DIY Projects - Hand Warmers

I made these adorable hand warmers yesterday & wanted to share this DIY project here on the blog!  These super cute hand warmers are a great gift for the holidays!  I will admit this project is not the easiest but it's really not super difficult either.  I'm not very skilled when it comes to sewing so if you are, this project will be much easier for you than it was for me!  I also got a little out of control when I was filling them with rice and...let's just say that there was a lot of rice to clean up when the project was complete! As long as you have some basic sewing skills and you don't dump rice all over your crafting station, this should go pretty well!  Here's how to make your own hand warmers...

You will need:

Step One:  Draw a heart (or another shape of your choosing) onto your piece of cardboard or cardstock & cut it out

Step Two:  Place cardboard cutout onto felt and trace around it.  You will need 2 shapes per hand warmer so the number you trace just depends on the number of hand warmers you plan to make.

Step Three:  Cut the shapes out of the felt 

Step Four:  Thread the needle with the embroidery floss

Step Five:  Take 2 of the felt cut outs and place them one on top of the other

Step Six:  Sew around the outside of the shape (this does not have to be perfect - you just need to be sure that the stitches are tight and close enough together that the rice doesn't fall out)

Step Seven:  Stop sewing when you have about a half of an inch left as you need the space to fill your hand warmer with rice

Step Eight:  Using the piece of paper & tape, create a funnel (as you can see in the photo above, my funnel was not fancy but it worked!)

Step Nine:  Place the tip of the funnel into the opening of your hand warmer and using a spoon, start scooping rice into the funnel.  Mine filled up with two tablespoons of rice but it all depends on how large your hand warmers are.  You want it to be full but not stuffed!

Step Ten:  Once you have plenty of rice inside the hand warmer, remove the funnel and continue to stitch around the felt until it is closed up.  Tie off the embroidery floss and ladies & gents, you have got yourself a hand warmer!!

To enjoy them, just put them in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds!  I put a few drops of lavender essential oil on mine so they are not only warming but calming too!!  Happy crafting & enjoy!