Cozy Warm Thoughts

Tonight I am proud of me! In one project I was able to combine several little passions of mine, and it feels good. That wasn't my goal when I started out, but sometimes things just come together well. And life is good.

I made my own microwave heating pads. Actually I made several; the cotton flannel was just so cozy soft I couldn't stop. Plus, when DrummerDude (ds11) saw what I was doing he hovered and asked "Can I have one? Can I have one please? Can I have this one? Is it done yet? Can I fill it up? This one's for me okay?"

Stupid hallowe'en candy sugar rush.

I am not an overly skilled sewer, but I can do simple projects. Actually, I have and can do more involved projects, but that takes a greater attention span then I seem to have lately. Oh look, there's a candy bar... oh! I'm back.

Besides, this project is super easy. I looked at several web pages with directions and do's and don'ts, and settled on this one: http://tipnut.com/make-your-own-microwave-heating-pad/.

It started with a pair of pajama pants that I loved, but I had worn holes through. I was all set to declutter them, remembering that they were a gift from dh a few years back, and that I loved them, but they were just not wearable anymore.

Then I stretched out some sore back muscles, and thought of the 'magic bag' my sister had and how nice and warm it was on achy muscles.

Then I looked at my pants again, and ran to the computer to learn what to do.

I'm not a dunce, I didn't need to be told how to sew the bag, but I did learn about all the different fillings you could use, and of course, the common-sense safety precautions were there because even people with common-sense can benefit from being reminded again. Especially common-sense people with short attention spans. Oooo another candy bar... doh!

I settled on rice. When my mom moved she emptied out her cupboards into ours, and she apparently bought rice often because she couldn't find the last bag she had. I had 4 partly used bags of rice. I'm not kidding!

I made one bag, looked at how much usable fabric was left, and made four more. Two little ones that will be in the freezer to be used as a "boo-boo buddy". One long one that sits so nicely over my shoulders and warms my neck. Then 2 rectangles, one medium, and one large. That's the one ds11 adopted.

Normal kids sleep with a teddy bear. My boy is snuggled up to a bag of rice. It's pink. Did I tell you that? Bright pink. I should take a picture.

Anyways, these are the reasons WHY I AM PROUD OF ME:

1) Started, finished and cleaned up a project in one evening .
2) Reduced consumption. I've thought about buying these before, but when I saw them in the stores I couldn't justify the expense. Maybe I should have, because they feel really good.
3) Decluttered something from my dresser that didn't make me smile as much as it used to.
4) Reuse/Recycle. Even when these heating pads are past their useful life, they're still fully compostable.
5) No plastic involved. No fuel used to drive downtown to get something that I've thought about for a long time.
6) Spent no money. The fabric was free. The rice was free. Oh I suppose the power bill will arrive sometime, but if I wasn't on the sewing machine I would have been watching TV, so power was going to be used regardless.
7) Showed my kids that we don't have to buy things all the time, and that I can finish a project.

And lastly (drum roll please ...ratatatatatatatatatatatat...)

8) THEY'RE NOT PERFECT. I'm very proud of this, because once upon-a-time I would have made one, thought "eh, it could work", but would never have been happy about it. I could have made perfect ones like you see in the stores or at the craft fairs, but then I would have taken a LOT longer. I would have bought fabric I didn't like as much. I would have bought the wheat that I would have had to drive to 3 different stores in our little city before finally finding it at a premium price. I probably wouldn't have cleaned up after myself for a couple of days. Heck, I even used two different colours of thread just because that's what was ready to go on the machine.

But I like them. They make me happy. They soothe my achy muscles. And they're warm. Did I mention they're warm? Cozy even?

Move over hunny. I'm in a snuggly mood, and you're in the way.

Ahhhhhh.

Life is good.

That was the brand of pajama pants. My little warm pillow bags say life is good all over them.

They make me smile.

And ds11 fell asleep a little faster tonight.

Life is good.


(if you decide to try making your own, then I recommended reading through the posts and comments following the directions at the above link. There's some really helpful & smart info there, even if you are all common-sense-all-the-time-never-get-sidetracked like me.)