It's hot. It's the height of summer and hopefully you are still getting outside. Here at the Jenni Earle ranch we're trying to find ways to stay cool during the humid North Carolina afternoons.
bandana summer event!
For you trailblazers who live in our hometown of Winston-Salem, NC we're putting on a fun event on Saturday, August, 15th to encourage everyone to get out and explore the town safely- with a bandana face mask! Our local initiative, Bandana Summer, gives YOU discounts at various local business in Winston-Salem if you show up wearing a Jenni Earle bandana as a face mask [Don't worry, we can show you how to wear a bandana face mask, and also how to style it!
From 10am - 12noon we'll have a table set up outside Pinecrest Printery [430 Brookstown Avenue]. Alan's print shop designs gorgeous pieces using a letterpress, engraving techniques and soon he'll be selling notecards, handmade journals and other beautiful custom items. It's a small shop that produces everything by hand, so naturally we're big fans. Alan will be selling some items, so come check it out!
We'll have Jenni Earle bandanas for sale, as well as our NEW prints. Coloring pages and word-finds will be there to entertain visitors of any age. Pro tip: Camino Brookstown is just a couple doors down. You can get 10% off your purchase if you wear your Jenni Earle bandana as a face mask! Stay cool with us.
Then from 6-8pm we'll be set up in front of Lill Dipper [308 N. Patterson Avenue] staying really cool. How? Well, there will be a big bucket of cold water for you to dunk your bandana into before wrapping it around your neck, throwing it on top of your head or wiping ice cream off your face. Yep - ice cream! You can get 10% off your ice cream purchase when you wear a Jenni Earle bandana as a face mask. How much cooler can we get? Hope to see you out there!
Alright, onto our tips on how to stay cool with a bandana
stay cool with a koozie
A typical koozie is made from polyurethane foam (or neoprene foam, which is a synthetic rubber made from petroleum, yuck). Whatever a koozie is made from, chances are it's going to be a synthetic (not naturally occurring) chemical mix of substances. Our point? Well, it isn't biodegradable and if you throw it away it's just going to sit in a landfill for a very long time. Got your Jenni Earle bandana on you? Are you sipping a can of something cold and delicious in an effort to stay cool this summer?
Use a Jenni Earle bandana as a koozie! Fold it diagonally (to make a triangle), then fold again twice along the same orientation and then tie around your can!
dunk that bandana
Whether you're on a hike, gardening in your back yard, or waiting for the air conditioning repairman to show up - dunk your bandana in some cold water and stay cool. A cool, wet bandana feels great around your neck or wiping the sweat off your face.
soak up the sweat & block out the sun
It's a classic look: a bandana tied around your forehead. Sweatbands are out of style (goodbye 1980s) but a bandana is so much more. Jenni Earle's 'blaze a trail' tied around my forehead was a favorite style of mine when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. The 100% USA grown cotton soaked up the sweat dripping down my forehead. Another style to help you stay cool this summer is the head-wrap around, tied either behind your head or up top. Super cute, super cool (in both ways of the word).
let your mantra keep you cool
Sometimes the temperature is not to blame for how you're feeling this summer. The current political, pandemic and societal issues can be overwhelming, especially among Black Americans. It's not easy to stay cool, relaxed and easy-going this summer. Our bandanas can help with that, too. Each bandana has a powerful mantra printed in one corner. The words are there to remind you how to be brave, keep blazing your own trail, and to keep going even when you're afraid [We also have new prints if you prefer encouraging words on your wall].
If none of our other tips on how to stay cool with a Jenni Earle bandana work to calm anxious thoughts, grief, or doubt, remember the mantra. Remember, that you are strong and capable of great things.
stay cool,
elise