Homemade Heating Pad

Hi there Sew Crafty Angel readers! I'm so happy to be back sharing as one of Angel's Contributing Angels. This is such a fun opportunity to meet new people and Angel is one of the sweetest bloggers out there. She's always fun and full of inspiration.

Unfortunately, I missed sharing with you all last month due to Hurricane Iselle coming right at us over here in Hawaii. It did eventually downgrade to a Tropical Storm but those huge winds and wind gusts sure felt like a full Hurricane to me!

   

We were without power and internet for a while which sure did show us how much we depend on technology. Even when we had electricity not having internet seemed like such a hardship. It was a great eye opener for me as a person and as a mother.

Needless to say, I've been trying to get back on track here at home and on my blog over at Heartbeats~ Soul Stains. Getting the kids back into the school swing of things has not been easy, especially since they started out the first week of school with school closures due to the storm. My littlest one also began preschool, some of my sweetest and tear jerking days these past weeks.

With all this going on I've been experiencing some major tension headaches. You know the ones coming from your shoulder blades, shoulders and/or neck going all the way up to the crown of your head. Ice, rest, relaxation and sleep often helps to get rid of these. Another big help for me is heat. I don't really like using heating pads on my neck and shoulder as they don't seem to lie on my neck and shoulders the way I want to get the most relief.

What I have found that works best are those rice bags that you heat in the microwave. If you don't already have one or don't know how to make them, I'd like to share my simple way to make your own.

Homemade Heating Pad

 

Things You're Gonna Need:

Uncooked White Rice- Do not use brown rice as it will break up and get mushy after microwaving (the composition of it is different than white rice)

Thick Sock of your choice- mens's tube sock, sports socks etc...

New Hair rubber band with no metal inside

Ribbon- Optional

Small plastic cup- one that is thinner so it can be somewhat bent

Putting it Together:

You want a very thick sock so the rice doesn't seep through the fabric. If you are like me you'll be using this over and over again so you'll want it to last. I choose long thick soccer socks (unused) I love when the heating pad is on the longer side so when it's draped over my shoulders I can have it kind of hit my collarbone area (this brings a lot of relief to my sore/aching neck and shoulders).

Take your sock and open it up and start dumping rice in with your flexible cup. I use a small cup that fits in so I can do it pretty fast without getting it everywhere. Fill up the sock all the way leaving about an 1 1/2 to 2' from the top. You can pack the rice in or you can put less rice in depending on how heavy you want your heating pad and how flexible you want it.

Once you have it as full as you want wrap the hair rubber band around as many times as it can go. Finish off with ribbon around the rubber band if you want.

 

 

Using it:

Place finished heating pad on a microwave safe dish and heat up starting at about 1 minute 30 seconds and increase or decrease from there until it's at the desired heat level you want and can tolerate. Each microwave is different each person's tolerance of temperature is different. Be careful and use pot holders if you need to. Remember different areas of your body are more sensitive to heat so test carefully.

You can use it on your neck, upper and lower back, shoulders, arms, legs, ankles, feet , just about anywhere. Don't forget as with anything microwaved there can be areas that are hotter than others so use caution always.

You can always add or take out rice once you see how full you want it. What I love using the uncooked rice because it seems to hold the heat for a pretty long time.

I know some of you crafty people out there like Angel can even make some nice covers for these. I've seen them sold at craft fairs and alike but always wanted to stay on the cheaper side and just make my own.

Have you made your own heating pads? What have you used inside?