Warm Me Up Dollie and Boo Boo Birdie

One of my good friends just adopted an adorable little girl from China.  Before she left for China, some friends and I made sure she had an adoption shower.  At first, I was going to go shopping for a gift like everybody else, but then the “create something” bug bit me, and I knew that I wanted to make something special.

My daughters have these cool owls filled with flax and lavendar that we warm up every winter and they sleep with them to keep warm.  It comes with instructions on how long to put it in the microwave, and it is amazing how long those little guys retain heat.  I did some research and saw that you could create the same effect with rice, and the herbs were optional.  Well, hello!!  How could I not resist making something adorable and filled with rice for a cute little girl from China??

I saw a travel pillow pattern online that inspired me for this rice bag.  The pattern was no longer available, so I had to make my own which actually made it easier for me believe it or not…  Patterns and I do not have a happy history.

I bought some of the fabric that she was using in the nursery, and used that as the dress for the doll.  I hand-embroidered the face and and double lined everything which made it stronger and surprisingly softer.  Here’s what the flattened bag looked like.I loved it, except for one thing.  It looked more Japanese than Chinese.  It looked like a giant kokeshi doll.  Which is cool…and I might have to make some more…but I needed this one to have a Chinese flair.  So, I gathered my inspiration from the traditional hairstyle you often see on little Chinese girls with two buns that have red flowers or red ribbons tied around it.  My solution was stuffing some fabric up into the corners and tying around it with thread as well as hand stitching through it.  I then sewed some red ribbon like ties with some red fabric and handstitched those on as well.  Then I filled it with about 3/4 of a pound of rice and stitched up the hole.  The tag attached to her said: This little dollie is filled with rice and something you will find quite nice.  To comfort your little one when she’s cold, just warm up quickly for her to hold.  *Microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Here she is filled and laying flat.

Here she is all stuffed and sitting up…and don’t look too closely…you might catch a glimpse of my kitchen makeover that I haven’t posted yet…Ooooo.

The next thing that I did was print out a sillhouette of a bird that I found online and used it as a pattern to sew a little bird rice bag.  This is one to keep in the freezer in a bag and it keeps cold.  It’s not as cute as the dollie but still fun.  The tag with it read: Instead of a compress made of ice, use this birdie made of rice.  *Store in the freezer in a bag.I hope they get lots of use for her sweet little girl.  My friend’s youngest son even loved the dollie and so now that’s got me thinking…maybe I should dabble with making some boy themed rice bags.  Maybe Star Wars characters??  Hmm…I might have to make some for my own inner nerd. 😉