Hot/cold rice bag

On a quarterly-ish basis some good friends and I get together and have a favorite things party. We each think of something, a product, craft, item, etc., that we are just loving at the time and we bring enough to share with everyone at the party. We try to keep the party to around 10ish people so we aren't breaking the bank. It is a blast and so fun to do...you should try it. 

Anyway, so I'm pregnant right now...meaning my back hurts a lot. And often. Let's face it, being pregnant means I have aches and pains all over my body. One of my best friends during pregnancy is my heating rice bag. LOVE IT! So I chose my rice bag as my favorite thing. 

That meant that I had to make one for everyone...so I got on pinterest (yay for pinterest!) and found a pretty easy tutorial on how to make a rice bag. I found this tutorial from Make It and Love it and tweaked it a little to make it just a bit simpler. So here it is!

 

 You will need:

-Fabric rectangle cut to 19x12 inches.

-4 1/2 cups uncooked rice

-Your favorite essential oil (I used Wild Orange from Doterra, but any yummy smell will work).

-Sewing machine, thread, scissors, straight pins, etc. 

Take your fabric rectangle and fold in half so you have an 19x6 piece folded over. Sew right sides together along one short edge and the long edge using a 1/2" seam allowance so you create a tube.

Put 4 1/2 cups of rice in a bowl and about 6 drops of oil. Mix well. 

Put 1 1/2 cups of the rice in bag.

 Pin at about 6 inches.

 Sew along pins to create your first section. Repeat with second section.

 Once you've created two sections add your remaining 1 1/2 cups rice to the top section. Fold edges down about a 1/2" and pin well. Sew.

 It's not the easiest thing to sew with the rice in the bag so pin well and go slowly. 

And you have your very own rice bag. You can put it in the microwave for about a minute and enjoy the lovely scent of essential oils, or you can stick it in the freezer for a few hours and have a cold pack for bumps and bruises. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!