Hot/cold Rice Sack DIY

Every Christmas I find a craft that I can make for all the people I love. Something cute, but not just pretty to look at. This year I decided on mini rice sacks for everyone. I saw this post on Pinterest (So what if I never get off of there) Since I got an early Christmas Present, I didn't need (or want to) hand stitch each bag. I also wanted to make much smaller bags. This was easy peasy and I sewed ten of them up in about twenty minutes. I have one for myself and I'm starting to wonder if you can ever heat it up too much. So far it's still working! I am a heat junkie in the winter so this thing is my new best friend. I am making a bigger one when I get another bag of rice! Also keep in mind that these can heat and cool, and do awesome things like make your dark eye circles disappear.
Bev at Bev Cooks uses Jasmine rice. I checked Walmart and Price Chopper with no luck and a short amount of time to finish them all. Instead I got regular long grain white rice and paired it with some essential oils. Worked just fine and I had a little more flexibility with the smells. Do what works for you! Also, if you know where to get Jasmine rice, let me know!

Needed:
- Material (your preferred size)
- Bag of White rice or Jasmine rice (One 2 lb. bag made three for me)
- Essential oils (If you didn't use Jasmine rice)
- Sewing machine or thread and needle
- Pins (Or not, I managed without)

\\ Start with cutting out your fabric and sewing your bags. I didn't keep any consistent size. All of mine were approximately 7x4. So the entire piece of material would be about 7x8. Somewhere around that number. Fold your fabric in half and sew two sides, so one side is open. If you are hand stitching, go here for instructions.

\\ After you're finished sewing your bag or bags, Pour your rice into a bowl. Add a few drops of your essential Oil (I used Warm Apple Pie) Experiment with the smell. Be careful not to add too much! I probably ended with about a teaspoon of oil. Whisk your rice until the oil is evenly through out. (a minute or two)

\\ Use something with a pour spout to pour your rice if you have a small bag. Fill about 4/5 full. Or 3/4 if you want a little movin room. Just leave enough room to sew/hand sew!

\\ Now would have been a good time to have pins. Fold the edge of your bag in and pin it. Now sew machine sew or hand sew! Make sure you back stitch, and maybe pick a pretty stitch?

\\ If you're gifting, you might print out a little card with heating and freezing times. Or if it's for you, just remember to heat up to 1 and a half minutes in the microwave, or 30 minutes to an hour freezing. (Or however long freezing)

Make a billion to give to everyone you know.

I'm not ready for the Holidays to be over, as usual. Already looking forward to next year. But I'm still on break, and that's the best news ever. Relaxing for one more week!