Balloon Twister / Face Painter for Kid Party

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socal78

socal78

Well-known member
Anyone used a good balloon artist or face painter for their child's birthday party?

I've been looking through Yelp but the choices are really slim pickings in the Irvine and South OC area. Pretty much only one service in the area and the description is not quite what I had in mind. It didn't seem like it would be too hard to find.

Hey, maybe I can hire that lady who walks around the tables uninvited at the Ruby's Diner in Woodbridge, tantalizing the kids with unsolicited balloon animals and standing there until she gets an undetermined cash payout.  :P Thanks a lot, Lady.
 
rkp said:
we used elizabeth for our daughters first party.  she was great.  sang songs, made balloon animals, painted faces, and entertained the kids thoroughly

pricey though at $250 for 1.5 hour.  that included the travel fee as she drove from the valley to irvine...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Magical-Party-Inc/155597914480977
Click to expand...

Actually, that?s a great deal.
One person does it all and the price is very reasonable.
My wife handles it but I know it?s expensive since we use different people for balloons and face painting.
I end up paying them.
 
I had thrown away their card but the people over at Rainforest Cafe are pretty good (at least for balloon stuff).

You don't have to eat there, just ask one of them for their business cards (I believe like Ruby's they're independent contractors), they are usually there on Saturdays and most of them are local (one kid in particular was a student at UCI).

Storytime: At one of our relative parties, my kids were so excited because someone was making balloon animals (other kids had them) but we couldn't find who it was. I found it strange because my relatives don't usually hire clowns, magicians or balloon makers (esp because this particular party was not for a kid) but someone was there twisting balloons. Turns out... it was one of our aunts... and I never got the background on how she came about picking up such skills... it was one of those "I just know how to do it" explanations.

EDIT: Typos galore.
 
Went to a couple community events at Woodbury and they always hire Nolan for balloons.  His number is 310 714 7758, email is balloontwisting@gmail.com.
For twisting he charges $125 for the first hour and $50/ 30 mins after that. That was a quote he gave me a few years ago. Prices might have gone up. Not really sure.
 
kalbi said:
Went to a couple community events at Woodbury and they always hire Nolan for balloons.  His number is 310 714 7758, email is balloontwisting@gmail.com.
For twisting he charges $125 for the first hour and $50/ 30 mins after that. That was a quote he gave me a few years ago. Prices might have gone up. Not really sure.
Click to expand...

Are you attending the Easter event tomorrow?
The balloon and face painting lines are always the longest. 
 
Thanks, everybody.

Since I had to start reaching out to these "trades" within a spare hour early in this morning, I sent a web form request to Karacter 4 Kids. It's like the only local one I could find but rates are really good: $135 for 1st hour then $35 every 30 min. (Rates) It looks like they do everything I can think of and then some. I may go with balloons and the glitter tattoos or caricatures. It looks like they are cross-trained so one person can do many things but I'm double-checking on that.

My date and time can't really budge so if they are booked, I will surely check out some of the ones mentioned above. Or, I'll just hire Auntie IHO! What is her rate and will she clear a spot in her calendar if I offer her lunch?  :) (IHO: I noticed in some Yelp reviews I read, some parents commented that instead of paying hundreds for a balloon artist, they just bought a $15 book to teach them how and it was totally doable. I like that idea except I have two left hands.)
 
WoodburyDad said:
kalbi said:
Went to a couple community events at Woodbury and they always hire Nolan for balloons.  His number is 310 714 7758, email is balloontwisting@gmail.com.
For twisting he charges $125 for the first hour and $50/ 30 mins after that. That was a quote he gave me a few years ago. Prices might have gone up. Not really sure.
Click to expand...

Are you attending the Easter event tomorrow?
The balloon and face painting lines are always the longest.
Click to expand...

will be in vegas this weekend. have fun!
 
Heh. I just realized
rkp said:
we used elizabeth for our daughters first party.  she was great.  sang songs, made balloon animals, painted faces, and entertained the kids thoroughly

pricey though at $250 for 1.5 hour.  that included the travel fee as she drove from the valley to irvine...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Magical-Party-Inc/155597914480977
Click to expand...

Hey, I just realized this company contracts Karacters 4 Kids. They took K4K's site photos and put them on their own Facebook page.

