Coffee Fudge Colour Unicorn

These White Unicorn Colours are so popular and so beautiful.

Nearly every pony party over the last several years has been a unicorn themed party. I feel very grateful to have many BEAUTIFUL ponies available to make these little girl’s fairytail dreams come true – to see, pat and ride a unicorn, sharing this experience with their friends and family on a birthday celebration is so memorable for everyone.

After 20+ years of entertaining at kids parties and most of those being pony parties, I can certainly vouch for these as being lasting, life long, happy memories as there have been so many times that people have come up to me telling of their memories years ago of

Mrs Balloonatic and her ponies attending their party or their older child’s party.  I’ve even been shown printed family photo albums, “see, that’s you Mrs Balloonatic, you came to our party, we still remember this party”. What a blessing to know how much joy this job brings to others.

Unicorns pony parties are soooo popular with little girls … and let’s admit it, they are as equally popular with us mums too, who doesn’t love unicorns after all?

White Unicorn Colour

To have stunning white unicorn, with all the trims – flower garland around the unicorn’s proudly curved neck, a flower halo around it’s ears and horn, a beautiful saddle and saddle blanket fit for a majestic unicorn from a royal stable … your pretty little fairy princess aboard the unicorn’s graceful back, all picture perfect.

White Chocolate Colour Unicorn

So naturally here at Balloonaversal we do get lots of requests for a white unicorn to attend parties, which we are happy to say we can do for the Gold and Premium packages, but I do feel sad for our other remarkable unicorns. 

Differing Shades of White Unicorns

Did you know this little known fact that unicorns come in other shades of white? And that these colours are quite rare among unicorns, but are just as stunning … if not more so.  Well, I discovered that this is true and how special it is.

Coconut Cream Colour Unicorn

A Royal Stable of Rare Unicorn Colours

It’s even more special to know that being in the kid’s party and entertainment industry as long as I have, you do get to meet lots of amazing and unique people. For example, a few years ago, I was attending a fairy convention and was privileged to meet the queen of the Forest Fairies and, of course, as many people know fairies are very fond of unicorns and many beautiful unicorns live in Faiyland.  Well, the Queen of the Forest Fairies is no exception and she has a stable full of some of the rarest unicorns that ever lived and this is how I found out about the 6 shades of white unicorns.

English Toffee Unicorn

Amazingly, Her Royal Majesty, Queen of the Forest Fairies has each of these shades of white unicorns in her royal stable, and what’s even more amazing is how kind and generous the Queen is.  In one of our conversations a year or two after I met the Queen (as she got to know my business of bringing joy to children with pony rides and pony visits

for birthday celebrations), she very generously made the offer that if there are children that would like to have a unicorn attend their party, then she would LOVE to help bring joy and happiness too by making available to me, her rare and beautiful unicorns.  You can imagine, I was absolutely speechless and so humbled by her incredible offer.  In the past I just dressed up ponies to look like unicorns, but now I am able to bring REAL LIVE unicorns to children’s birthday parties.

If you scroll down a little further, you’ll see a very informative infographic on The 6 Shades of White Colours of Unicorns.  A very interesting study.

So thus began my remarkable business arrangement with Her Royal Majesty, Queen of the Forest Fairies.

Unicorn Health Alert

But it wasn’t long before we ran into some health problems for the unicorns.  You see the weather in Fairyland is pleasant and warm all year round, not like here in Melbourne where we need to wear sunscreen and cover our skin in summer, or put on a coat to keep warm in winter.

We soon discovered that the unicorns were suffering in Melbourne’s summer and also in winter.  The first indication that something was wrong was that their horns began drooping and even fading away!!!  With some help from the Fairy Unicorn Vet, we learned that the unicorn’s horns simply needed protection from the elements – strong sun or cold winds.  I knew just what to do.  I would get out my sewing machine and with a selection of beautiful coloured fabrics, I created custom unicorn covers to slip over their horns.  I even decorated them with ribbons and flowers and beads to match the beautiful flower garlands that the unicorns wear.

