Mouseracas!!

Here's a fun project inspired by the book 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer (And Other Discarded Electronics). I flipped thru the pages at a ridiculously fast "flip" to see what would catch my eye. Here's what did — maracas made from broken mice!

First I took the mouse apart (of course) and gutted the insides. We'll be able to use the circuit board and cool wheels for something else, guaranteed.

The book suggests using dried rice and beans as the noisy parts, and I guess that's the traditional way to go, but come on! We're SCRAPpy and have loads of other good candidates, with some below -- pop tops off of soda cans, our always-reliable plastic needle protectors, random plastic from the removed "guts" and elsewhere, maybe even the door that holds in the trackball (lower left). Obviously, the sound will be different, but it could work. The soda can tabs should make it really jangle-y.

From the beginning, I'd wondered if I might turn the hole in the bottom of the mouse into a see-thru window. I sure have enough plastic to try it out. I traced the trackball door onto a flat piece of packaging remnant, cut it out, and saw that it fit just fine. Many times during this process, I loosely assembled the top and bottom back together, window in place, too, and tested out the sound of differing mixes of noisy bits inside. In one of these trials, I noticed that really small pieces were getting trapped behind contours within the mouse and didn't make it back over to the window. Where's the fun in that?

So you know this kind of packaging? The kind for vitamins where you push the capsule thru the foil? I'd been saving some up and keeping the plastic from getting deformed by piercing the foil to remove the capsule. This seemed as good a time as any to see what I might do with the stuff.

Voilà. This plastic "dome" has its own flat cover and is glued on right behind the window. I found some colorful pieces small enough to fit that now jump around without getting lost. Sweet!

Keeping the mouse "as is" would in no way detract from whatever music the resulting maraca makes, but remember all those candy wrappers we'd collected at Halloween? Most were sent to Terracycle, some became other crafty projects, but a few were held back for a purpose to be figured out later. Well, it's a month later:

Bam! :^)

For the last part, as much as I like the handle as made in the book, again, this is about using what you have on hand, right? So why not...

...an old toothbrush? [You know, the entry floor of the American Visionary Art Museum is "paved" with them!] We'll have to make second mouseraca, then some more instruments, and have a concert. Or how about a musical artsy bike-float parade?

What do YOU want to make next?