COOL (or should I say HOT?) GIFT IDEA!

Dad has been having lots of trouble with swelling so I went online and looked up homemade heating pads and found two really neat ideas with the directions and link below. These are microwave heatable heating pads. I think they would make perfect christmas gifts or baby shower gifts.

Pit Pads: Filled with CHERRY PITS!
Square (9x9) excellent for shoulders, back, llegs, arms, hands and feet
Rectangle (6x17) excellent for wrapping around the nexk, ankles, knees and wrists

They sell the already made pads for $16.95 each at their website, but you can buy a 40 lb bag of PIT STUFF for $29.95 (enough to make about 20 bags). http://www.cherrypitstore.com/index.html. Seems like it would only take a couple of minutes to whip them up and they even give you the dimensions! Even a challenged sewer like myself should be able to figure that one out!

Rice bags: similiar idea, just filled with long grain white rice. http://www.quilt.com/MiscQuilting/RiceBags.html The lady at the health food store told me you can also just make these by using a tube sock and tying it off at the top! You can also add dried lavender, rosemary or whole spices (not ground) to add an aroma to your bag if you desire.

All you need is 100% cotton fabric and whatever filler (pits, rice) you chose. To make them "cute" you make a little pillow case to put them in. I plan to make one for my dad today to see how it works. Gonna work on a prototype (some directions recommend sewing a channel in the middle to help them keep their shape).

Heat between 90 seconds and 2 minutes, releases a warm, moist heat.