Black Ice Licorice Colour Unicorn

And even more precious is the fact that the Queen of the Forest Fairies has personally sent a very special and extremely rare unicorn to the party!! How amazing is that?

So that was something new I learned about unicorns and when children tell me that these aren’t real unicorns because the horns don’t look real, well, its no wonder they say this.  They certainly don’t look real if they have a gold, silver or even pink fabric custom made unicorn cover, with ribbons and silk flowers stuck to them do they?

But I must say, the children are so thrilled when they learn what I have to tell them about unicorn horns and that the unicorn in their midst is in fact a REAL unicorn.

White Unicorn Colour Requests

So as much as we like to accept special requests for white unicorns, we will do our best to provide you with one, but please realise you will definitely feel very privileged to have any one of our other shade of white majestic unicorns bring joy and happiness to your child’s birthday party, offering life long cherished memories.

On behalf of our pony and unicorn team (two legged and four legged). we can’t wait to meet you all for a fun filled day.

If you would  like to know more about how to invite a unicorn to your child’s birthday party please visit our Unicorn Party page

Violet Crumble Colour Unicorn

If you enjoyed readin our article about unicorns, we’d love for you to write a comment below.  Feel free to share any of our posts on social media.  Thanks.

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Could this be a real life ‘My Little Pony’? Barnabus, (because he’s built like a barn or a bus) is often seen at children’s birthday parties as his alter ego Starbeam (My Little Pony character). He’s a top favourite with the kids, especially with children aged 3 – 6.

His small stocky stature, his slow calm walk, and his gentle kind expression seem to give even the most nervous child a feeling of confidence. I often think this is more so in winter as

his long fluffy winter coat makes him look a lot like a big teddy bear, and who doesn’t love their teddy?

Barnabus has such a wonderful generous nature and seems to genuinely enjoy the children being around him. He is always so calm and patient while they get on or off, stop to pat his face, give him a kiss on the nose or pick up a brush to groom him – he’s happy for the love and attention.

But it wasn’t always this way

Barnabus Before Balloonaversal

Barnabus was given to us several years ago by our then neighbor Danielle who named him Trevor. Danielle acquired him through another neighbour and kept him as a paddock friend for her beautiful Warmblood mare.

When Barnabus came into our care we were told that he had had an abusive background and hadn’t been well looked after. That seemed to be true. Although he was in good condition health wise by then, he was still a rather distant non-connected little fellow and was quite nervous around any kind of noise or activity.

Barnabus’ Four Legged Feud

And he didn’t make friends easily with the other ponies either, aggressively warding them off, even challenging Mal our large dapple grey pony who was head of the herd at the time.

There were a few battles for dominance in those early days. I recall one particular occasion where Barnabus bested Mal, leaving the on watching herd ‘speechless’. It was at that point that Jeremiah, my meek and mild little miniature performing pony decided he did not like Barnabus at all. He just up run, sneaking up behind Barnabus while he wasn’t looking and bit him on the rump, running off as quick as he came before he copped a kick. It was quite an amusing scene but so out of Jeremiah’s character. It took a couple of years before those two became friends.

The Training Of A Pony Ride Pony

I gave little Barnabus time to settle in, then began the slow re-training process. I wanted to start Barnabus as if he were a young unbroken pony.

‘Unbroken’ is the term use to describe a horse or a pony who has not been trained to carry a rider or pull a carriage. ‘Breaking in’ is the term for this process and is not a harsh cruel process as the word ‘broken’ or ‘breaking’ would imply.

So Barnabus was introduced to the lunge first and learned the voice commands for whoa (stop), walk and trot. We didn’t bother with canter as he really wasn’t an energetic pony. I have found lunging is a great place to start when building trust with horses and ponies as it can create a clear communication path without the extra worry of having a rider on their back. When a horse understands what it is that you are asking they are nearly always very happy to give their all and this was true of Barnabus too. Within a week he was showing off of the lunge, being attentive to everything asked of him and thus began his trust in people.

