Huzzah! It’s April 22nd, which means it is Earth Day! Considering I’m a passionate environmentalist, re-user, and (let’s face it) all-around tree hugger, I would think this day would be a huge celebration for me. Instead, I tend to find myself overwhelmed every Earth Day. I feel like I should be doing more. More in my own life, more in my community, and more for our planet. I completely get that this is not the point. At all. But, that’s where I’m usually coming from on this glorious day of celebrating our planet.
So, this year, I got these two videos together. I’ve been putting fears and questioning aside and making some YouTube videos about some of the ideas and thoughts I feel so excited about. My YouTube journey is a whole other post, but for now, I’ll just say that making these videos felt really good. It felt like a proactive step on this day when I usually feel, frankly, ineffective at making the changes I so desperately want for our Earth. Don’t know if anyone will actually see them, but I’m learning that following what’s in my heart does a whole lot to make me feel good. And since I, too, am part of this planet, well, Hey, I just made my small corner of the world that much better. And that’s gotta count for something, right?
Heating up my corn bags at night is one of my favorite parts of the day.I get a touch of sadness when the weather becomes too warm to rationalize my corn bag.
Corn bags or heating pads, or whatever you want to call them, are these lovely filled bags which can be heated in the microwave and used for achey bodies or just for coziness and warmth.
What I love about this project is that it’s a really great way for novice sewers to practice sewing.
Here’s the basic idea:
–Cut a piece of 100% cotton fabric into the size you want.
This is another part I love about this project.It’s a GREAT way to reuse fabric.I’ve heard of people using cloth napkins they found at thrift shops, knee-high socks, bits from clothing that may have been holey or stained in parts and unable to go to a donation store.Just make sure your fabric is 100% cotton and doesn’t have any gold-type threads or glitter on it, since it will be going in the microwave.
–Cut your fabric to the size you want.
Since I’m a self-taught sewer, I really don’t deal in preciseness and measurement the same way others might.So, if you’re feeling you need that, check out some online tutorials on this topic.Regardless, the first step would be to decide if you want a heating bag to go around your neck or on your back or by your feet at night.Play around with what size will work best for you.My daughter and I recently sewed these bitty corn bags for her to use at night.
–With the fabric right sides together, you will sew all but one side.Be sure to back stitch at the beginning and the end.I always like to sew around the border twice, just to be sure that the corn doesn’t have a chance of escape.
–I usually like to wash my fabric at this point, if I haven’t already, just to be sure it’s clean.
–Next, once your fabric is right sides out again, you will fill the bag with your choice of filling.
Some people like to use rice.I’ve always used something called feed corn.I find this at a local feed store for ridiculously cheap.You could probably also find it a tractor type store.I personally can’t stand supporting Amazon or Walmart, so I always look for something local.Sometimes the corn needs to be picked through I’ve heard, if there are hay bits, etc.But the $4, 10 pound bag I get is always very clean.The one piece of advice I will strongly encourage though, if you are using feed corn, is, please microwave it right away.Not in its packaging, of course.But portion out a bit of it at a time in a microwavable bowl that you’ll clean and heat it up for at least a couple minutes.Do this before storing the corn with your craft supplies.Let it cool, and then proceed.Without this step, you may notice small, mysterious bugs by your bag of feed corn a few months down the road.Once you’ve heated it once though, this won’t happen, so don’t freak out.
–Fill your bag with the amount of feed corn (not unpopped popcorn, please!) or rice that feels right.
At one point, I used to use a funnel for this, but I often found that for me at least, this sometimes made it tougher than just pouring the corn in using a measuring cup or scoop.I do still like to do this over a baking tray or big bowl, so I don’t have run away feed corn everywhere.
–Fold the top closed and sew.Again, I like to sew it twice to ensure nothing will be able to escape.
Once you’ve got the corn and made this even once, the process is ridiculously simple.These are fun to make, so great to use (even those non-microwave people often make an exception for these), and they can make great, simple gifts.
