Mr. Owlie

The holidays have now passed so I can share what I made for presents without ruining the surprise.

I made 15 of these microwaveable rice owls.  

They can be used hot or put in the freezer to be used as cold packs.

Here are a few things I learned:

1. My silhouette does a great job of creating sewing patterns!  I just modified an existing shape to use as a pattern.  Nice.  Thanks to the Silhouette I could do teddy bears, dogs, cats, pigs, etc.
2. Microwaving any fabric that isn't 100% all natural fiber isn't recommended.  I made ten in a really soft fleece before I actually filled one and heated it.  The fleece wicked up the moisture from the rice and kept it far too long.  Bummer.  When I went online to research what could be done I found out that you aren't supposed to microwave polyester anyway because the heat breaks down the fibers.  So I sewed up some linen inserts and velcro'd the bottom.  That worked!  The linen seemed to dry much faster so the moisture issue isn't a problem.
3. Some people don't like the smell of the heated rice.  FYI: the smell goes away significantly after two or three heatings. I put lavender oil in some only to find out that some people don't like lavender.  Well, I guess you just have to just know the preferences of the person you are gifting them too!
4. I used flaxseed in some of them when I ran through a huge economy size bag of rice. I actually prefer the feel of flaxseed.  You do get the same smell issue as I mentioned before.
5. Little miniature ones make great hand warmers for those cold Minnesota days.
6. Some sweetheart on the internet posted a great poem to go along with them.

This little pillow filled with rice

Is such a comforting device.

Microwave for 2-3 minutes on high

And kiss those aches and pains good-bye.

Apply it to a troubled spot

The heat will ease the pain a lot.

Or warm those little toes, so cold.

You’ll find this nice to have and to hold

Or freeze it for a while,

And fix that boo-boo in style.

Instead of a compress made of ice,

Use this pillow filled with rice.

I will return the favor and post the instructions I created:

Things you should know:

To use, remove the insert filled with rice or flaxseed and heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.  Alternatively, put it in a plastic bag and store in freezer, for those times you need a cold pack.

The rice retains heat or cold for about 20 minutes.  The rice gets a warm, toasty smell when heated.  You might notice a slight dampness when the bag is heated; this is just normal moisture in the grain.

The bags can be re-heated indefinitely, although you can certainly replace the filling when you feel it is no longer holding warmth. 

Important! Be careful heating your grain pack.  Do not heat them more than a minute or two, and be certain the grain is evenly distributed.  Overheating the bag can result in severe burns to the skin.