample balloons in the morning, they will start to spontaneously pop a few hours later when the temperature has risen 10-15 degrees.
When I do balloons, I try to take into account the surrounding conditions. On a hot day, I will try to make the balloons a little softer. I will also try to make smaller balloons like hats or bracelets that are less likely to pop or come into contact with rough surfaces.
I know that I cannot guarantee that a balloon will NOT pop, but if I do my part, I can increase the chance that the balloon will last until the kids make it home.
When I am at a restaurant, birthday party, or other event, I like to interact with the kids beyond just asking them what they want. Sometimes I will ask about school or some recent event/holiday. Other times, I will try to make a silly comment about their request.
I have watched other entertainers doing shows or interacting with kids. They seem to have comments or jokes for just about any situation. I know this comes from experience and knowing what worked in the past. Since I haven’t been doing this as long as others, I am still building my list of jokes. During the past year, I have purchased several books of jokes and riddles. Although I have looked through the book, I haven’t done a good job of finding ones that I use on a regular basis.
I am going to try to compile a list of jokes related to various things related to the popular balloon and face painting designs. Today, I will begin with jokes about butterflies and other insects. The butterfly is one of the most popular faces for little girls and is also an easy balloon to make. When a kid asks for a butterfly, I will often call it a “flying stick of butter” and ask what type of toast they like best.
Here are some of the better jokes I found on the Internet.
Q. Why did the butterfly?
A. Because it saw the ice-cream float.
Q. Why wouldn’t they let the butterfly into the dance?
A. Because it was a moth ball!
Q. Why did the boy throw butter out the window?
A. Because he wanted to see a butter-fly!
Q. What goes zzub, zubb?
A. A bee flying backwards!
Q. What do you say to an annoying beetle?
A. Stop bugging me!
Q. What bug isn’t allowed in the boys’ bathroom?
A. A lady bug
It seems that most balloon twisters start by learning the basic dog balloon and then move on to bigger and “better” balloons. I think it is good to learn how to make a variety of balloons and to have options from something simple to something a little fancier.
I have kids ask me all of the time, “What is the most difficult thing you can make?” That is a hard question to answer. The truth is that unless they are the only person there and I have all of the time needed, I wouldn’t consider making it. Yesterday, when faced with that question, I pulled out two balloons, twisted them together and added a head to make an alien hat (two lime green 260s and a green alien head) for a young boy. I upgraded the design by using a clear round balloon around the alien head and he was simply amazed.
While it might be fun to make big and fancy balloons. I find that three of the simpliest balloons I learned how to make are still very popular when offered. They are the tiny bracelets made to look like a turtle, bee, or ladybug. (Each is made by inflating about 5 inches of a 260 balloon and twisting a series of bubbles for the head and legs and using the rest of the balloon for the body.) After learning these, friends showed me how to make fancier versions, but those versions cannot be worn as a bracelet. I have been at events were kids start collecting the balloons and keep coming back for just one more. Eventually, they start wanting blue turtles or purple ladybugs so they have something their friends don’t.
While I know that there are fancier versions of the turtle or ladybug that can be made using 3-4 balloons, I am sure I will continue to make the simple versions by the dozen.
When face painters or balloon twisters get together, they like to have a jam. A jam is an opportunity to practice, share tips and techniques, and see how others work. I highly recommend participating in jams whenever possible.
One unfortunate thing about face painting and balloon twisting is that there isn’t a central organization for the face painters and balloon twisters to belong to and as a result, there are very few chartered groups. Since the groups are not formal, they often do not have websites or other ways to find out about them without knowing someone who belongs to the group. Clowns have their local clown alley, magicians have their local magic ring, and jugglers have their local juggling clubs. There are also fewer conventions dedicated to just face painting or just balloon twisting. Since I am also a clown, most of my training comes from the face painting or balloon twisting sessions at the clown conventions.
When I was getting started, I was lucky enough to find out about a local face painting jam. The jam met once a month in a local restaurant. Going to that jam provided me with an opportunity to network with other face painters in the area and learn about other jams. Unfortunately for me, the format of the jam didn’t provide me the opportunity I needed to really practice face painting. That led me to seek out other groups.
At the end of 2009, I started to host my own jams. I went to my local Cici’s pizza and spoke to the manager and told him about the other jams I have attended and asked if I could host a monthly jam. He agreed and we have been going there ever since. Having the jam at a popular family restaurant can be a win-win solution. The restaurant gets the benefit of having entertainment for their customers with kids, and the face painters and balloon twisters have kids faces to paint or give balloons.
After finding a location, my next step is finding other face painters or balloon twisters to attend the jam. I decided to have a joint jam for both face painters and balloon twisters. I was fortunate to have a network of friends and told them to invite their friends. Like most groups, we are informal, I maintain an email list that contains people who have attended the jam in the past and a facebook group to share news, pictures, and other information.
My jams are an opportunity for us to get together each month and socialize and practice. Although, I have tried to set themes, it usually becomes a free for all with people doing whatever they want. There are usually kids at Cici’s, so we have a chance to interact and give away our extra balloons.
Not all jams are the same. Some people host jams that are more like a mini workshop with a theme and presenter. Others offer time for each person to do a show and tell session where they can share their discoveries or ask questions. Mine are a time to practice. As host, I can run the jam the way that I want and if others like it, they will continue to come.
Looking for a balloon twister for your events? Check out Balloons By Mike, he enjoys making balloons and entertaining kids of all ages in Northern Virginia.
http://www.BalloonsByMike.com/