Over the months we worked on introducing noise and activity to his lessons. Barnabus gained much confidence in himself and within 6 months I took him successfully out to his very first ‘gig’ … a My Little Pony party and he was a little champ and has been ever since.

 

 

 

 

A Loved Member Of The Family

Over the years he as also proven to be a wonderful little pony to teach beginner children to ride, teaching my two boys when they were five or six years of age. Tobias on occasion, riding him to school and he is still Asher’s pick of the pack.

Barnabus is around 19 years old now, but still has plenty of energy and still enjoys his job. Oh, and he has lots of pony friends now with Nikki being his bestie. You can read more about Nikki here.

If you’d love to have a My Little Pony party for your little girl, please visit this page to find out more Costume Pony Party Packages, or simply call us on (03) 8669 1303.

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Meet Mark Trenwith, a super funny guy and one of Balloonaversal’s popular choices for balloon twisting entertainment for kids parties and events.

Not only is Mark a talented balloon twister, he’s an accomplished stand up comedian and a talented actor.

Calling himself “a naturally weird guy”, Mark got into the comedy scene at an early age. Now with over 10 years of stand-up comedy experience, he is renown for his stunning use of video and digital technology as the highlights of his various shows.

“The various multimedia Trenwith uses are highlights… one of the most hilarious things I’ve seen.”

– Henry Nichols, dB Magazine

Mark’s Television and Film Experience

Mark’s energetic, easy going style as an actor has placed him in many popular film and TV projects, such as Peaches with Hugo Weaving, Like It Is, and ABCTV’s Being Me as “Bounce-back Man.”

Today, Mark regularly performs for sellout crowds at the Adelaide Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, and Melbourne Comedy Festival. His most popular shows include Ghost Sharks, which won the Moosehead Award.

Perfect Kids Entertainer

But Mark has a special place in his heart for children’s entertainment, appearing in shows such as Punchline, Ben Ten Live, and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and his latest – the zany kids’ comedy creation, Mr. Snot Bottom.

In addition to his acting & comedy career, Mark works at the Royal Children’s Hospital as a Captain Starlight super hero visiting seriously ill children. The Captain Starlight program helps create a healing environment by brightening their day, bringing joy, laughter and happiness.

Want A Guaranteed Party Success?

So when you’re in the market for a balloon twister for your child’s birthday party or for corporate and event entertainment, choose a company who have team members with quantifiable proven people and entertainment experience.

Your party or event will be so much more successful and fun filled than if you just hire one of the many ‘cheap’ part time balloon twisters currently flooding the entertainment market.  Anyone can go to YouTube and follow the millions of ‘how-tos’ on any subject, but it 9 times out of 10 their lack of experience and professionalism leaves many buyers in a state of regret.

Balloonaversal’s team members have a reputation for being well spoken, well mannered and well presented with a professional and mature approach in their communication and work ethics.

For more information on hiring a balloon twister for children’s parties click here and for event entertainment go here.  Or Call 8669 1303

Mr Snot Bottom trailer

https://youtu.be/bFMRbvbP1vU

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Put your winter woollies on, there’s plenty of school holiday fun and activities on offer in Melbourne and country Victoria.  Here are 12 ideas to help you enjoy the holiday break … and create more of those treasured family memories.

1. “THE BIG FREEZE” INDOOR WINTER FAMILY FESTIVAL

Cranbourne Racecourse, Grant St.

Starts July 2-10, 9am-5pm. $12 to $28. thebigfreezefestival.com.au

“The Big Freeze” indoor winter family festival is coming to Cranbourne Racecourse this July – and it’s an awesome opportunity to have some snowy fun with the family without having to drive for hours. This year, there will be nine indoor activity zones, all with adequate heating:

• Snow Pit
• Snowball Toss
• Winter Inflatable Slide
• Snow Village and Forest
• Workshops
• Crafts
• Construction Play
• And so much more!

And best of all – the family gets fresh snow three times a day, guaranteed. If your family has been waiting for a snowball fight for months, “The Big Freeze” festival is where to have it.

