I kept a little secret when I wrote about the dancing-girls emoji piñata: I was on a mission to make emoji balloons. The balloon shop was closed that Sunday, but eventually I found yellow balloons and turned them into expressive faces. I chose my favorite and most-used emojis, but you can create any expression you like—one for each mood, every occasion, or the whole set if you want to be crowned the “Most Awesome Person of All Time.” I’m a little obsessed with these; they’ve been living in my car because I can’t bring myself to pop them and Jeff won’t let them back in the house.
Due to popular demand, these emoji balloons are now available for purchase in our shop.
Supplies:
Yellow mylar balloons (filled with helium)
Vinyl in black, red, white, tan and aqua/teal (or colored paper and glue dots)
Scissors or a cutting machine (I used a Cricut Explore)
Instructions:
1. Inflate your mylar balloons with helium and tie each with a string.
2. Choose the emoji faces you want to create. It helps to pull up a larger reference image to study the details while you sketch. You can trace the face or freehand it. I drew mine in Illustrator, uploaded the designs to Cricut Design Space, and cut the shapes with a cutting machine. If you work by hand, cut the shapes with scissors.
3. Peel the vinyl from its backing and apply each piece to the balloon. Large vinyl pieces can be tricky to smooth perfectly—don’t worry about tiny imperfections; they won’t be noticeable on a big smiling face. I recommend starting with the central elements of the face, such as heart eyes.
4. Add the remaining facial pieces. Keep the vinyl pieces reasonably sized so they don’t weigh down the balloons.
That’s all there is to it—go make every emoji face you love.
Photos by Jeff Mindell for Studio DIY.
Which emoji is your favorite? Everyone has at least one (or eight) favorites. If you’d rather buy them than make them, our shop carries a variety of emoji balloons including blushing, cry-laughing, heart-eyes, kissy face, and winking styles.
For more balloon projects, check the balloon DIY section on our site.