Stuff a Balloon
If, for some reason, you need to insert a lot of material into a balloon, here is a good way to go about doing it.
Steps
- The first thing to do is get a balloon, a rubber band, and a soda bottle (the bigger the better).
- Take the soda bottle and squish the sides in. Be careful not to damage the bottle beyond the crimps you'll see from squeezing it's sides together.
- Take the balloon and blow it up. Now deflate it. Do this a few times in order to stretch out the balloon.
- Now take the balloon and insert it into the soda bottle. Leave the neck of the balloon outside the mouth of the bottle.
- Stretch the balloons mouth and neck around the mouth of the soda bottle. You may wrap the rubber band around the mouths to make sure the balloon stays on nice and tight.
- Now, get the soda bottle to it's original shape. This will be difficult, as you will be creating a pressure difference so great, the balloon should be sucked into the soda bottle. Since the balloon is rubber it will expand inside the bottle.
- Now you can pour, stuff, or stick anything you want inside this balloon. Use the eraser side of a wooden pencil if you need help stuffing the balloon.
- Now comes the tricky part. Once air is allowed into the soda bottle the balloon will try to contract, thus pushing out it's contents. So, you have two options:
- pull the balloon off the soda bottle and wrap it closed as fast as you can.
- Use the cap of the soda bottle; place the top of the cap on the top of the bottle. Then, wrap the end of the balloon up and around the cap. Try not to pull it off the cap yet, OR do this step very quickly. Then, tie the neck of the balloon and finish by taking out the cap.
- Finished.
Tips
- Try to get one of those really big soda bottles (like the ones cheap, generic soda come in). These will allow you to get the balloon bigger inside the bottle, and they are usually thicker.
- Use a big sized balloon and bottle so the stuffing can be seen.
- Don't use water balloons.
- If you don't want to lose your contents, or are afraid the balloon will break thus leaking and getting other things dirty, cut the neck off a few more balloons and wrap them around your stuffed balloon. Make sure you put the neck openings in different places.
Warnings
- If that bottle loses pressure your contents (depending on what they are) may just shoot out of the balloon. I'd wear safety goggles if I were you.
Things You'll Need
- Balloons (NOT water balloons)
- Scissors
- Soda bottle (bigger is better)
- Rubber band
- Stuffing (sand, cotton balls, syrup, etc.)
- Safety Goggles (if you use something loose of fluid)
