The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
FIRST OF ITS KIND
Heirloom corn to heirloom jewelry.
Each Mama Maize 'gem' is a real, living corn seed. All the colors are the natural colors of the corn. We transform the living seeds into lasting 'gems' through a minimum year-long process we invented, which includes a final step of dipping them in a protective, water clear resin.
Most gems we use are 'Glass Gem', a popcorn variety created by half-Cherokee Carl Barnes (1928-2016) who lived and selectively bred Indigenous corn in the Oklahoma panhandle.
Every year we tend these miraculous rainbow seeds in our Northern California & New Mexico gardens. When the cobs are fully matured, we harvest, dry them, and transform them by hand until...voila! Gorgeous, unique, garden-grown jewelry.
Our corn is open & wind pollinated. Meaning, the wind randomly paints the color genetics without our intervention. So we're just as surprised as you to see what Mother Nature has come up with. That's why every piece is entirely one-of-a-kind, and even if we plant seeds from it, we never know if a beloved cob palette will return.
It never does return in exactly same way, making every piece highly unique.
We're in love with every part of this art form. It's because of you that we're able to do this! We love growing and making these so you can wear your love of our precious earth.
A garden exploding with diverse life.
Before 2020, Gillian only knew corn as yellow corn on the cob. Then she fell hard and fast for heirloom corn: the color palettes, the shapes, the stories held in every seed.
Tears of awe came with that first harvest, and with every harvest since. She wanted these tiny miracles everywhere, in her home, in the garden, on her body.
Then came the dream.
In 2021, a friend shared a dream of dripping in corn jewelry. The seed, lying dormant, was now firmly planted.
There were countless setbacks. Gillian kept going, partly out of stubbornness and mostly because she wanted to wear her gorgeous little seed babies for years to come.
Living, lasting gems.
In 2023, she began sealing the seeds in resin and realized she had made something new: jewelry that doesn't imitate nature. It is nature.
Every color you see was made by water, earth, sun, and soil. Grown, not mined.
From our garden to your hands
Every piece starts in the garden
Grown
Heirloom corn, grown in our garden for its extraordinary colors, patterns, and shapes.
Harvested
Gathered by hand, then dried for a full year before it can become jewelry.
Selected
Every cob and seed is sorted by hand. Only the exceptional kernels make it.
Transformed
Each seed is cut, drilled, set, and sealed into a lasting, gem-like finish.
Wear the harvest
What seeds are planted in you?
Mama Maize stands for revealing the beautiful gems the Earth has hidden everywhere, including within ourselves.
A seed can look tiny and ordinary in your hand and hold the blueprint to an entire forest. A strange little kernel can become a jewel.
Featured rare cob collection · When they're gone, they're gone
No. 1: Dusted Rose
Only 700 seeds in this pastel palette, made for softening into the quieter seasons.
Reviews
Why it's a cult favorite
★★★★★ 4.98 from 59 reviews
Our promise
Over 3% of every sale goes to Indigenous-led seed projects.
Glass Gem corn carries generations of Indigenous seedkeeping. A share of every piece goes back to the people protecting that work today.
Who we give to, and why
- Cherokee Nation Seed BankGlass Gem traces back to Carl Barnes, a farmer of Cherokee descent who spent his life reconnecting with his ancestors' seeds. This honors the roots of the corn we wear.
- Native Seeds/SEARCHThe seed bank that first shared Glass Gem with the world, protecting Indigenous-grown seeds of the Southwest.
- The Nisenan TribeThe original people of the land in Grass Valley where our corn grows.
- Wampanoag women seedkeepersRematriating King Philip corn, their ancestral seed, back into Wampanoag hands.
- An agroforestry teaching farm in ColombiaOn Indigenous land, standing against the local mining this brand was born to avoid.
- Mujeres de MaízWomen keeping maize culture, art, and ceremony alive.
@mamamaizeshop
Follow the harvest
Raw, in-the-moment glimpses of the garden, the harvest, and the studio.