Thursday, December 3, 2009

My Creative Space - Recycled Musical Shaker

We had a hard rubbish collection round here not long ago, and when I saw an old vaccum cleaner on the side of the road, I was reminded of a session I went to at uni about making your own musical instruments. So I grabbed the vaccum cleaner hose and now we have some shakers for the kids to rock out with, with Mr on the guitar.

Here's how to do it....

You'll need a hose of some sort (I used a vaccum cleaner hose), electrical tape, rice or lentils or stones and a stanley knife.

Form a circle to decide the size of the shaker.

Cut it with the stanley knife. This is what you'll have.

Use the piece of paper to make a funnel to pour the rice/lentils/stones into the hose.

Cut about 3cm into one end of the hose. Be careful not to spill the rice/lentils/stones out the other end.

Cutting the end helps to push one end into the other end of the hose to form a circle.

Cover the join with electrical tape.

Wrap the tape around several times to make sure it's secure. You could tie ribbons or pieces of material on it for extra bling.

That's it. Not only does this reduce landfill by a little bit, the kids get to play with something they helped create and they can make beautiful-ish music! All they have to do is shake, shake, shake.


And it seemed that a bit of bouncing, jumping and rocking from side to side helps too!

For more spaces that are full of creative stuff, stop by Kirsty who is also making music...

38 comments:

Kirsty said...

Gold! I love this Nikki...so much. 'specially the "jam" shots with Dad! x

Vic said...

...she shows me this AFTER I have gotten rid of our dodgey vaccum...!! ;)

Great idea, and they look very funky too which is a plus!

Leah said...

I have a length of hose out back may have to steal some! The kids are so cute rockin out with dad!

Angie said...

great work.....the kids look like they are having a grand ole time, and so much better than a recorder!

CurlyPops said...

How cool!
Now I have that 70's disco song in my head.... shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your booty...shake your booty!

Cathie said...

..thanks Cam!
great, now I know what to look out for. thanks Nikki, great shake, skake pics!

74 Lime Lane said...

such a cool idea! great recycling and great looking shakers!
and thanks to mzs curlypops, now I have that song stuck in my head!

Unknown said...

This is so cool..A total "why didn't I think of that toy" You are so creative!!!!

teddybearswednesday said...

LOVE LOVE this!!! totally wonderful, I'm sure you guys were seriously rocking it out.

Tanya said...

Ahh, the Von Trapp family revisited. I really hope you plan to teach your children 'the lonely goat herd'. These are much more impressive than the purchased plastic shaker eggs my kids had. I am horrified at your addition of 'ish' to the descriptive word about the music!!
with a wink and a smile,
Tan

Leonie Guld said...

Brilliant...all of it just brilliant...!!

Beck said...

What a fabulous, clever and snazzy idea. I love it!! And I love the kids grooving along, how much fun are they having??! xo

yardage girl said...

Another brilliant idea - sounds like you went to a groovy uni!! Great idea - will now keep my eyes peeled for old tubes!

Bianca Jae Makes Stuff said...

Awesome!! You never seem to stop amazing us with your RRR skills. fantastic pictures too :) xox

Michelle said...

Fabulous. The kids look like they are having a ball

june at noon said...

VERY clever. The perfect kid toy, too, since they much prefer "everyday" objects over something you can buy in the store anyway!

Sandrine said...

What a clever mummy these too have!!and how lucky they are educated to music at such a young age aving their daddy playing with them!Now thanks to Cam I have the music in my mind too!:)

Unknown said...

Love that idea! Will definitely be keeping my eye out for old vacuums next hard rubbish day!! Thanks for sharing. xo m.

Cath @ chunkychooky said...

you always come up with the most excellent ideas with your kids!!! another winner Nikki! love it.

One pair of Hands said...

Jam session with Dad - priceless.

Kylie said...

What a fabulous creative inventive mind you have! Those instruments look fantastic. Great space :) K

MooBear Designs said...

Yay for people being brave enough to pick up someone else's junk and turn it into a musical instrument...ish hahaha

xo Steph

Manda said...

thats really really cool!

michelle said...

too cute, you clever mama. do the dummies help with the whole shake, rattle & roll process?

Mel said...

Oh very very nice Nikki. I have only ever made shakers out of old water bottles but I love the shape of these. Perfect for little hands huh!?

trixi said...

Dad's on the guitar, the kids are on the shakers and mum's singing?!!

M* (Melanie) said...

Very clever Nikki. What a beautiful family you have. Such great photos.

Di said...

Great idea! I spotted an old vacuum cleaner on the verge down our street this morning... Wonder if it will still be there tomorrow..

Tania said...

N, your kids crack me up. They have definite rocker genes. Yet another brilliant idea, Mrs!

Anna Bartlett said...

Great idea - love it when the family rocks out together!

Maria Rose said...

Wonderful idea! I love people who can look at one thing and see it in an entirely different way!

Tricia said...

What an unreal idea! now I just need to be lucky enough to find a vacum cleaner hose on the side of the road :-)

Alisa : Ink Caravan said...

It's all just tooo groovy... and clever, and oh so sweet (look at those cuties)!! : D

Treacle Beak said...

Lots of fun rocking with Daddy, you gorgeous little ones ... and what a clever, creative Mummy you have.

Unknown said...

Just brilliant Nikki!! Nothing like a family jam session... My huz has the same guitar too :)

Jolie said...

love it!!! (and feel very lame for dragging around 3m of vacuum pipe all over the world, and never using it for anything more exciting that sending pingpong balls down the stairs.)

Aren't jam sessions with daddy just fabulous?!?

Becky said...

What a great idea. I bought a shaker for Possum but this is a much cooler craft idea!

Meg said...

Fabbo!!

Thank you so much for posting this.