Chana's Pinatas pass the weight test at the farmers market

The weather was a little on the warmer side for a Waseca Farmers Market this late in September. There was also a heavy wind but that didn’t stop Chana Rodriguez from selling her pinatas, in between customers she was able to spare a minute to chat.

 

Her stand is called Chana’s Pinatas, she sells pinatas, homemade jewelry and has a few stories to go along with them. Said Rodriguez, “I sold all last year from the Owatonna market. This is my first year in Waseca because I moved over here.” She was asked why she makes pinatas herself and she replied, “Because some of the store-bought pinatas are really lacking in quality,” she whispered, “A lot of them are just plain crap.” She referenced one she picked up for her aunt from the Twin Cities, “I went to get it, and it was a big number 2 for my niece and cost $80, it was so bad we didn’t want to use it and I started thinking, “I bet I can do a way better job than that.” She referred to another story, “My niece got a pinata and the string wasn’t secured very well, and she was the only one that got a turn because she knocked it down and all the other kids were disappointed.”

 

She explained how her pinatas are hung using cotton twine that goes all the way around the bottom, making sure that even if it’s filled to the top with candy, because of the way she’s secured it, even if they’re heavy, “My pinatas don’t fail or fall.” Her first design was from a game called “Among Us,” those are the characters that look like guys in multi-colored hazmat suits, “It turned out really well.” At her stand she was displaying Cuphead, Pokémon, avocado, baby shark, Minnie Mouse, and Baby Dinosaur.

 

All her pinatas are homemade, she also makes her own glue called engrudo from the very natural ingredients of flour and water. . She’s had some time to perfect her craft, “Right now I have four drying, but the most I’ve ever made was six in a week.” She has three children and had them do some testing for her out in the yard. She charges $25 for a 20-inch pinata but said, “My sisters and mom think I should charge more because they’re so good, I’ve gotten a lot of feedback and it’s all positive.”

 

Rodriguez does take requests but otherwise she just makes what she feels like making. She also sells earrings, keychains, and bracelets. She has been delivering some of them but that’s getting to be some long hours driving. Etsy is another option but she’s also working her ‘real job’ and can’t spend all her time on the pinatas as much as she would like to. 

 

There are videos online of parents putting carrots and broccoli in the pinatas and the following disappointment from the kids. Rodriguez said the strangest thing she’s heard of going into one of her pinatas was, “It was a bunch of those little, plastic liquor bottles for a 21 and over party, they filled it to the top and my pinata didn’t break. It passed the weight test.” She recommends filling her pinatas about a third of the way to the top. She can deliver in Owatonna or Waseca and can be found on Facebook @chanaspinatas.