'Tis The Season!

 

So the last few days have been chilly.  We're finally to that time of year where you have to start your car 15 minutes early to defrost the windows, wear a jacket the majority of the day, and when it's super hard to get out of bed in the morning because it's just so warm in bed and so cold out of it. 



A few years back I wanted to make a Christmas gift for everybody in the family so I decided to make rice bags.  I know I'm going to have to give up some of my "guy points" by telling you this but I don't really care, I'll eat some steak later and call it even. 

Amanda's feet and hands get really cold and when we would get into bed, she would always want to put them on me.  Those suckers were so cold they would stick to moist flesh.  If you're not familiar with the concept, please watch the following educational and scientifically based video. 

Not that I mind having sub zero body parts put on me just before I fall asleep, but I thought there must be a way to make her more comfortable.  So I researched and came up with the idea of making the legendary rice bag.  The concept is simple: A 100% cotton cloth bag with rice in it.  Then you take the bag, put it in the microwave for 3 minutes on high, and bingo-you have a nice, warm (hot at first) bag that stays warm for hours.  We warm them up and put them at the foot of the bed.  It makes it very nice to hop into bed with one of those babys waiting for you.  It's like summer in a bag!  Here is a picture of some of the ones I made.

I made mine a bit more fancy than a basic design.  I made an inner bag that holds the rice which is a tie-dye color then I made sleeves for them to slip into which is the plaid you see in the picture.  This way we can take the covers off and wash them periodically.  In my defense, I made the pink ones for the girls and I made the guys' blue to butch it up a bit. 

I made these probably 4 years ago and they are, by far, the best gift I think I've ever given.  The entire family still uses theirs every winter.  My sister Whitney used two or three at a time when she was at school in Greeley to keep warm in -20 degree weather.  It's nice that something so simple has made such an impact on the family.