Big Yellow Balloon Duck Makes a Splash

I love a challenge, and lately our clients have been giving us challenges for sure! Last month a 13′ Rainbow Trout sculpture; this month a 4′ tall Rubber Ducky sculpture!

BYD (Big Yellow Duck) balloon sculpture waits for his July 4 parade enrance

BYD (Big Yellow Duck) Balloon Sculpture Awaits his July 4 Entrance

What fun Rachel and I had this past week when we created the “BYD” (Big Yellow Duck) for one of our favorite clients, Bath Junkie. Not only was this our first super-sized balloon animal sculpture, we had to design him to withstand traveling a 1.5 mile parade route in 90 degree weather. What we didn’t know was that he would also travel an additional 4 miles after the parade. Bath Junkie owners transported him down Smith Road to their Turkey Creek store to draw attention to their store; and that evening took him to Zuma Fun Center where he still was as of Tuesday. Sure proud he traveled so well! Did anyone happen to see a Big Yellow Duck dressed in an Uncle Sam hat traveling down Turkey Creek? I’d love to know if you did.

The BYD stood 4′ tall without his hat and 6′ with it. He was 40″ in diameter at the base. Over 600 balloons were used to create him and it took about 12 hours to design, build, and rig him on the car/float. It was fun getting to use several techniques to create the sculpture.

Amber, Jill, Dale and Brent are Ready for Fun

Amber, Jill, Dale and Brent are Ready for Fun


A rubber ducky was the perfect float design for Bath Junkie’s float for the Farragut July 4 parade because he represents fun and they wanted to say their store is fun! In addition to the BYD, we got to create 3 bubble bath tubs complete with floating bubbles for the store owners to wear and interact with the parade onlookers. I’m quite prejudiced but I do believe the Bath Junkie float was the best of the parade–too bad this parade doesn’t give awards for best float.
Showing off his Fancy Balloon Tail Feather

Showing off his Fancy Balloon Tail Feather