Making Scented Maris

Making Scented Maris

        Another thought line from Talk Temari - one that has been hashed a bit in time gone by too... is there is way to make scented maris, to serve as sort of a pomander or potpourri? - Thoughts included concerns about essential oils eventually soaking into the fibers and causing rotting of the ball or core... so any options would have to be well preserved and/or dry in nature.

        Our Sarah R. had been experimenting it seems, since her stepdaughter now has a scented mari that Sarah had prepped, with spices like cinnamon, and since Sarah made it well over a year ago, she is still teaching us since it seems to have held up well and Sarah B (Sarah R.'s stepdaughter who is continuing on in Temari) tells us that it smells lucious.

        Overall thoughts for technique include sprinkling some dried spices, potpourri, etc (key word is dry) frangrance sources on the batting before wrapping it on the mari - if you use a batting layer. If not, this might be a good option anyway. if you don't routinely use batting, then perhaps taking a small remnant of cloth like muslin, placing the frangrance source on it and the holding it against the mari while you wrap the yarn or thread layer would also work.

        After coming up with these basics, the group and web readers offer the following suggestions for obtaining desired frgrances, keeping in mind that dryness is a high priority. Have a thought to add? Drop a line!

Added suggestions:

Maybe the dried cacao bean could work for a chocolate scent -. I think a few coffee beans could add a coffee scent. - Yoshie (webmaster's note - high quality dry process cocoa might also be a possibility)

We could even try using wrappers from chocolate candy bars..... We could do flavors like Reeses and Nestle Crunch (in the wrapper colors, of course!) Nicole B.

You could cut strips from a scented dryer sheet and wrap it over the yarn on the ball or it on the same as you do the batting layer... stitch around it to hold and then wind the thread layer on. Perhaps too you could sprinkle scented bath or body powder over it, and then wrap the thread layer..... Doris H.