GTS: Heat therapy bag

Christmas came early at the Greenhab household. Actually Santa, in the form of Mr. Greenhab, came early. He came to the rescue of everyone who was supposed to get a homemade gift from me, but wasn't going to, as a result of my sewing machine giving up the ghost last week. Please meet the newest member of the Greenhab household. I call him Brother. And I know you can't really see it, but up there in the top right hand corner is where it says "Project Runway Limited Edition". That's right. I could SO be on PR next season.

My first project though was the Heat Therapy Bag, as seen on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. It's filled with rice, buckwheat, flax - whatever you'd like - and goes in the microwave for 2-3 minutes to make a nice little heat pack for sore muscles or to relieve tension. They used several different types of coordinating fabrics on their blog, but I was making due with what I had in my stash. Here it is...

I love this green fabric, but it needed a little extra "umph" so I got all Project Runway on it and added a little strip of cream colored fabric with a leaf pattern stitched down the middle. 'Cause that's how I roll.

I didn't really have time (okay I forgot) to do a tutorial, but there's a great one of the SMS blog HERE. That's basically how I did mine anyway.

These were really fun to make since you can be as creative as you'd like with the design. I'm going to be sending these to a few friends who have been especially patient and helpful to me recently. I hope they enjoy them!

GTS: A little gift

Here's a little something that says "thank you" without saying "I only spent 3 minutes picking this gift out for you at the dollar store." We make these each year for people like Marc's principal and the school secretaries - people you'd like to give a small gift to, but not necessarily spend a bundle on.

I wish the picture had turned out better, but you get the gist of it. These are Paperwhite Narcissus bulbs, purchased at Home Depot for 4/$5. I got several glass vases at the thrift store for $0.49 each. The river rocks did come from the dollar store, but you could certainly use rocks from your yard as well.

Fill the bottom of the vase with rocks, place the bulb on top, then put some more rocks around it to keep it in place. Fill with water until the bottom half of the bulb is covered. Once the roots start to grow, it's only necessary to keep the roots covered with water.

This picture was taken 2 days after I assembled them. There were no roots to begin with and that green sprout in the front was just barely poking out of the bulb. You can see that they grow very very quickly, so there's still time to make these if you start soon.

Paperwhites flower within about 4 weeks of planting, so the recipient will be able to enjoy watching it grow this month and flower well into January or early February. They grow to be about 12 - 18 inches tall. After the flowers die, clip the stalk back all the way to the bulb and wait for it to grow again.

I used some Christmas scrapbook paper to make a tag. The back says:

Paperwhites are very easy to grow! Place them in bright sunlight and keep their roots covered in water. Once they begin to flower, move them out of direct sun. Then the flowers expire, cut back the stalks down to the root.

I'm sure most people probably end up throwing the bulbs away, but they can always use the vase and rocks again...or send it back to Goodwill, thereby completing the circle of life.

GTS: Gifts that Give back

Check out Gifts That Give Back on iVillage today.