Gluesticks Blog

  • About
  • Sewing
    • My Book
    • Kids Sewing Projects
    • All Sewing Projects
  • Crafts
    • Kids Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Free Printables
    • All Crafts
  • Holidays
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Patriotic Holidays
    • Easter
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Gift Ideas
      • Teacher Gifts
      • All Gift Ideas
    • Parties
  • Home
    • Home Decor Projects
    • Cleaning & Organizing
    • Gardening
    • Motherhood
  • Recipes
    • Kids in the Kitchen
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Bread Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
      • Cake Recipes
      • Cookie Recipes
      • All Dessert
    • Main Dish Recipes
    • Sides & Salads
    • Holiday Recipes
    • All Recipes

December 12, 2011 By Brandy 21 Comments

Home » Holidays » Gift Ideas

Make Your Own Bedtime Rice Bags

Filed Under: Gift Ideas, Kids Crafts, Sewing

These warm buddy rice bags heat in the microwave and stay warm while your little ones fall asleep. A cozy little softie for bedtime! They also work great as boo boo bags and can be used warm or cold (frozen).

I wanted to make my kids a little something homemade for Christmas. Aaron has a little gingerbread rice bag that my mom sent him for his birthday a few years ago. He can heat it in the microwave and it stays warm in his bed while he falls asleep. Kaylee and Dallin like him as well so I thought I’d make a couple of rice bags for Christmas. They were SO fun to make!
ugly doll and hello kitty shaped rice bags
I’m not sure what the appeal is in these little ugly monster dolls, but my boys saw them recently and wanted them. I was not going to spend the money that the store was asking, so I made my own.
Making 2 dimensional softies is super simple. I can’t make dolls. Sewing skinny arms/legs, stuffing them and adding details is just too much for me to handle, but I can do these little 2-D softies all day.
You don’t need a special pattern to make these rice bags. I use coloring sheets that I find online.
 I print out one full scale on a piece of 8.5×11″ paper and cut it out. That’s it!
Then I use that to cut out 2 pieces of fleece.
The detail on the front is cut out of felt or flannel and sewn on by machine. I like to use fabric paint when I usually make little toys like this, but since these will be microwaved, I kept everything sewn and attached with thread.
Once the details are finished, I sew up the sides of the rice bags (right sides facing), leaving a small opening in the top. I clip corners, trim seams, then flip right side out and fill it up with rice (a little more than 3/4 full—you don’t want it packed too tight), a few drops of essential oil (optional, but covers up the musty rice smell),  then hand stitch the top opening closed!
Microwave each rice bag  for 45 seconds at a time until nice and warm.
hello kitty shaped rice bag
I can’t wait for them to open them on Christmas morning!
blue ugly doll shaped rice bag
 These bedtime rice bags would make great little birthday gifts for friends as well!
black ugly doll rice bag
You might also like…
basket of sesame street themed bean bags
Sesame Street Bean Bags
felt bunny bags
Felt Bunny Treat Bags
quilted heart pillow on chair
Sweetheart Pillow
And here’s a cute tutorial for making bunnies out of socks! Another fun softie craft.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About Brandy

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

Previous Post: « Baby’s First Ornament: Make a Glitter Handprint Keepsake
Next Post: Chocolate Covered Danish Cookies and Etched Gift Jars »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stephanie says

    December 12, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Those are really cute!

    Reply
  2. Nancy says

    December 12, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    I never gave anything like this a thought. My granbaby would love these cuddle bugs in the cold upnorth! Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Lindsay(PACountryCrafts) says

    December 13, 2011 at 12:40 am

    very cute! my kids would love these, too!

    Reply
  4. Shannah @ Just Us Four says

    December 13, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    These are so cute. I love the hello kitty one!

    Reply
  5. house full of jays says

    December 15, 2011 at 1:26 am

    Just stumbled over here from Pinterest. What a great idea! I’m doing heating packs but nothing as cool as this…I may have to do a couple of these as well! Thanks!

    Reply
  6. Q @ JAQS says

    December 15, 2011 at 4:23 am

    These are awesome 🙂

    Love for you to share it at my linky party here: http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2011/12/made-by-me-10-linky-party-and-features.html

    Reply
  7. Katie @ The Crafty Blog Stalker says

    December 15, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    These are so cute and I know my kids would go crazy over these!
    I would love for you to link up on Blog Stalking Thursday! http://thecraftyblogstalker.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-stalking-thursday-19.html

    Reply
  8. marissa says

    December 16, 2011 at 6:33 am

    these are so cute, what a fun idea I’d love you to add this to my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW

    Reply
  9. Melissa @ LoveBugLiving says

    December 17, 2011 at 3:03 am

    So cute! I’ve been doing all kinds of monster crafts for my little one’s first birthday. Love all of yours!

    Reply
  10. Trisha @ clarionwren.com says

    December 17, 2011 at 3:14 am

    Okay, I’m pinning this idea! I wish I had my sewing machine before Christmas…but alas it will have to wait until after.

    Reply
  11. Lindsi B says

    December 18, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    Aw, I love these and so would my kids! Would you please share this with my readers for Fun Stuff Fridays? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-4-3-weeks-long-for.html

    Reply
  12. Lillian says

    December 19, 2011 at 3:00 am

    Just linked over from Ohdeedoh and just had to say that I love these! Trying to think of how to make some time this week to squeeze them in before Christmas now:)

    Reply
  13. Holly says

    December 27, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    what a GREAT idea! These are so cute. I’ve seen the simple rice bags that you can microwave for aches and pains, but I never thought about doing different shapes! I need to make one for my kiddo!

