Make a Balloon Animal

Visit my gallery page to find instructions for all balloons previously posted.

Tom Turkey

Just in time for Thanksgiving (for U.S. residents) here's my version of Tom Turkey. Tom requires one Red balloon and one dark one, preferably brown or black.

Inflate a brown 260 leaving 6" uninflated. Twist off a 1" bubble followed by a 2" bubble. Give the 2" bubble a loop twist. This forms one foot.
Follow this with a 3" leg and another 3" bubble. Next come two 7" bubbles lock twisted together for the wings. A third 7" bubble goes over the top to form the back, and then a 3" comes down the front and locks to the top of the leg. You should have just enough balloon left to make another 3" leg and another foot.
This completes the body, which so far looks something like a walking football. Now we need to add the head and tail.
Inflate a red 260 leaving about 5" uninflated at the end, and leaving about a 3" long nozzle before tying the knot. Twist off a 3/4" bubble and a 2" bubble. Give the 3/4" a pinch twist and then toe twist it to make the upper and lower beak. Give the 2" a loop twist for the head. The long uninflated nozzle forms the wattles that hang down from the beak. Trim off the rolled end for a better appearance.
Twist a 3" neck and then fold it over about 1" from the bottom. Hold the fold and squeeze it for a few seconds to make a bend in the neck. Twist off a 4" bubble behind the neck and squeeze it lengthwise inside the body. The neck should stick out of one end and the rest of the balloon from the other.
Twist two 2" bubbles and lock twist them together. Wrap the remainder of the balloon around these to make the tail. It may be necessary to squeeze some of the air down into the uninflated part to reach all the way around. Tie the nipple off at the base of the tail and arrange the tail to stand upright.
David Graves has posted a variation on the tail to Balloon HQ. Click here to see his version.

In the U.S., Thanksgiving Day brings to mind images of roased turkey, parades and football. We take a day off from work, eat too much, and plan the next day's holiday shopping. But Thanksgiving in America is much more than that. Here's a few notes from the World Book Encyclopedia about Thanksgiving:
  • The first American Thanksgiving day was a religious day and did not involve feasting. It occurred Dec 4, 1619 at Berkley Plantation (near Charles City, Va.) in accordance with the charter which specified that their day of arrival be observed yearly as a day of thanksgiving to God.
  • The first New England Thanksgiving set the theme of feasting. In the early autumn of 1621 the surviving settlers (nearly half had died) of the Plymouth colony held a three-day festival to give thanks to God for the progress made.
  • There were eight special days of thanks observed during the revolutionary war for victories and God's protection.
  • President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November, 1863 as "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."
  • Thanksgiving day was proclaimed formally on the last Thursday of November by presidential decree each year until 1939. That year President F.D. Roosevelt set it one week earlier.
  • In 1941 congress set the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day and made it a federal holiday.

As we celebrate this year, let's remember the purpose of the day, and give our thanks to God, Who is the source of all good things.


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