#shide

So this step is more optional, in that most folks just buy their own shinki sets, or shimenawa. However, I did originally make my own shinki set (before I bought a proper set at Fushimi Inari). And of course I still use my shimenawa.

Materials Needed

Wood Blocks (really any material, I used some scrap wood from my dad's collection, it turned out to be maple)

Food Safe Wood Oil (you can find like cutting board oil or use mineral oil from a pharmacy)

Hand Chisel

Electric Sander

Hemp Rope (You can substitute this with another natural plant fiber rope... I never bothered to try to do this with plastic rope, and honestly I don't know if if would work the same)

Rice Paper (I actually couldn't find this for easy use, so I substituted it with Chinese calligraphy paper which works just fine)

Clean Exact-O Knife

For the wooden bowls, I just hand chiselled the hell out of them. I had a general idea of how to chisel a concave shape into a block of wood, and then worked from there. Once I had them to the depth that I wanted, I sanded the outside into a nice round shape.

Once I sanded them, I took them outside and seasoned them with food safe wood oil. This helps finish the wood, and keeps it protected.

So I actually wasn't the smartest person, and never actually took any photos or videos of my original process of making the shimenawa, however I do remember what it is that I did.

Measure how several strands of the hemp fiber. Start twisting them together. If you know how to make rope, then you basically just do that. Take several of the twisted strands and group them into larger clumps and twist them together in the opposite direction. This method ensures that they stick together.

Basically like this.

Then you can tie off the ends with another strand. Now the extra step I did, was boil a big pot of water, and then I started dipping the hemp rope into the pot a few times. Once I felt the fibers had been boiled enough, I went and secured them outside with heavy weights, and twisted them extra tight. This ensured that the rope would dry in a tighter pattern and keep the shape more.

I repeated this process maybe 2-3 times. And I made sure I did this during bright warm sunny day so the rope would dry faster. Theoretically if you took a hair dryer and dried it that way it would probably work.

Next I worked on the Shide, these are the white paper lightning shaped streamers you attached to the shimenawa.

Important Notes

Always use a clean exact-o blade, I actually have an exact-o set aside solely for this purpose so it never is used for anything else

If you can try to wear a mask, to avoid breathing directly on the paper

If you crumple, tear, or otherwise mess up the paper when cutting you need to start over

These rules may seem strict, but you have to remember that this is for the kami, so it's important they get nice products. There's plenty of instructions online showing you how to cut the individual shide so I'm not gonna explain that here.

I made 5 of them, due to there being 5 sacred colors, 5 elements, and 5 petals on the shrine crest for Tenmangū.

There are two ways to attach these to the shimenawa, either naturally insert them into the rope and let the tension hold them in place, or use thread and a sewing needle. I've used both methods, and personally prefer using the tension method... but it's a bit more difficult in that if your rope isn't tense enough it won't hold the shide, and requires re-tightening the rope occasionally (I do this once per year usually).

The video below shows me cutting the shide, and attaching them to the rope.

And this is what your finished product will look like :D

Anyways I hope this series of information posts was useful.