It’s been a downright unpleasant week with single digits and negative wind chills.

In case you didn’t know, I HATE being cold. On any given day in the winter months, I’m wearing at least 3 layers of clothing.

To stay warm, I decided to make hand warmers. They’re filled with rice, so you can heat them up as you please.

I throw them in the microwave for 30 secs while I’m pouring my coffee into my thermos before work, then put them in my coat pockets or tuck them in my gloves. It makes my morning commute much more tolerable.

I made both of these in less than 15 minutes, but if you have a sewing machine you can make them in 5. The materials list is below and the tutorial follows.

Tip: If you have an old sweater or long-sleeved shirt that you don’t wear anymore, you can cut the sleeves into little squares and use those to make the hand warmers. If you can, always upcycle!

DIY Hand Warmer Materials

• rice
• fabric
• thread and needle
• fabric scissors
• essential oils (not pictured)

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Step 1: cutting fabric

Cut your fabric into pairs of rectangles.

 

Step 2: sewing

Sew the edges of your fabric, but leave a small section open like in the image above.

 

Step 3: rice and essential oils

Flip the fabric inside out and layer in the rice and essential oils.

Pour in rice until it fills  up half of the hand warmer. (I suggest using a funnel if you don’t want to pick rice up off of the floor.)

Pour in a few drops of essential oils.

Fill up the rest of the hand warmer with rice.

Add a few more drops of essential oils.

Shake it around a bit to mix everything together.

 

Step 4: finish sewing

Sew up the hole you left open for the rice.

 

when you’re finished, you can pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and warm up!

Note: I always heat them for 30 seconds. If you want them to be warmer, heat them in 15 second increments. Since they’re small, they warm up fast.

Enjoy and stay warm!

Happy crafting  🙂