2. THE WONDERLAND AT SPIEGELTENT

Wonderland Under the Melbourne Star, 101 Waterfront Way, Docklands.

June 23-July 10. 11.30am and 2.30pm daily.

Snow Play sessions every hour from 10am (50 minutes).
wonderlandspiegeltent.com.au

Want some winter fun with the family without the hassle and drama of going out of town? Then pack up and head to the Docklands – the Wonderland Spiegeltent is in town. There’s a circus, a snowy undercover adventure zone with live snowfall, and snowy mini-mountains for the kids to slide down and build snowmen on. And if it gets too cold, the Sweet Treats Cafe will have the hot chocolate, popcorn, and snow fairy floss to keep you warm. And if that’s not enough, there are also rides and other amusements for all ages to complete the package.

Show only $25/Conc & Child $20/ Family Pass $80 (4 people); It’s Snow Time $18. Bookings: 9602-1311 or visit wonderlandspiegeltent.com.au

3. THE FUN FOR KIDS FESTIVAL AT WARRNAMBOOL

Corner Timor & Liebig sts, Warrnambool.

Until July 2, 10am-5pm. $32.50 to $120.

Fun4kids.com.au

Fun4Kids is a festival created especially for families with kids up to 12 years old. This exciting festival is jampacked with activities and events that spark children’s imaginations and creativity, and keep them entertained for hours… without the need for TV and gadgets. Performances and activity zones include:

• Wash Your Face in Orange Juice, with Peter Combe
• Live and Learn the Jedi Way, by the Sons of Obi-Wan Lightsaber Academy
• Taylor Made: A Tribute to Taylor Swift
• Galloping Tales Digital Puppetry
• Oceanarium
• Kooky Crafts
• Inflatable World
• Face Painting
• Raiders of the Lost Past
• And much, much more!

4. CHRISTMAS IN JULY AT LUNA PARK

Lower Esplanade, St Kilda. Sun-Thu, 11am-6pm, Fri-Sat, 11am-8pm. lunapark.com.au

Dress your kids up as elves and head right to Luna Park for some inexpensive, good-natured, Christmas-in-July winter fun. Enjoy mechanical reindeer racers, hourly snowfall, bouncy elves, face painting, Scrat and Sid from the movie Ice Age, and – of course – Santa Claus and his elves. Admission and entertainment is completely free – only pay for the hot food and hotter rides, such as the Power Surge, the Silly Serpent, and the Great Scenic Railway.

5. ICE SKATING AT FED SQUARE RIVER RINK

Federation Square.  Yarra River Terrace.  10am-1pm daily.  Until July 17.

http://www.fedsquare.com/riverrink

Last year, people flocked to the River Rink when they found a beautiful outdoor ice rink waiting for them. This year, River Rink is back just in time for Melbourne’s winter months, inviting ice skaters of all ages and skill levels to Federation Square. Never mind if you and your loved ones are ice skating for the very first time – a few large, friendly, inflatable penguins are around to soften the landings… though the tumbles (and the laughter that follows) just make the trip even more enjoyable.

Tickets start at $12.50 for 45 minutes, inclusive of skates. Transactional charges may apply. Limited tickets available, so book in advance.

6. MEET MR. SNOT BOTTOM

Speakeasy HQ and Apollo Theatre, 522 Flinders Street, Melbourne.

Saturday, July 2, 11:30AM. 1PM Show sold out. Tickets at $10.

http://www.speakeasy-hq.com/

Mr. Snot Bottom is a stand-up kids’ comedian who’s got a LOT to say about the gooiest, stinkiest, yuckiest topics… which, of course, all kids absolutely love. With a stellar audio-visual effects show that’s especially made for kids aged 4-10 and their parents, Mr. Snot Bottom is guaranteed to deliver a good hour’s worth of belly-aching laughter and enjoyment.

