Homemade Button Drum -- from a CD canister

I wanted to make a handmade drum . . . and was looking around for possible materials.  We happened to have an empty CD canister, and it looked like a good size for a child's drum-- so I thought about what to do next.

 

I tried cutting up big circle out of a plastic bag, and then putting that over the top with a rubberband; that didn't work very well -- it seemed too flimsy, and it was easy to slip off, too, even with more than one rubberband.  The sound made was not very impressive, either.

So went back to searching for materials -- if only I had a large enough balloon to use, like one of those punch balls . . . that would be sturdier and make a nice sound.  But no, nothing like that  . . . I tried a normal sized balloon but it was way too small.

After taking out all the fabric scraps I had, I came across a brown piece of vinyl from an old purse-- yes, this would probably work, so I pulled it out.  Also there was a smallish scrap of fake fur in brownish tones, so I decided to use that on the other end of the drum.

I cut out a circle a couple inches bigger around than the canister top diameter, from the vinyl, and made the fake fur circle about an inch bigger than the canister bottom diameter.

But how to get the end pieces to stay on?   I knew they would also have to be as taut as possible, so thought buttons could be used as something to put lacing around, holding both pieces onto the drum; the ends would both be pulling towards each other.

The next step was to pencil a circle on the underside of each of the fabrics, the same size as the canister top.  I got out some buttons and found 20 that kind of matched the brownish theme, and sewed 10 around each circle (on the right side of the fabric) on both the vinyl and fake fur.

 

Then I needed to lace the whole thing together.  We had some cotton twine, and this was a good fit for the small buttons I was using.  Doing the lacing was really not so easy; I had to get out some duct tape and tape the fabric circles in place so it would be easier to lace while also pulling the ends towards each other.

 

But it worked!  After lacing all the way around, I tied a knot at the top, and since there was a lot of twine left, I was able to make a slip knot a few inches down so there could be a loop-- for holding onto the drum, or hanging it up.

 

 

Now the drum was ready to play-- and I found that both ends had different sounds-- they both sounded nice; the lacing had produced a tension that pulled the circles fairly tightly, giving a "drummish" drum sound.

Have you ever made a similar drum -- or one that is different?  What did you use? What kind of result did you get? 

Kayla Aimee's Early Christmas Shopping Giveaway!

Kayla Aimee is a young mom who blogs about "faith, family," and her "favorite things."  She has created a series of three "Gift Guide" posts that feature shops of her readers!  I think this is really great-- these are crafters like me who have online shops in various stages of development.  Some are very established and others are just starting out.  They are all offering various discounts through coupon codes, and there is also a giveaway on the blog, for $50 (paid through PayPal) to go to two different winners-- for some early Christmas shopping money! 

It's easy to enter the giveaway; you just make a comment on the blog post. 

My "Fuzzlemania" business is included in today's group of shops.  This post features baby and toddler items. 

Anyone who places an order for felt toys from Fuzzlemania using the coupon code (given in Kayla's blog post) will receive a discount and also a free rabbit finger puppet.

The giveaway, using Rafflecopter, is continuing through this month (November).

See the blog post and giveaway at Kayla Aimee here:
2013 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide | Baby & Toddler Edition