DIY heating pad.

This is a do-it-yourself project I hope you'll be inspired to try, even if you barely sew. If you can sew a straight line, that's all you need! It's a definite "beginners'" project, I assure you.

Here are the basics:

Cut 2 strips of pretty fabric. Mine were about 6 inches by 18 inches or so, but you can adjust to however large you'd like your heating pad to be.


Pin the right sides together and sew all the way around, leaving a little opening to pull it right side out and to fill it with lentils.



Fill with lentils. Or rice. Or whatever you have on hand.


I filled my bag with 2 lbs. of lentils which was the perfect amount, then I added a few tablespoons of dried lavender (the herb, not the oil) that I had on hand. It smells sooo good. You could also put some loose leaf tea in there.

Here's a tip for whatever size you're making: only fill it about half way full. Any fuller and it won't have much "give" to it. Once you've filled it, stitch the opening closed.

You now have a bag full of lentils, but if you move it around, the lentils will shift from side to side and it'll be a little annoying as a heating pad. So even out the lentils in the bag, then split the bag in half with your fingers. Sew down the middle, separating the lentils as much as possible so you don't sew into one of them. Then do that a second time: separate each half so that you end up with four little pouches of lentils.

And that's it! A beautiful homemade heating pad!
Just heat it for about 3 minutes in the microwave and it's just perfect (and smells amazing).


Have your husband model it around his neck, just in case you weren't sure how to use it. :)


Also, this doubles as an ice pack! Toss yours in the freezer (it's where we store ours) and it's the perfect headache pillow. Just pull it out and it's cool but not too cold to put on your skin. Super comforting and smells delicious.