SPIRITUAL MEDITATIVE RAIN STICKS ( With Continuing Step by Step Additions)

This rainstick is done externally.....now all I have left to do is the inside tinfoil tree, add the dry beans and rice......and cap the bottom.  The top is an antique bobeche ...... a bottle cap with a collage dream paper inside cut to fit and resin to preserve which I glued to the cap top.  I have used twine and silk yarn randomly wrapped around the stick and added some handmade lamp work beads to the top twine area.  The picture is a Citra Solv decomposed photo which was glued on.  I finish sprayed with a sealer.  My personal opinion is that a round mailing tube MIGHT  be the better substrate to use for this project...but since I have several more pieces of the PVC pipe I will continue with that I have in stock and I question the sound of the rice and beans on cardboard vs the PVC pipe.... A non transparent heavy body paint works much better than the spray paint that I used.... the spray paint seems to chip easily which I don't like.  I also sprayed the sealer and then added some of the Glamour Dust glitter for just a bit of bling.

****  I have discovered that you should tip gently and even roll the rainstick for a more gentle, longer lasting rain sound....

****  I am in the process of making a shorter one....I will let you know how that works.  The 3 foot one is a bit heavy but the sound is magnificent and longer lasting and I am wondering about the shorter one.....might be good, might not be.....LOL....    I have the shorter one painted with a burnt red, rust oxide acrylic paint, one cap is glued on and I am ready to do the outside embellishments, painting and make the tinfoil tree, add my rice and beans and then "seal up".  Stay tuned for the results.

My smaller test rain stick.  Endcaps and PVC pipe spray painted black.

3 inch diameter 3 foot long PVC Pipe.

Tinfoil Tree Insert

****The tinfoil inner tree is one long strip slightly longer than the inside of your pipe....crumpled and twisty.  I then took additional steps and twisted them around the "trunk" long piece and angled in different directions, opening the ends of some but angling downward .  Then I just inserted the tree up into the inside of the tube gently, added my rice and beans, tested the sound and glued on the bottom end cap....

****Rice and beans.  I used about 1 1/4 cup of rice and about 3/4 cup of beans..

The bottoms of the sticks  I glued on but if you purchase the snap on you wouldn't need to glue on.  The ones I purchased were less expensive, less bulky.  I would add your rice and beans and hold the 2nd end on before you glue and turn the stick to determine if you want more or less of either item.   

*******IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS AS YOU PROGRESS WITH YOURS....CONTACT ME @                      dianaputnam555@gmail.com

 In one of the Facebook spiritual groups I belong to they showed a step by step of a RainStick that a woman was making and I immediately knew it was something I had to do .....  I have 2 June friend birthdays coming up so they will each be getting one.  I will also be adding the steps with photos and info as I progress with mine.  The one you are seeing that I just finished spray painting black is going to be my "test" stick.....

Dry beans,  rice and tin foil are added to the inside of the tubing so that when tipped you will get the musical sound of rain drops .....  soothing, calming, meditative, sound therapy, spiritual, etc.   I will provide more information regarding this as I progress with my test pipe.

I purchased mine in a 20' length from a local Pipe store.  I also purchased the less expensive tube ends which will get glued on.   You could use either PVC Glue or Super Glue.

To Make yours you will need:
1.       3' PVC Pipe 3" diameter
2.       Dry Rice
3.       Dry Beans
4.       Spray or Acrylic Paint
5.       Tin Foil
              I am using spray paint for:
                 a.  Better, more even coverage
                 b.  Speed of spray vs acrylic
6.  Embellishments
     Ideas:
     1.  Lampwork beads
     2.  Material (Cloth, Leather, Suede)
     3.  Lace
     4.  Tassels, twigs, tree bark, moss. leaves
     5.  Cording, leather, hemp, nylon, plastic, yarn, thread, twine
     6.  Decals  /  Transfers
     7.  Charms
     8.  Gemstones, crystals
     9.  Handmade polymer clay pendants
    10.  Written Verse
    11.  Feathers

Great places to look for embellishments would be thrift sores, antique stores, garage sales, nature walks,  craft stores, bead stores, and Etsy, etc.  

***  I am going to try adding a couple of jingle bells...inside mine and because of the size and weight of the PVC pipe I am thinking of adding a handle of some type...

         Select a theme and then search for embellishments to correlate with your theme
         
 THEME IDEAS:
               1.  Primitive
               2.  Ancient Times
               3.  Spiritual
               4.  Seasonal  (Summer, Winter, Fall)
               5.  Floral
               6.  Nature
               7.  Animal Spirit
               8.  Masculine
                    a.  Cowboy
                    b.  Indian
               9.  Glitzy
              10.  Wind, earth, water, fire
              11.  Gothic  
              12.  Country
     
***I also have considered leather, suede, decorative material cut in a circle (try with paper first to get the circle large enough) to add over the caps to look more like a drum which would be neat for a masculine stick.
You could use a grommet punch around the outside and lace through or just tightly wrap twine, cord, yarn, etc around the leather to hold in place.***