Great Teacher Gift

Every year I give the same thing to our children's teachers (when they are in elementary school anyway, there are just too many teachers once they hit jr high)... I give them a rice pack....just in case my kids give them headaches! (Except for the one year that Big B's 4th grade teacher got a roll of duct tape, but that's another story for another day! :)

What is a rice pack? It is a cloth bag filled with

rice, which you heat in the microwave, to soothe

aches and pains, or just warm up cold toes.

This is Mrs. Johnson Christmas gift this year.

It's easy, cute and contains no calories.

I thought I would share with you how to make one.

Decide what motif you want on the front. Iron a piece of 'wonder under' on the back side of your fabric, draw your motif and cut it out. I am making each of our kids one to stick in the toe of their stockings this year. Theirs will have their initials on them because we fight over rice packs at our house.
I zig-zagged a stem, peeled the 'wonder under' off the back of my apple and leaf then ironed them in the center of a flannel rectangle.

Top stitch around each piece.

Pin right sides of two pieces of flannel together. The size doesn't matter. I have made them big, little, rounded to lay around the neck and shoulders. Any size will do.

Stitch all of the way around the fabric, leaving a 1.5" opening in an inconspicuous place. Clip all four corners. This will ensure that you have nice sharp corners once you turn the piece. Then flip it right side out.

Uh oh!!!! Look what I did. I didn't center the apple. Oh well, that's an easy fix.

I just ironed on a worm (if your iron is totally free of water - no steam - you don't need to sew it on).

Next you will need

• rice (you could use flax seeds or lavender if you like)
• a funnel (yes that's a Gatorade bottle - reduce, reuse, recycle)
• and some sort of cup for pouring

Fill the bag about 3/4 of the way up with rice.

If you fill it too full it won't mold around the body part that you're using it on.

Whip stitch your opening closed and......

You're done!