Uh... Let's be clear, I'm talking about balloon twisting techniques.

And there are 4 that you must absolutely master!

I'm sure you will agree, what could be more appropriate for Valentine's Day than to offer a love heart to your loved one?

And yes, I know... there are also jewelry, cars or whatever... But hey, that is not my area of expertise, and anyway one doesn't prevent the other.

So, back to our balloons!

I put the tutorial "How to make a balloon heart" on YouTube at the beginning of February 2015, exactly 8 years ago. It's a very short video, it only lasts 2 minutes and 37 seconds, including the jingle, the intro and the little ritual at the end. In other words, the tutorial part itself should not take much more than a minute.

In addition, the photo guide that accompanies it only has 14 photos (compared to the spider's photo guide which has close to a hundred photos).

All this would lead us to believe that this is a super simple tutorial and that anyone could do it in less than a minute. Well think again.

If you really want to make this seemingly simple balloon heart correctly, I strongly encourage you to review the following 4 basic balloon twisting techniques:

1- Air Pressure Management

It's in the very first instruction: "1- Inflate a balloon all the way, let a little air out before tying the knot so that the balloon is supple and easy to work with, and make sure air pressure is constant all along the balloon."

2- The Pinch-Twist Bubble

It's in the 6th instruction : "6- Turn the first bubble (the one with the knot) into a pinch-twist."

I consider the pinch-twist bubble to be one of the most versatile bubble in balloon twisting. Its bean shape lends itself perfectly to making ears in many balloon figures. But one of its main uses (and perhaps a little less known to beginners) is to consolidate fragile parts of balloon sculptures or even simply to lock certain elements together, as is the case here.

Adding this little pinch-twist bubble at the base of the balloon love heart ensures (if done correctly) that both sides will keep the same alignment and it will prevent them from going askew.

3- Making Angles

It's in the 11th instruction : "11- Turn this bend into an acute angle with your twisting hand."

It's quite simple if you can't manage to make a sharp angle with balloons, your balloon heart won't really look like a love heart, at least not the kind that symbolizes Valentine's Day.

4- Curving Twisting Balloons

This last technique appears in two instructions, the 12th and 13th : "use your twisting hand to accentuate the curve on the upper right (or left, whichever) side of the love heart."

This technique essentially enables you to give more natural and realistic shapes to your balloon sculptures which will then appear less stuffy and more refined.