How to Make a Balloon Sword

Hello! Today, Môssieur Ballon will teach you to make a sword! A sword? What am I saying! This is no mere sword! It's an air-saber equipped with digital protection and a push button! You'll see, Môssieur Ballon never lies! Although he tends to exaggerate a little. So, for this famed air-saber, I've chosen... a silver balloon. I find that the color of silver balloons matches the steel of a real sword really well.

For the saber, you need to inflate the balloon all the way to the end. However, the air pressure shouldn't be too tight. There... I let some air escape a little... There... can you see how it's fairly supple? Now... you can tie your knot.

So, you can see I do this a lot with the balloon, but you may or may not be able to do it. I have dry hands, and this allows me to make the balloon thinner (like this). If you have hands that are a little moist, your palm will grip on the balloon and make it burst. If that's the case don't do this!

So, here's a balloon inflated all the way. Did someone say a sword? Well... it's not quite finished yet.

I'll start with making a little bubble. So, as for the 'sausage', I'd like to remind you... all you need is to press at the length you want, and twist the balloon! An important detail: always twist the balloon in the same direction! You can't twist it towards the left one time, and towards the right the next time. You need to choose! Always left or always right!

In the same way, I personally always twist it the same way, and I always make the balloons pass on my left side. So if you're left-handed, you may want to do it in the opposite direction.

So, a little bubble... I press a little... and next, we'll make a loop. So this loop shouldn't be too big... nor too small. It'll have to be just the right size. What size should it be? Well it's simple: the loop will have to be big enough for the balloon to fit through it.

So... here... I went with this size. Once you've settled on the size of your loop, you press and twist... a bit like the dog's ears, except it's a whole loop.

So this... is what our balloon sculpture looks like for now. Then all that is needed is to pass the balloon through the loop. There!

And you have something which is starting... to look... like a sword! And this is where the difference is made, between a beginner who will leave their sword like this, and someone who's an artist, who will be able to give a far more professional shape to this balloon.

First, I'll press... and stick the balloon between my palms like this. Look, I've given it a little shape that's nice and straight, and lengthened.

Next, I'll give this a shape that's rather straight, and slightly curved backwards, like the blade of a saber!

And finally, I find this knot a little awkward... I'm going to teach you to make what's called a "pinch-twist". You can call it however you want, what matters is that... how can I show you... with one hand... one finger... two fingers... you hold the balloon knot. And... with your finger... you slip your left forefinger underneath it... and turn this way... and take out your finger... and turn it well.

Here's the finished sword! You can see that by making a little extra effort, this sword really looks like... a sword! I told you a saber... an air saber... with a digital protection! In the sense that it protects your fingers ["digit" in Latin]. And the push button... if the force is with you and you press it, the blade should go back in! But... you need to have the force with you!

You can see that with little effort, we get to a product that really looks like a sword. And here is... the same sword... without the finishing touch! So I'd like to encourage you, my dear students, to give an extra touch to your work! This will tell the difference between an artist, a pro, or an amateur and a beginner!

Look at these two swords that don't look alike... All it takes... is to add a slight curve in one place, to pinch the little bubble like this, and you can see...we have two swords that are really... let's just say they're swords!

Ok! Shall we? So, as always, I will now make the sword at normal speed, like I would during an event, and you'll practice going as fast as me! Frankly, the sword is one of the simpler balloon sculptures! Which is convenient, because if you're at a birthday party, and you make swords, everyone will want one! So you shouldn't take too much time to make them. 15 seconds, 20 seconds maximum. And here's... our little sword!

What have we learned? Well, we've learned... several things. But the main thing was the "pinch-twist", which we could otherwise just call a little "bean"... So we'll get back to the little "bean" later, because it's a very important part of the little tiger, which I'll teach you to make in a following lesson.

So, we've learned to make a "bean", we've learned... or rather we had already learned it with the little doggy, but... we've revised that it was important to give the balloon shape, simply by directing it with your fingers... practice like this! You can see here... we have a shape... the shape of a saber going off this way. A saber doesn't go this way, it wouldn't be a saber!

And... it's very important... and in every one of my lessons... I'd like to, if I may, remind you of this important point: Go the extra mile, give your creation an extra touch! Don't do things half way!

Everyone can make a little dog... everyone can make a sword... But not everyone can make a sword... Môssieur Ballon's style! (except my students!)