    Reply
  14. sugarswings says

    December 27, 2011 at 3:16 pm

    great idea and great job on them!

    Reply
  15. Bri says

    December 27, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    OH I love this idea! I think I might have to make these for all the neices and nephews next year! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  16. Melissa says

    January 13, 2012 at 4:18 am

    Too cute!!

    Reply
  17. Heather at Dragonfly Designs says

    January 21, 2012 at 3:36 am

    So cute!! LOVE the monsters!! TFS!
    xo
    Heather
    http://www.twindragonflydesigns.com

    Reply
  18. Natasha Mairs says

    February 20, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    how sweet

    Natasha xx

    http://www.serenityyou.blogspot.com

    Reply
  19. the Gillian says

    March 12, 2012 at 4:29 am

    FWIW, Japanese rice doesn’t smell after it’s been heated. I’ve seen people use flax seed as well- but I don’t know what if any smells that might have.

    Love the monsters. : )

    Reply
  20. Brandy says

    March 12, 2012 at 11:24 am

    That’s GREAT to know, Gillian! I will definietly try that next time. The kids still use these every night (it’s been 3 months!) and I know they will wear out eventually so I’ll grab some Japanese rice next time!

    Reply
  21. Shelley says

    December 1, 2012 at 4:19 am

    what a special gift! 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About the Author

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you! Learn More About The Author

My Sewing Book for Kids!

kids sewing book cover

Snowman Hot Chocolate Bombs!

hand holding snowman hot chocolate bombs over mug

Pop Tart Gingerbread House!

pop tart house with candy and frosting

Hot Chocolate Bombs!

hot chocolate bomb next to white mug of hot chocolate

Affiliate Link Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Let’s Connect!

If you make one of my projects, I’d love to see it! Tag me @gluesticksblog #gluesticksblog

Bonus Guide

  • Home
  • Website Accessibility
  • My Book
  • Privacy Policy

gluesticksblog

Brandy Nelson | Gluesticks
I don’t decorate for Valentine’s Day (still re I don’t decorate for Valentine’s Day (still recovering from Christmas 😂), but I always have holiday candy on hand! This year I filled the jar with petite sour hearts after hearing how amazing they are from @triedandtruemoms. They were right, we are all fans over here! Maybe more places will stock them now that they are in such demand. I ordered mine from @candynationusa (don’t waste your time looking on Amazon. They are charging twice as much for less candy).
These are the real deal, and are easy to make usin These are the real deal, and are easy to make using a cake mix and marshmallow fluff! We may have made them two days in a row after giving quite a few away to friends. 🙌🏻 Recipe is on the blog!
Nothing to see here. 😂 Actually, there’s al Nothing to see here. 😂 

Actually, there’s always something to see. These birds are hilarious. #nelsonsbackyardchickens #step2 @thestep2company
This kid knows a good thing when he sees it. Anyti This kid knows a good thing when he sees it. Anytime my camera and tripod go up, he’s right there waiting. Today we made our favorite green smoothie. It’s all about balance—-just kidding. We all know that’s a lie. I have like 10 healthy recipes on my site and 800 breads and desserts. 😂

Tip: when buying produce, buy extra to freeze. I buy an extra pineapple, an extra package of grapes, an extra bunch of bananas and an extra bag of spinach and freeze them for smoothies. I slice everything up and freeze it on baking sheets then bag it up. It makes it easy to grab a handful to toss into a blender. You can freeze entire bags of spinach too and add a handful to smoothies. I always blend my spinach and water first then add the rest of the fruit. No little spinach chunks in the smoothie that way. 🙌🏻 
#greensmoothie
Well, that’s a first. #nelsonsbackyardchickens Well, that’s a first. #nelsonsbackyardchickens
Chickens are just a gateway to other farm animals. Chickens are just a gateway to other farm animals. We think we’d like a cow, and by “we” I mean Mac and I. Derrick is definitely not on board. 😂
NYE tradition. My oldest came home from work and w NYE tradition. My oldest came home from work and was starving. He saw that we were having fondue and decided to eat a sandwich first. 😂 Fondue is for grazers for sure!
This cutie is working on a hat for her big brother This cutie is working on a hat for her big brother for Christmas. We love this little set of round knitting looms. A great project to work on during Christmas break. She’s making herself a pink one after Christmas. We bought several colors of bulky yarn at Walmart for $2.97 each. Each skein makes 1 hat. Linked in stories. ❤️
.
.
.
#knittingloom #homemadechristmas #cozychristmas #christmaseve #betsyandlace #craftykids #thatsdarling #kidsunplugged @betsyandlace
Tomorrow is all about gingerbread cookies for Sant Tomorrow is all about gingerbread cookies for Santa (although the Santa who comes to our house prefers sugar cookies. He can share these with Mrs. Claus). Ruby has them all picked out—-gingerbread boys, gingerbread girls, and ninja-bread cookies. Should be fun. Had to go out and get more molasses and it wasn’t easy to find! Everyone else must be making gingerbread, too!
More on Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Log in