Abstract We have analyzed spin waves and topological textures in a quantum Hall droplet. For spin waves we present a simple scheme to study scattering at the boundary of the system obtaining analytical expressions for the low-energy excitations which turn out to be edge spin textures. From this simple description we perform a study of edge reconstruction of a quantum Hall ferromagnet. Edge spin textures are responsible for the low-temperature dependence of the magnetization. As far as topological textures are concerned, we describe bulk-charged skyrmions as spin waves localized around a topological defect. They can be expressed as a condensate of spin excitons interacting via a two-body repulsive interaction. This framework allows the calculation of the skyrmion energy as a function of its size.