I first encountered them in a mystery, of all places, many many years ago (and I've never been able to find the book again). Someone had stolen an antique temari from a museum and there were just enough details given to pique my interest, so when I was visiting my mother and ran into a small craft shop in Eugene, Oregon that had temari books I just had to buy them.Margret, that's so cool! I just "discovered" what those were a few weeks ago, on Etsy.
A couple of years ago I decided to try my hand at making a temari with a bell inside (you cut the Styrofoam in half and hollow it out, then you put the bell in and put the halves back together -- the wrapping threads hold them in place). Big mistake. Whoever came up with that idea didn't have a cat! I couldn't work on it at all at home; Jasmine was absolutely convinced it was a cat toy. She's a bit more reasonable about yarn.
Margret