Rice Hand Warmers

Do you ever get started on a project and then kind of fizzle out? I do constantly. And then sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll find a half finished project and find the spark to finish. 

Today is one of those projects. I started these in the middle of last Winter and now with the cold weather quickly approaching (what am I saying? It's already here!) I saw these little felt pieces and decided to finish. And I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to finish! Pretty sure I was done in under 10 minutes. :)  

These are a cute simple gift to give as well! (Act surprised if you get these from me!)

Supplies:
One 8x11" piece of felt
Embroidery floss
About 3/4 cup uncooked rice (Not minute/instant rice)
Big Shot and cutting dies OR  scissors to cut shapes free hand

I used my Big Shot to cut out my felt pieces and embroidery floss to attach everything.  I'm not a big fan of the smell of dry rice when it's heated in the microwave, so I added a drop or so of peppermint essential oil to help. Then I get the benefits of the peppermint oil every time I heat them up! It's a win-win in my book!

I struggled cutting the felt with my Big Shot until I found a tutorial via Pinterest.

Using the tutorial on how to cut felt with the Big Shot I cut out four identical scalloped circles and a few decorative pieces. 
You could easily cut these out by hand, but I'm not a great circle cutter, plus I'm enjoying figuring out new ways to use my Big Shot. 

Don't have felt and don't feel like running to the store? Cut your fabric from a pair of old flannel pjs!

Once you have your four pieces cut out use embroidery floss to stitch two pieces together. I used 3 strands of the floss, but you could probably just double up regular thread.

You want your pieces with right side out. (It was easier for me to do it this way, but if you want, you can put wrong side out stitch 3/4 of the way and then turn inside out to hide your stitches.) 
I used a basic stitch, taking care to make my stitches small enough that the rice wouldn't slip through. 
*If your felt is cut into a circle I would recommend a whip stitch or a blanket stitch. 

Once you're about 3/4 of the way around fill with rice. I don't have a funnel, so I just rolled a piece of paper and poured the rice through my paper funnel. 

I filled mine about half way and then added a drop of my peppermint essential oil. (Lavender oil would be fabulous too.) *update - I only added a drop and after first use haven't been able to smell the oil at all. You will need to add more, however I'm not sure how long the scent will last. 

Finish filling with rice. 

I made mine pretty full, thinking the more rice the longer it would stay warm, however I don't know if my logic is accurate or not. You can always test to see how full you want it by carefully (you don't want to spill rice everywhere like I did when I turned mine upside down) placing it in the palm of your hand.

Finish sewing it closed.  

Because I did a basic stitch leaving a small edge I was able to put my needle through one layer and then make a knot between the two layers to hide my knot a little.  

In summary I used one piece of $0.20 felt, some embroidery floss and dry uncooked rice that I had on hand. Even if you do have to buy all the supplies it's still a very cheap (and easy) project, especially if you consider the price of those one time use hand warmers you buy at the store. 

To use simply pop these bad guys in the microwave for 30-45 seconds depending on your microwave and slip them in your pockets as you walk out the door. The length of time they stay warm all depends on the amount of rice you use, the thickness of your felt, etc,etc.

 If you're anything like me, these little guys will help you get out the door on those wicked cold days.

 What do you do to stay warm and help motivate yourself to get out the door on super cold days? 

Doctor Who Bleach T-shirts

Beginner Shred update: I was in need of my rest days. Unfortunately I also happened to get nasty sinus issues over my two day rest break as well. On my scheduled day 7 I was so stuffed up I could barely breath and I wasn't sleeping well at night either. So I didn't do the shred, instead I took a 1.5 mile walk outside where amazingly enough my sinuses cleared enough I could kind of breath!

So unfortunately I don't have a Beginner Shred review for you today, I will share with you my older brothers birthday present!

Doctor Who Dalek 

I found the idea on Pinterest and took plenty of time looking for the right stencils I wanted to use. You can easily search for stencils. I just typed "Dalek stencil" and "tardis stencil" and they came up with a ton of options. You can easily search for whatever pattern you like. The Dalek stencil came from Doodlecraft. My Tardis stencil came from Hodgepodge Crochet. I also used their great tutorial for the whole process, which I highly recommend.

The Tardis fading into space

I headed out and got freezer paper from the grocery store, it's in the same isle as plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and two plain t-shirts (washed and dried them before I did anything with them). Also you'll read in the link from Hodgepodge Crochet that different shirts will bleach different colors, if you're really picky you can test your shirt before completing the whole project. 

A few notes of my own:

* I printed my tardis stencil at 50% because I wanted it smaller, you can adjust the size in your print settings when you go to print.

* I used graphite paper (transfer paper) to trace my pictures onto the freezer paper.

* Take your time and plan on giving yourself plenty of time time trace and cut, especially if you have a lot of fine details.

* I used a 4 ounce spray bottle and added about 2 oz of bleach and 2 oz of water. That is way too much. I probably could have easily used half of that and had plenty leftover after doing both shirts.

* a toothbrush works well for bigger spots. I dipped the toothbrush in the bleach/water mix and then flicked it once before flicking it on to the shirt because it left really big spot if I didn't do the first flick.

* make sure your shirt is flat when you are working on it. Anywhere there a folds in your shirt, that fabric won't be bleached.

* I was working on my back porch in really cold temps. I had a bucket of water and when I finished the first shirt I dunked it in the water where it sat until I finished the second shirt. I then took them inside and rinsed them in my bathtub. Making sure to really rinse out my bucket I then put the shirts back in and covered them with the white vinegar and took them back outside to sit. I used about a half gallon of vinegar for the two shirts.

It was really fun and I would recommend for anyone to try.