2 Little Muffins: How to Make Rice Hand Warmers

For a long time, I've created rice "heating pads" for tummy aches, etc. but I never thought about using them for hand warmers. Then I saw some on Facebook and thought they were really cute, so I decided to create some for my daughter and her little friends to use while they waited for the bus on cold mornings. I love these, and they're perfect stocking stuffers for kids or small gifts for co-workers, mail carriers, etc.

What You'll Need:

1 Small Square of Felt for Each Warmer (you can use any size you want; mine were about 4 inches by 4 inches).
2/3 Cup Uncooked Rice - not the instant kind. I've read that you can also use beans and corn kernels.
Needle and Thread
Ribbon (if you want to pretty these up a bit).
Essential Oils (optional - these are just to make them smell yummy).

How to Make Them:

As you can see in the picture (sorry for the poor pic quality), I started out by just sewing some little hearts to my ribbon to jazz it up a bit.

Next, you're going to fold your felt square in half. If you've chosen to add ribbon, place it on top of the felt square and fold the end over so that it will tuck into your felt.

To sew the felt, I just used a simple blanket stitch and started on one end.

You will sew the two sides all the way around, making sure the stitches are close enough together to keep any rice from falling out once the hand warmer is finished.

Now you're going to add the rice to the hand warmer. I filled mine about 3/4 of the way and it took about 1/3 a cup of uncooked rice but it will take more or less depending upon how large your hand warmer is. If you're going to use essential oils, now is the time to put 1-2 drops inside! Once you've filled the warmer with rice, go ahead and stitch up the remaining side.

Voila! You have neat little hand warmers that are great on cold mornings. Just pop them in the microwave and heat them for 30 seconds to 1 minute (be careful - they can come out pretty hot at first) and they'll stay warm for quite a while. These stayed nice and warm for about 20 minutes before needing a re-heat.

These are not just great for keeping hands warm; they're perfect for bumps, bruises and aches. A friend told me she made them for her father who suffered with arthritis because they eased the stiffness and pain. There you go - couldn't be easier! Have fun making your own hand warmers. If you liked this tutorial, please use the buttons below to pin and share it!