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. Generally this means a small jingle bell, or something that will rattle. 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.) It also adds another traditional element to your work - noisemakers (mostly rattles of whatever materials and types) have long been used in temari - remember, temari were originally toys that were indeed played with.

        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 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 sound tends to be muffled a bit 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 (limited only by imagination and size!), or you can make a simple one. This can be done very easily by making a tiny box out of a lightweight piece of cardboard, such as cardstock. And remember - it's deep inside the mari. This is one time when neatness does not matter - no one is going to see it. Focus on getting good sound but you don't have to worry about what it really looks like as long as it "works" for holding the sound. If you want to eliminate the "rattle" of the ball hitting the side of the holder, use a "twist tie wire" to suspend the bell in the container you are using. And - believe it or not as noted below, the quality of the bell you use will make a difference. If you want a nice jingle/ring, don't expect to get it from the most inexpensive bells in a bag type you can buy. They are made of metals that don't "ring" to begin with, especially for this use... try to find a decent quality brass or nickle. Other hints to get a good "ring" are to size the bell container appropriately - if the bell has a lot of room to bop around you'll get more of a rattle than a ring. It needs a little wiggle room but the object is to move the clapper ball in the bell, not the bell itself. Also, be sure that your container for it is sturdy enough that it will not collapse in the wrapping process, especially if you are using soft mari materials. While you may start out sure that the box is fine, as you wrap the pressure of the wrapping gets distrubuted through the stuff of the mari (it's a law of nature so there isn't anything you can do about it) unless you are using styrofoam or dylite. If the box or container collapses around the bell, it will become more of a rattle and be muffled than if it remains "free". I've found two good options for clear "rings" - even though I make my own mari cores, I will purchase small (key word - small -) styro balls and split them open as described above to hold a bell. I then use this as the bell container (remember, I said small styro ball) and make the mari around that, using my regular methods. Or, a great sized-to-fit container are the little capsules that come in gumball machines. Similar capsules can be purchased from the Temari Accessories Section of Ai's Store (I have no business connection with Ai).

        I make all of my mari cores, and my favorites are making rattles using soda/water bottle tops with some driedpeas or rice - tape a piece of paper over it to hold the rice inside, or butt two caps together and tape. Or, I'll often put a jingle bell in a card stock box. The lattice pet 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 (such as rice hulls or small yarn, paper or fabric bits, they don't leak into the noisemaker ball. If this happens it will eventually muffle the sound of the noisemaker, sometimes completely!).

       There is no "rule" for what you use - basically anything that will hold something that rattles or rings works, as long as you can insert it into the center of your mari base and it makes noise. For rattles, think of things like dried peas, beans, rice, small stones or pebbles, beads, marbles, steel shot or bb's, small fishing weights, paper clips.... (you get the idea)....   if you want a bell, any craft store will have small jingle bells available. I have found that this is a time when quality can make a difference - better quality bells will be made of different metals that "ring" with a nicer and clearer tone so if you really want a good clear bell effect, consider going a bit more upscale for bells. Very inexpensive jingle bells can end up "rattling" rather than ringing, and this can be due to the type of metal the bell is made of. Similarly, the larger the pieces of stuff you are using for rattles, the different the sound the rattle will make. The container you use for the noisemaker can "adjust" the sound the bell or rattle makes, especially when combined with the mari materials and density. Hard containers - plastic, metal, etc, will give a sharper sound than something like a card stock box. This often becomes just a matter of personal preference - when you find something you like, you'll end up sticking with it.

        This is and has been a frequent topic on TalkTemari discussion; here are some collected thoughts with thanks to the TT members:

Common holders are two soda, beer, or other beverage bottle tops (either twist off or regular), both plastic and metal - taped together with something inside them.
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. This idea also works for: ping pong balls, mini "whiffle" balls (they are sold for all sorts of ball-sports practice, from golf to baseball)
Use small round, plastic Christmas ornaments for a center; just clip off the hanger loop on them.
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)