7. THE NEXT “LITTLE KIDS’ DAY IN”

Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, Victoria

Monday, August 1, 10AM-3PM

Kids enter free; Adults $14.00; Museum Members enter free. Early bookings recommended

Got kids 5 ages and younger? Then mark your calendar on August 1^st to join the next Little Kids’ Day In. With shows, live exhibits, and play-related activities revolving around Alice in Wonderland and the Nitty Gritty Super City, the Little Kids’ Day In is perfect for the next play date, or simply spending quality time with your kids.

8. FIREWORKS OVER THE DOCKLANDS

Docklands Waterfront, Docklands VIC

Every Friday from July 1 to August 26, 2016; 6:30-8:30PM;

Fireworks commence 7:30 PM Admission is free

Do you and your kids like fireworks? Then head over to the Docklands Waterfront every Friday for spectacular, mesmerizing fireworks shows… absolutely free. Bring the family and enjoy other bits of amusement, including live music and roving performers. Start off or cap off the fireworks show with some warm food and drinks at the various restaurants and bars.

9. CREATE YOUR OWN ABORIGINAL STYLED BUSH SCULPTURE

 Artplay – Birrarung Marr, Batman Avenue, Melbourne

July 3, 2016, 10:30AM-12:00NN and 2:00-3:30PM

$16 per child; advanced bookings only. Book here

Learn the ancient art of creating bush sculpture with the Baluk Arts Aboriginal Artists! If your child is 6-12 years of age, take them for a fun, educational workshop about creating very favourite Australian animals using hay and wool.

10. FIMO JEWELLERY MAKING

 No Vacancy Gallery – 38-40 Jane Bell Lane, QV Building, Melbourne

Wednesday, July 6, 3:00-5:00PM

Tickets at $20. Online booking only – book here

Bring your kids to a workshop they’ll truly love. No Vacancy’s jewellery-making workshop will teach you and your little ones how to use paints, glitter, quick-drying clay, and other jewellery findings to craft their very own earrings and necklaces.

11. WATCH DISNEY’S “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, JR.”

Union Theatre, University of Melbourne – Parkville

July 6, 11AM-12NN and 2PM-3PM; July 7-9, 2-3PM and 7-8PM

Tickets from $21-$26. Book here

Watch this beloved take on the classic fairy tale with your kids! Based on the original Broadway production, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jr. is a kid-friendly version of the romantic tale, brought to life by over 70 talented young performers, and featuring popular songs from the movie, including Be My Guest, Beauty and the Beast, and more.

12. EDENDALE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT FARM

30 Gastons Rd, Eltham   t 03 9433 3711   Opening Hours 9:30am – 4:30pm School Holidays, Saturdays & Sundays
edendale@nillumbik.vic.gov.au

Visit the Edendale Environmental Farm in Elthan, Melbourne’s North East. There are plenty of school holiday activities that include: Visit the website for more.

• Animal Covers
• Eye Spy (on the farm)
• Wool Display
• Guinea Pig Patting

Tour the farm, find out about the many sustainable living workshops that are regularly held throughout the year.

Cafe eden is open every day from 9.30am to 3pm. Buy a coffee and food, bring a picnic and enjoy the outdoor and under-shelter spaces.  Bring your bikes and ride the trails to Diamond Creek or the Eltham Miniature Railway.

Just across the creek and along the bike trail is the Wattletree Rd Covered Adventure Play Ground, highly popular with BBQ facilities.

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Gemma is a high school student and has been with our company for 3 years. What kind of work does Gemma do you say being so young?

Gemma is one of our ‘Pony Assistants’ and has a very important job here at Balloonaversal Head Quarters.

Her main role is to lead kids on the ponies at children’s birthday parties or corporate/community events on the weekends. Her wonderful gentle spirit makes her a perfect candidate for creating a fun, memorable experience for the children as they ride. She chats to the kids, asks them all kinds of questions as she leads them on the pony, and always has a laugh with them.

