Maracas; Make It, to Shake It

Most of the things that kids play with these days involve smart phones, tablets, tvs or video game consoles. So when ever there is an opportunity to make an easy DIY with one of my boys I'm more then happy to help them out and I am probably more excited then they are, what can I say, I'm better at crafting then I'll ever be at mine craft or fortnight! So if your anything like myself and are happy to help your kids unplug every once in awhile, then this simple but sturdy maracas/rattle DIY might just be the thing for you and the end result is cute enough to keep these around your house to use as a decoration long after your kids have moved on to play with something new.

Most of these items you will have on hand laying around your house, but the few you will need to buy can be purchased at your local dollar general or online at Amazon.com.

*2 self watering globes

* one or a mixture of

rice, beans, and/or macaroni

* Pencil erasers

* hot glue gun

*glue sticks

*jute and ribbons

*acrylic paint, spray paint or paint markers

*paint brushes

* wax paper

First step in making your maracas is gathering all of your materials so that once you have it, your project is fast and fun to make.The main component of these maracas is created using a self watering globe/bulb thats used as the shell of our instrument. Self watering bulbs can be found in the gardening section of your local dollar general ( that's where I got mine on sale for 70% off in November), but if you can't locate these bulbs at your local store, there are plenty of cheap choices on Amazon, the rest of the materials are found in most homes without extra purchases.

Once all items are located, these maracas are fast enough for even for those with no concentration to be able to make it from start to finish without giving up or getting frustrated. First make sure your bulb is clean and dry, if it has ever been used for its actual purpose, to water plants, then you will need to clean it with hot soapy water, rinse and then dry it with either a hair dryer or pipe cleaners.

Once completely dry inside and out, fill the inside the bulb with a mixture of rice, dry beans and macaroni noodles, mix and match until your happy with the sound of the maracas when you shake them. After your happy with your sound simply stick an eraser into the open end of your maracas.

After inserting your eraser into the end of your maracas, you can begin creating a handle for your instrument by wrapping jute around the thin part of the self watering globe starting just under the bulb and working down to the eraser filled tip. Once the jute is wrapped neatly down the length of the handle and you've made it to the end, put a large squeeze of hot glue on the open tip and fill in with jute to cover the glue this helps make the maracas look neat and polished.

The last step of the process is the easiest and probably the most fun, simply paint the globe and make it your own, after you decorate it, lay it on wax paper to dry over night! Once completely dry your ready to shake it all about, or shake it like a Polaroid picture, or whatever you what to shake it like. It's yours, you made it, have fun with it. Then whenever your done shaking, rattling and rolling with DIY maracas, you can stick them on a shelf or your mantal to add an eclectic flair to your home until the mood to shake them strikes you again.