Microwave Toe Warmer Upper Tutorial

Here we are, a full week into Winter and not a single flake of snow has fallen in Boston.  So lame.  But, just because it is unseasonably warm, at least by New England standards, that doesn’t mean your sheets aren’t still freezing cold when you put your little footsies in them at night.  (Poor little footsies.)  Remedy that problem by making these quick rice filled, microwavable heat packs to slide under your covers while you brush your teeth to get your sheets all warm and snug-buggly (that’s what my Dad calls it) for your arrival. 

For this project you will need

• 1/4 yard of muslin, canvas or flannel material
• 1/4 yard of scrap fabric
• 4C. white, long grain rice (NOT INSTANT)
• sewing machine
• thread
• scissors

To begin cut 2 equal pieces of your canvas material into 10″x16″ rectangles.

Sew together on 3 sides and fill with 4 cups of uncooked rice.

Sew the 4th side together and you should have something that looks like this.

(No need to make the inside pillow look pretty, this is not a beauty contest.)

Now seperate 1/3 of the rice to one end of the bag and create a fold.

 Sew along this fold to seperate rice and add another seam (and another 1/3 of the rice) another 1/3 way down the bag.  These seams are to keep the rice evenly distributed through the bag.  (Omit if you’re not feelin’ it.)

**Tip: Sewing a bag full of rice is…interesting to say the least.  Elevating the surface next to the sewing machine for the remainder of the bag to rest on helps tremendously.  Also, sewing slooooowly helps too.**

Now trace around the bag onto some scrap material, with about an inch seam allowance, to create the pieces for your removable/washable case.  With the pieces right-side-in, hem the edges that will be your opening and sew the remaining 3 sides together.  Turn right-side-out. 

Microwave bag- with some water to prevent forest fires- for about a minute and a half and slip into case.

Flop onto sleeping husband’s feet and watch the cuddles wash over his face. 

I made a seperate one for sweet little outdoor kitty toes too.

Toasty warm toes on the day after Tuesday.  Terrific!

Why Don’t You Make Me: Canvas Mustache Pillow

Pillows are great.  You never hear people say they don’t like pilllows.  They are soft and great for cuddling and sometimes, when the air is clear and the moon is high, they have mustaches on them.  I made this super adorable mustache pillow this weekend and it cost me just over $20!  Here’s how I did it.

First, gather your supplies–

 You’ll need:

• about a 1/2 yard of canvas material ($2.00, Blick)
• some brown felt (had on hand)
• red fabric dye ($3.39, Blick)
• a 20″x20″ pillow form ($15.00, Michael’s)
• sewing machine/needle and thread (had on hand)
• scissors
• hot glue gun/hot glue (had on hand)
• black fabric paint (optional)

Total:  $20.39

Dye Fabric

Start out by washing and dying your fabric.  It’s always a good idea to wash your fabric before dying because fabrics may have invisible stains that will effect the evenness of dyeing.

I used True Red by iDye and dyed my fabric according to the stovetop method. 

Construct Pillow

The next step is to construct your pillow.  If you don’t sew or if you’ve never made a pillow, HGTV has an easy to follow how-to on their site.   Basically it’s cut to size, sew 3 sides together inside-out, flip right-side out, slip over form, sew closed, and Bob’s your uncle.

Now for the important stuff…

Apply the Mustache

Now that you have the pillow made, prepare your mustache.  To make my mustache I cut a piece of felt  the same size as my pillow, found the center and folded it in half once.  Then, I free hand drew half a mustache on it. 

I then cut it out, keeping the material folded in half to create 2 equal sides. 

When you unfold the fabric, you have a perfectly symmetrical mustache. 

OPTIONAL: For more detail, use either black fabric paint or a sharpie to create individual hairs:

***It is important at this point to remember that mustaches make everything funnier/creepier.***  From this already creepy pig mask, 

 to the Virgin Mother herself…

 and all the way down to googley-eyed butter dishes…

   ***everything is funnier (and creepier!) with a mustache on.***

Next, with your preheated glue gun, run a small line of hot glue as close to the edge of the mustache as possible and place it on your pillow.  Press into place and you’re done!

You’ll be the talk of the town!