Can’t Get Enough Of The Ponies

We also see Gemma during the week as well, you see Gemma is one of a small group lucky young ladies who have the privilege of being able to come and ride our larger ponies and Thoroughbred horse whenever they want. All in return for helping with the work load of taking care of the 14 ponies that we have here at home. It’s pretty hard for a bunch of horse mad girls wouldn’t you think? They get plenty of privileges – riding and jumping lessons when I can are just one example.

I often joke about our place being the local Saddle Club chapter as the girls often meet up and go out for adventurous rides together – the Diamond Creek McDonalds Drive Through being a popular destination for teenage girls. Swimming the ponies in our dam during summer time or twilight rides on a full moon are some of the other fun experiences they have.

Why Buy A Horse? I’ve Got Plenty!

It works great for our family and the teen’s parents as the cost of owning a horse of your own plus all the equipment and up keep is quite expensive.

With all this time spent around the ponies, Gemma has become a very experienced young horsewoman. She has even trained Josh our 16 hand Thoroughbred tricks.

Gemma has a goal to become an equine vet and works very hard toward this. I’m quietly confident that she will achieve this ambition.

Remember to say hi to Gemma and ask her why she was wearing a green Band-Aid on her head recently. (Or keep an eye out for next months issue of BalloonaScoop, I may just tell you the answer).

For Pony Party Inquiries call (03) 8669 1303 or send via our online form.

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Nikki is a beautiful black mare standing at 10.1 hands and is one of the sweetest natured ponies I’ve ever owned. Born in 1995, (so she is getting up there in age now), Nikki came to us in the very early days of our business back in 2001 – she is very much a part of our family. With her shiny black coat in summer, her lovely long, wavy mane and tail and her big brown eyes, Nikki has always been a popular pony at kids parties and events.

Why is Nikki One Of Our Popular Ponies With The Kids?

When we bought her as a 7 year old, Nikki’s previous owner had used her as a broodmare to breed miniature horses from. She had two beautiful foals. We discovered that Nikki had obviously been broken in to ride at some stage because she so easily stepped into her new career as a hand led pony ride giver as if she had been doing it all her life, displaying a calm, placid temperament in all situations. As you might well know, kids birthday parties are fun, happy and noisily active affairs – as they should be.

Although she is so amazingly quiet amongst all manner of noise and commotion, Nikki is quite a sprightly forward moving pony who would often prefer to trot everywhere rather than walk which makes her very easy to lead. She will walk shoulder to shoulder with her handler, placing the child in the saddle right next to the handler.

Michelle Gets On Her Soap Box

This is how we as a pony ride business have all of our ponies walk as this is the safest position for children – easy reach for us, we can keep a steady hand on the youngsters should they not have good natural balance, which often they don’t. I have seen quite a few pony ride businesses lead their ponies virtually at the end of the lead rope! How are they going to save your child from taking a fall? All a pony needs to do is innocently stumble over a clump of grass or pause for a big shake if they are feeling a bit itchy and off your little one goes. Who cares about public liability insurance? You simply don’t want your child falling off at all.

(I’ll step down from my soap box now, but rest assured, with me having over 30 years of riding, teaching, training, competing experience, Balloonaversal provide one of the most well thought out, safest environments while still maintaining the kids party fun, you can afford to have.)

How Old Is Too Old To Give Pony Rides?

People often ask me how old Nikki is and then how long do Shetland Ponies live, which is in most cases into their 30s. This invariably leads to the next question – how long will she work for? As long as my ponies are sound (no lameness such as arthritis), are in perfect health and are happy in their job (they get regular holidays away from any form of work), then we still include them, after all even ponies need to feel useful. So far we have retired two of our ponies a small, very cute white Shetland called CJ and a white Welsh Mountain mare called Buttons.

Want To Know More About The Ponies On The Balloonaversal Team?

I hope you have enjoyed reading about another one of Balloonaversal’s pony team members, we will feature another pony in the next edition of BalloonaScoop. You can find past pony profile articles in the Blog.

Please leave us a comment below and let us know if you have had Nikki visit your party. Send us a photo.

For information on pony rides visit our Pony Party Packages page.

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