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DIY: HOW TO MAKE A CAXIXI


DIY - MAKE YOUR OWN CAXIXI - EXPLAINED IN AN EASY WAY

Some people like to cook or meditate for relaxation. We like to be creative! If you are a capoeirista or percussionist and are looking for an inspiration of relaxing activity, then we have the perfect idea for you!

You will need:
A nice place to be.
1 piece of dried gourd (can also be old and partly broken)
1 roll (10-15m) of thick fishing line (min1,2mm +) or better: rattan netting which you can find at your art supply store in different colours. Rattan is not as slippery and therefore easier to proceed. 
1 pair of scissors
1 small saw (or use the one on your pocket knife)
a few small stones, pieces of seashells or hard seeds
1 piece of old colourful fabric


Step 1: Cut out a piece of gourd with approx. 7-8 cm diameter (it doesn't have to be round)

Step 2:
Carefully use the scissors (if pointed) or a pocket knife to make an impair number (best: 5 or 7) of holes not too close to the edge of the gourd piece. The holes need to be just about big enough to put the fishing line or the rattan netting through.

Step 3:
Prepare the main struts. Cut off generously pieces of your netting material for the caxixi pilars. If you made 7 holes, this would be e.g.  3x70cm + 1x35cm. If you are using a fishing line, take double the amount to double the struts and provide more stability.

Step 4:
Setting the struts. On the photo you can see how to set the struts so the open ends point upwards. Upwards is where the harder part of the gourd is (later this part will produce the rattling sound).

Step 5: Setting the last uneven strut. If you are using a fishing line, make a loop through one of the other struts (photo) and pull the last strut through the last hole. If you are using rattan, simply stick the end through one of the loops of the other struts which will be enough to hold it.

Step 6:
 Now you can start braiding the body of the caxixi. In the beginning it is quite some fiddling around and you'll need to get used to the nest of material in your hands. Nylon also is quite slippery so hold on tight to your construction. Take one end of string and start braiding through the struts altering from the front to behind the struts. Having an impair number of struts, it will work out perfectly. During this process you can influence the final shape of your caxixi by the tension on your netting material while braiding (bottle-shaped, round, pear-shaped etc.). If you run out of netting material, just tuck away the loose end and start like in the beginning. If you are using rattan and would like to have your caxixi in different colours, cut off the colour you want to end, tuck away the end and start with the new colour the same way as in the beginning. Cut and tuck away loose ends so they can't come apart and aren't visible.

Step 7:
If your caxixi is almost ready and there is only a small opening left, put some small pebbles, hard seeds or pieces of seashells inside. Use small amounts for the filling. Check if you like the sound before closing the caxixi. Rice and lentils are not ideal, rice will just fall through and lentils pick up humidity and get soggy.

Step 8
: Cut 2-4 of the remaining struts shorter and stick them inside the caxixi on the top to close the basked like with a lid. With the rest of the struts, braid a handle and use the longest strut to wrap around the handle a couple of times. Tuck away all left-over ends and shorten what seems too long to tuck away.

Step 9:
Cut of a strip of colourful fabric (about 5cm x 40cm), tie a knot around the caxixi's neck and wrap the fabric around the handle .Tie the final knot and  - ready!  :)