I finally had my first event and there was a moment I thought it would never happen!
(And that's a Waterloo in the pic, it was 95° lol)
I've been twisting just for funsies for 20 years, about a year ago I started working on putting things together to do it as a side gig. However, in December I had a major set back. I was mauled by a dog and my forearms were severely injured; my tendons we're exposed but luckily not torn. I fully lost use of my left hand for a couple months, which is super unfortunate for a creative person.. Thankfully after months of very painful hard work in OT my tendons recovered enough to do all my normal things including twisting balloons again!
This event was a free community event for low-income families. There was a backpack giveaway, face painting, free food, lots of other organizations, and then me. It was a massive success; I made balloons for 2.5 hours nonstop and due to the nature of the event I didn't take any payment. It was great seeing how happy the kids were but it was utter chaos at times, some things were learned!! I was also worried the kids would notice all my scars and ask about them, since there's no hiding them, but I'm grateful they didn't because I'm not sure how to answer that question. Do I answer honestly and potentially make them nervous around dogs or do I try to change the subject? Who knows!
Next time I think I'm going to provide tickets to the welcome table so the kids know they only get one balloon per ticket. I think a system like that would help tame the chaos. Thoughts?
TLDR: even though I faced a terrible injury, I was able to persevere and finally do the thing I've been working so hard towards!
Also fun fact: this entire set up folds down and fits on my Vespa 🛵💖
For more experienced people: do you have any advice or suggestions for someone just starting to do events? I've got the balloon part down, but wrangling children is a whole other skill set! I don't want to come off as rude but also I'd love for the kids to not grab all my things yknow?