You know what scares the crap out of me? Balloons and babies in the same room. Babies (and toddlers, too) love to try to bite them. I'm always so scared that the balloon will pop and hurt the child, or even worse, get lodged in an airway. I was stumbling a while back, and came across this shop on etsy and noticed they sell balloon balls! The basic idea is that the balloon is blown up inside these fabric balls, and -while remaining just as fun- becomes more safe for children. I thought "I can make that!" and did some research. After some trial and error, I came up with this pattern. I promise, it's easy enough as long as you have some knowledge on how to operate a sewing machine. I HATE sewing, but I managed to do it and made two yesterday. It's simple enough that even taking pictures every move, it only took me an hour to complete. I will not be selling these in my shop, I've got too much other stuff going on, so I figured it would be nice to share the pattern with everyone! Beware- it's rather detailed and very picture heavy.
You will need to download, print, and cut out the balloon ball template.



(EDIT 4/2/13: a lot of people have been asking for the tutorial. I'm not certain why it's not showing up here, but it can be found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/124932034/Balloon-Ball-Tutorial)

*****UPDATE 8/19/13*****
Below, I've attached a PDF of the template. If it doesn't work for you, let me know!