Anyway, I filled out K4K's webform with all my info over a week ago and never heard anything back. If I have to hunt them down, I'm going to take a pass.

I've emailed Nolan the Balloon Twister. I hope to hear something as the date is getting closer. Thanks for the recommendation, Kalbi.
 
I talked to Nolan and he's out of town for our date but referred me to Mike The Balloon Dude. (Thankfully Nolan has several other contacts from a Disney facepainter to spray tattoo artist, etc.) Mike's photo gallery looks insane!! Very awesome. Those balloons are much more complex than the traditional sword & weenie dog that I'm used to seeing. Mike works the strip at Downtown Disney (Rainforest Cafe just like you mentioned, IHO!)

I'm putting the link here in case it's helpful to any other parents.
http://www.miketheballoondude.com/
 
MAN! Strike 2! Mike is also out of town for my party, same as Nolan. What does a girl have to do to get her balloons twisted around here?!?

I got two more referrals from my referral. I'll give the TI parents a head's up if either one turns out well.
 
Trying to book mike for my kids party.  Hopefully he's available

UPDATE

he responds quick to email...booked him for an hour, he says it'll only be $100 since its in Irvine.  He must live close..
 
So, I'm sitting here with oh, about 300 balloons, a manual, Youtube instructional videos, and two air pumps on my lap. After trying to reach the 6th balloon twister with no luck for my party date, I figured this must be a sign. I must say I am also a bit surprised how much they charge. It's not that I don't think they can command that price.... It's that I think I've been in the wrong line of work! What an eye-opener this was.

I didn't know it was possible to make a hundred clams per hour at a party without popping out of a cake.  :-\

Oh, My Lanta. I need to become a balloon twister.  :o

I am going to try to do my own boy's party and see how it goes.

So far so good. Got: rabbit, bee, elephant, turtle. Currently taking a break from a Hello Kitty which is VERY CUTE and I will be turning all of these into hats tonight. Tomorrow will be flowers, an alien, and Lightning McQueen. There is so much info available on the web! It's not as difficult as I had thought. However, in addition to balloons and scissors, I do recommend Band-Aids. Yowzer.
 
Hah, after her web-education course, we can hire SoCal for future parties.

You need to be able to make superheroes too (and Little Mermaid).
 
I can not even tell you how excited I am right now, IHO! I am wearing a queen's crown that I made all by my little self. It looks awesome. My fingers are bleeding but it was worth it. My scepter comes next. I just finished a pony complete with a mane and bridle.

I'm feeling an obsession coming on. I haven't felt this way since I made myself sick studying real estate, filling my head with useless facts and information. I'm a little bit OCD so when I like something, I like it a lot!

I think I'm going to bring a bunch of premade complicated balloon art to the party that I do the day before (involving more than 1 balloon or lots of time) and then do speed-twisting simple creations AT the party to save time.

You are so right. Superheros are a must. I have two boys, so that is definitely Mission: Critical. As are all of the Cars vehicles (Mater, this means you), or so I'm told by my five year old adviser. I am nervous that I won't be able to learn everything in the next 2 weeks but that's okay.

Right now I am creating approximately two balloons per hour. Not quite ready to be hired unless the parents don't mind kids patiently waiting upwards of a half hour each.  ;)

Anyway, this is so cool!! And don't laugh - but I am 50/50 serious about thinking it would be a good idea to do this in our area. I had so much trouble finding anyone at all! Plus, most of the people who do it do not seem to be very tech-savvy. They usually do not have websites with their information or anything to go off of. And some (NONE of the ones I've mentioned above) are a little bit creepy. I'd rather hire a female than some strange dude especially if it's in my home and around a bunch of small kids. There don't seem to be many females in south OC who do this. Some of the ones who do it make their outfits partially out of balloons like a colorful balloon skirt to wear while they are working! That sounds fun!

I think I've had too much caffeine today.

 
Wow!

I decided to take the crown & scepter to school when I picked up my Kindergartener. They let the kids out the door. I decided to put the crown on my friend's daughter's head and hand her the scepter as a gift. The kids MOBBED that poor girl. Two other girls ripped it off her head. Even the boys were after the things. They were all demanding their own. It turns out this is a good insurance policy for parties! I told them they will get their own if and when they come to our upcoming party.  :)
 
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