Heating or Cooling Packs

I would love to say that I thought of this all on my own...but I didn't. My sister, RR, came home from Church yesterday and some of the Relief Society women made these for the sisters as Christmas gifts. I thought they were a totally awesome, quick, and easy thing to make. So I came home last night and made 4. Now they're not exactly the same dimensions as the one my sister had...I made them a little more rectangular to fit the lower back or stomach (for cramps). I tried to make this as fool proof as possible:


Fold in half, matching the 13 inches to the other 13 inches, and sew the sides (inside out). After they're sewn, flip the pouch right side out and sew the top halfway. Then:

This worked perfectly for Mr H. and I. We had some rice that was really gross and NEVER became tender. We put the rice in a crock pot for a couple of hours with the soup I was making and it STILL wasn't tender. And resourceful me never likes to throw anything away...so I kept it. And I am glad I did...because this little project was perfect for it. But anyway, after putting about 4 cups of rice in the pouch sew it up, so that it's closed.

It'll stay warm for about 15 minutes and it kind of smells like oatmeal. I thought about putting some lavender in there...but they were already finished. I wouldn't recommend putting anything in there that would make the rice wet, like oils or perfumes. I would be afraid the rice would rot if gotten wet (I could be wrong) but try and keep them dry

You can also put the pouch in the freezer and it'll stay cold for a while.

If you have anyother quick and easy projects or any suggestions when making this project please let me know about them. I love doing this kind of stuff