Hillsdale Man Turns Balloons Into Business

One Hillsdale resident has taken the craft of creating animals, caricatures and other objects from balloons beyond the world of swords and wiener dogs to a complex, skillful level.

David Lima has been running his business, Bambaballoon, for almost two years now. The detail included in his creations push the limits of what's possible with latex and air — a superhero figure has six-pack abs, a miniature dinosaur includes tiny balloons inside other balloons to represent pupils in its eyeballs. 

"It's like giving life to the balloon; to air," he said.

Lima, who is originally from Brazil, has been honing his craft for years. He worked as a phys ed teacher and children's entertainer at a hotel, where he started doing basic balloon tricks as part of the job.

"And then one day I decided to get crazy with it," he said. "You can make anything."

Lima started by looking at the "balloonicatures" of other balloon artists for inspiration, but soon was creating his own designs of celebrities, cartoon characters, animals and whatever else he can come up with. 

The designs, which Lima makes by twisting, folding, cutting and pressing balloons into shape, can take just a few minutes or hours to complete. One project, creating life-size cartoon characters for a birthday party, took three straight nights, he said.

"It's a stupid thing. It's just air and latex," Lima said. "But it becomes amazing and it gives people a little smile. I love that."

Lima started Bambaballoon when he was living in New York, but he's now living in Hillsdale with his wife and their two children, so he's looking for more events to cover locally. Anyone who wants more info can find Bambaballoon's contact info on their website or can check out more photos of Lima's creations on their Facebook page.

Lima has also posted some tutorial videos for anyone interested in making their own balloon creations.

"I love having the heart of a kid," he said. "I try to keep that alive."