Temari - making maris with noisemakers

Noisemakers in Maris

        One thing that can make a Temari even more fun is to pop a noisemaker in the mari as you are making it. It 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 and how the noisemaker is made, they can muffle your noise plans.)

        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, 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 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. You need to use or make a hollow container for the noisemaker that you can stuff inside the mari as you form it. Keep an eye open for any small container that you can use, or you can make them. This can be done easily by making a tiny box out of a lightweight piece of cardboard, such as an index card. I make mari cores, and my favorites are using soda/water bottle tops with some peas or rice - tape a piece of paper over it to hold the rice inside, or butt two caps together and tape. I'll often put a jingle bell in a card stock box. The lattice kittiecat play balls also work great and are "premade" but it helps to put them in a corner of a plastic bag or cover with a tissue so that if you are using small bits in the core, they don't leak into the ball.

        This is a frequent topic on TalkTemari discussion and here are some collected thoughts with thanks to the TT members:
+) Use a plastic bag twist-tie and put a small bell on it, then suspend it between two plastic soda caps and tape them together. The only sound is the jingle, since the sides of the bell don't hit the plastic.
+) Hollow out the inside of the Styrofoam, placed several 3 inch skewer sticks parallel through the middle with a few seed beads. It sounds like the "rain sticks" that when you turn them over they sound like rain.
+) Grab some hollow plastic practice golf balls from the dollar store. 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.
+) Use the clear, round, opening, plastic Christmas ornaments for a center; just clip off the hanger loop on them. Also try the containers from gum ball machines, that little toys come in. For very big temari, try small food storage containers but this one is difficult to get a perfectly round mari out of.

(July 2008: contributors' tips have been consolidated into flowing text, for ease of use. Thanks continues to be offered to all readers who contribute hints and tips)