If you’re gifting it to someone, you might want to heat it up once to test it before you gift it.It might be a good idea to make a tag with a label so the recipient knows what it’s for and approximately how long to heat it.Depending on the size of your heating bag and the effectiveness of your microwave and how hot you would like the corn bag, this could range from 1 to 2 minutes usually.If the bag is especially small or for a child, I would start with 30 seconds.
Once in awhile, I feel my corn bags need a wash.If that happens, I cut the edge, empty the corn into a bowl temporarily, shake out the bits of flaky corn pieces, run it with my wash, make sure it’s completely dry, put the corn back in, sew the end closed again.
Here’s a quick recap:
—100% cotton fabric (try to find material that can be reused)
—Cut to desired size
—With right sides together, sew three sides
—Turn right side out
—Fill with feed corn or rice(Heat that feed corn as soon as you get it!)
I have to admit that I held zero interest in this holiday for years, simply because I was not a fan of seeing skulls and skeletons. (I know, I know. That’s me, freaked out to see the skeleton in science class when I was growing up.) While other people were getting super trendy with their colorful skull decorations on patches and shirts and mugs in recent years, I didn’t even think to explore what this holiday was about.
So, thank goodness for a few things. Love, Sugar, Magic has been a favorite book series around here for the past year. And because of it, our daughter really took to the idea of Dia de los Muertos. She set up a mini ofrenda of photographs of our loved ones and sprinkled flower petals outside leading to our door. As I learned more about this holiday from the books and research (and Coco, of course), I realized just how much I LOVE love love this celebration.
As we reflected on some of the symbols of this holiday, we realized that although Halloween and Dia de los Muertos may share things like skeletons, cemeteries, candles and so on, Halloween tends to take a spooky twist, whereas Dia de los Muertos is about honoring and respecting these things.
I think we’ll be adding to our own traditions for Dia de los Muertos as the years pass, but I was excited to try some new things this year.
Some of what we’ve already done to celebrate as newbies to this holiday:
–Putting up photos of the loved ones who have passed away.
–Lighting a candle for them.
–My daughter also wanted to put out a food offering.
–Sprinkling rose petals outside in a path to our door. (Traditionally, the flowers for this holiday are marigolds, but we made do.)
–Buying Pan de Muerto at the local bakery (The panaderia was closed all weekend, so I’m glad we went ahead of time and froze the bread for today.)
–Running in a Dia de los Muertos race. (I’m NOT a runner. At all. But I loved the idea of working towards something and dedicating a run to a loved one who has passed. There are virtual options, but check for local ones too!)
–Visiting a cemetery. (Maybe this sounds odd, but we weren’t visiting to be creepy or disrespectful. We visited to show our children what a cemetery and headstones look like. We read some markers and talked about some of the traditions of burials and so on. It was a beautiful fall day and an enjoyable visit.)
—Making churros (Not sure these are a traditional food for the holiday, but, any excuse for churros sounds good to me!)
–Reading some books that tied in with the holiday.
Some traditions I hope to add:
–Making bottle cap candles like these, so each of our deceased loved ones has a candle we can light.
–Collecting stories, quotes, favorite memories from other family members throughout the year about those who have passed, so I can compile these and we can watch or listen to them on the holiday.
–Having a bigger fire, whether in our fireplace or around a fire pit. (One family I talked to has a fire in their fire pit. This would be a great opportunity to share stories and memories.)
–Face painting!
Obviously, Dia de Los Muertos isn’t the only celebration of deceased loved ones. There’s the Obon Festival in Japan (in August), Qingming in China (in the spring), fantasy coffins in Ghana, Jazz funerals in New Orleans, and more!
I am a tad bit obsessed with limericks. For awhile there I was writing one for each book I read. I wrote these ones several months ago, but finally thought to post them. What a year…
In this time of worldwide pandemic, we need the ability for mail-in voting more than ever. Whomever you’re voting for, you deserve a healthy way to cast your vote and have your say.
