STRUTHERS -- No matter the occasion, Carol Cosier says it with balloons.

STRUTHERS -- No matter the occasion, Carol Cosier says it with balloons.
Cosier, who owns The Balloon Doctor, creates balloon arrangements and sculptures for just about any occasion, event or holiday, including birthdays, anniversaries, retirement parties, weddings, confirmations, communions, baby showers and bar mitzvahs.
"We're real creative with balloons," she said.
When Cosier graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh with a degree in three-dimensional design, she never dreamed where it would lead her. But after walking into a balloon shop, she knew that was where she belonged.
Opened shop
Cosier opened The Balloon Doctor in 2001, after leaving her job as a sales rep for a wholesale balloon company. Before that, Cosier worked at Balloons Galore for 10 years, buying the business in her fourth year there.
Cosier offers a wide variety of balloon bouquets, sculptures and creations and encourages customers to suggest new ideas.
"My art background helps me come up with different ideas and visualize the things I want to create -- characters and creations that you would never think to do," she said.
She also creates huge balloon sculptures for trade show displays, parade floats and other events. Some of her more unusual designs have included a Noah's ark with animals, a huge octopus extended over a swimming pool, an immense wall of "water" with dolphins jumping from it and elegant arches for weddings. The sculptures are made completely of balloons and tied together, not taped.
Novelty balloon gifts include a lottery balloon filled with small balloons containing lottery tickets, diapered balloon "babies" for baby showers and "Dr. Pete," a life-size get-well balloon man complete with balloon stethoscope.
Many come back
Cosier said she has a lot of repeat customers who are pleased with how long the balloons last. She uses only durable, high-quality balloons.
"It's so worth it to know, if you buy a balloon for a child, it's not going to be done the next day. Just to see the joy on their face when they wake up the next day and it's still floating and not lying on the floor," she said. "Even a 90-year-old person loves the joy that it brings."
"I get all emotional about balloons," she added, with a laugh.
Cosier said the business is a family affair, with her husband, Joe, doing balloon deliveries and building frames for the sculptures. Her dad, Snookie, and mom, Mary, also help her with the business.
Besides her art schooling Cosier also passed a rigorous series of tests before a panel of judges to earn her credential as a certified as balloon artist.
"The general public doesn't know about CBA, but in the balloon industry, it's respected," she said. When you have CBA behind your name you have special training for building anything."