DIY Easy Practice Poi, happening...?

Happenings
#1

Hi, guys! I have a simple, cool design for cheap practice poi I want to share with you all.

Materials:
-2 baseball-sized white plastic wiffle balls (like these: http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Sports-White-Plastic-Baseball/dp/B000KA6JR8/ref=sr_1_13?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1402896193&sr=1-13&keywords=9"+wiffle+baseballs)
-scissors
-6+ ft. of thin rope, cord or shoelaces
-1+ yd. light/flowing fabric
-optional: fishing swivels, handles, lights

Steps:

  1. With scissors, cut a straight slot between 2-3 of the holes in each ball. This allows you to squeeze the ball and open it up like a pocket to put things inside (weights, lights).
  2. On the opposite side of each ball from from the slot, tie on a 2-3ft. piece of cord, shoelace or thin rope. Melt the ends of nylon cord/rope to keep it from fraying.
  3. Cover each ball with light, flowy fabric (sew or glue), making sure to leave access to the pocket. Add tails/decorations as desired. Light flowy polyester fabrics work best, especially in UV/neon colors!

Optional items:

  1. Barrel swivel, of the type used for fishing. Really helps to smooth out the poi’s motion, I can’t recommend adding these enough.
  2. Handles. Nylon strap or leather are common materials, sew a loop and tie the cord on.
  3. Lights. Any small self-contained glowsticks or LED lights will work, so long as they fit inside the slot/ball and aren’t TOO heavy or fragile (they’ll get rattled around a lot!)

It might also be cool to make these for a happening! Materials cost come sout of my pocket, so… how would people feel about a $5 donation for providing the good materials? That’s about how much it would cost per person for most of the stuff outlined above. I’d also have some backup materials available (socks and dry beans, woohoo!) so anyone who wants to could still participate for free. :3

Thoughts? If you’re interested, let me know. I want to try and get some idea of how many balls I’d need to buy (hurr) to make this happen.

#2

Forever yes. I’ve been wanting to practice poi for so long! I’m totes in.
Any preference on when you want to have the workshop?

#3

Yay! The “when” is flexible, really… Friday or Saturday, though, so people have their poi for most of the weekend. :slight_smile: I like mid-afternoons, but don’t want to conflict with any big events if possible!

As for supplies, I am thinking I can bring enough materials to cover a dozen people (12 sets). People donating $5 would get priority on the materials, and then if I have more material than donors, a few people could end up with a free pair. :3 This depends entirely on interest, though! If interest is high, I’ll still have scrap materials on hand for everyone.

#4

I am going to try bring some cash with me this year so maybe I will be able to donate.

#5

Okay, I have 12 pairs of wiffle balls on the way. :smiley: I also have a half dozen or so tennis and foam balls I’ll bring along as extras.

People who donate (suggested $5) will get first crack at the materials, after that it’s first-come first-serve. if you want to bring your own balls, feel free! (baseball-sized wiffle or tennis balls will generally work best)

I will have PLENTY of swivels, cord and UV fabrics… in fact, if you have existing toys and want to add swivels to them, you can also stop by and grab a free pair. I plan to make several pre-made fabric patterns people can share, or you can experiment and make your own.

I’m thinking Saturday around noon sounds like a good time to do it; I’ll post some sort of notice near the communal areas (will there be a chalk/bulletin board, Beau…? :)) to let people know exactly where & when.

#6

I’m drafting up the events schedule right now! Saturday after breakfast sounds great!