Temari - making maris with noisemakers

まりの中に音の鳴る物を入れて

        One thing that can make a Temari even more fun is to pop a noisemaker in the mari before you wrap... adds just another little element of surprise and fun to the finished Temari. It's easy to do no matter what you use for your mari base.... here are some helps on doing it and having it still make noise when you are done (this is the thing that catches most people - depending on what the mari base is made of it can muffle your noise plans.)

        Depending on what you use for the mari base will determine what you need to do to keep them noisy. If you begin with Styrofoam or dylite balls, then all you need to do is slice it in half and then carefully scoop out a hollow in each half, a little larger than what you are going to use to make the noise. Be careful to not crack through the shell of the ball. The object here is there needs to be a small hollow area around whatever you are using for the noisemaker. The easiest thing to tuck in is a small jingle bell that you can buy by the package in craft stores. Or, use a few dried beans etc., for a rattle. I also like to pop a penny with the current year as its mint date in also for good luck - watch people's faces when you tell them it is in there. Put the two halves of the ball back to together and being your mari prep, either with the batting layer or the yarn wrap. If I make mari cores, my favorites are using soda bottle tops with some peas in it - tape a piece of paper over it to hold it together, or the lattice kittiecat play balls.... or a jingle bell.

        If you are making the mari from scratch from something like old nylons, plastic bags, socks, yarn, fabric etc - then things will be muffled by the material of the mari, and you need to make a hollow container for the noisemaker that you can stuff inside the mari as you form it. This can be done easily by making a tiny box out of a lightweight piece of cardboard, such as an index card. Or - here are suggestions from groupies and web readers:

Takes a bread twist tie and put a small bell on it, then suspend it between two plastic soda caps and tapes them together. The only sound is the jingle, since the sides of the bell don't hit the plastic. They sound delightful -(This tip came through from either a web reader or a TT member but I don't have a name with it - email me if it's yours!)

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I hollowed out the inside of the Styrofoam, placed several 3 inch skewer sticks parallel through the middle and put in a few seed beads. It's like those rain sticks that when you turn them over they sound like rain. This one, when it rolls, sounds like rain. Of course it's much more fun when you can pick it up and hear the rain inside. (web master's note, Maggie submitted a photo for the calendar with this noisemaker suggestion and the colors of her temari remind you of "Spring Rain") - Maggie H.

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I was poking around the dollar store in my neighborhood and happened upon those hollow plastic practice golf balls. They're the same size as the plastic "kitty balls" with the bell inside, but instead of being the hard plastic they have a little bit of give to them ... so you can slit them and slide in whatever
you want as a noisemaker and they still retain their shape. I was getting the kitty balls at 4 for $1.00, but the golf balls are an even better bargain - 12 for $1.00! I love the hollow balls for the center of the cores because they give you a good round start and they help keep the mari light weight. - Susan C

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Hi all- More often than not I add sound to mine. And a couple more ideas on this thread......I also use the clear, round, opening, plastic Christmas ornaments for a center. I just clip off the hanger loop on them. Also, having kids, I also use the containers from gum ball machines, that little toys come in. For very big temari, my favorite container is a little rubbermaid container. But, this one is difficult to get a perfectly round mari out of. Of course, I'm the type that likes noise in my temari, not necessarily a ringing sound. I've been known to use a plastic ornament with gravel in it, and all sorts of other things. All of these cores, I cover in rag strips and then my yarn and then my thread. I love the weight of a solid mari. -Laura H.

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There's a number of way to add sound to temaris as you have already found. Keep playing around with it and you will come up with a favorite. I prefer putting my bells in a cardboard box I have made from lightweight cardboard. I save the boxes I get from the grocery store (like that you find to hold crackers or cake mixes). I've made a template that looks sort of like a cross and trace the pattern on the cardboard, cut, fold and tape it together, place the jingle inside, tape the lid closed and add it to my rice hull centers. I really like the way it sounds. The cardboard doesn't add to the sound of the bell so I think you get a truer ring or jingle. Sometimes I add a penny to the box (This was suggested earlier in this group. I like the idea of sending a penny marked with a particular year to recognize a special event). This adds a bit of another sound but it pleasing to the ear. I've experimented a little with different bell sounds and, for me, I prefer the jingle bells. I'm curious what others think about this. Sometimes I add more than one bell, especially with the smaller jingles. If I have confused you with my box description, I can send you a pattern of my cardboard box. One other thing, if you don't have rice hulls, you can use plastic bags or old "clean" socks. Just place the box inside the bag or sock and wrap the remaining item around the box so the corners no longer protrude it has a more circular shape. Then begin wrapping the yarn layers, making any additional adjustments need for a perfect mari. Kathy