I'm making several for a fall craft show and plan to use crushed walnut shells in them. I've been told that you can get a bag of them at a very reasonable rate from pet stores as they are used for reptiles tanks. Plan on using a funnel to place them in a nylon hose bag before adding to the decorative outer bag. But for me, I use a plane old red Folgers coffee can on my cutting table....easy to empty!!