a peek inside the fishbowl

Edited to add: Make sure you read the warning at the bottom of the post!

I bet you never thought it was possible to make your own balloons, did you? Well, I’m here to tell you that you CERTAINLY CAN.

We picked this up at FAO Schwartz in NYC this summer:

You see, I was sucked in by a demo. A young lady stood on the side of a busy aisle, like an unassailable rock in an overflowing current of crazed children, silently, calmly, peacefully, tossing a balloon of her creation up in the air, over and over again. It was so Zen.

I couldn’t help myself. I was lured in faster than you could say: WHATISTHATTHINGYOUAREHOLDING. I walked over, we got to chatting, and I left with a small package in my hot little hand.

It’s covered in warnings which obviously means it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s flammable. It’s not to be swallowed (“Not a gum”) or inhaled, and needs to be used in well-ventilated areas. It’s also to be kept away from varnished, plastic, and polished surfaces. (Er, let’s just call this an OUTDOOR TOY ok?)

First, you squeeze out a small amount of this sticky red goop and make a ball about the size of a marble. Then you press the pipe down into the centre of it and pinch it firmly around the edges.

Then you blow. And then you try again, and again, because there’s a trick to it. (Hint: it’s kinda like blowing bubbles, but you need a lot more air to start you off.)

It will come out a little odd-shaped, but that’s half the fun if you ask me.

At this point it will stop being so sticky. You remove the pipe and pinch the hole closed with your fingers:

And there it is, your very own balloon!

I’ve never seen it locally (please let me know if you have) but I do know that Magic Plastic is available on Amazon.ca* if you’re really keen.

Is that cool or what?

** Sooooo, a helpful reader pointed out that this product is probably banned in Canada. Here’s a link to more info. For what it’s worth I definitely would not recommend kids under 10 play with these kind of DIY balloon kits. And even kids over 10 should be supervised by a responsible adult.