Old Jeans Turned Rice Bag

My hubby goes through jeans like you wouldn't believe.  But he rarely wears them out.  Somehow he usually manages to catch them on something and rip a large unrepairable hole in them.  And then he sews them up with baling twine and gets a few more uses out of them.  (Baling twine is like duct tape, you can fix just about anything with it!)

Since the hole is usually around the pockets or zipper areas, the legs are still in great condition.  After throwing out a few ripped pairs, I thought there must be something I can do with these and began saving some of them.  One day I ran across a tutorial for making rice bags to heat up and I thought to myself wouldn't the leg of one of those jeans be perfect for that?  I finally got around to trying it out and thought I would share it with you!

First you will need to cut off one of the legs as close to the back pocket as you can get.

My first attempt was to just sew the bottom closed and then fill with rice.  Unless you have a super strong needle in your sewing machine though, you will break your needle sewing through the seams. (Just ask me how I know that!)  So instead I cut the seams off to get two pieces like this:

Next you will need to put the pieces together, right sides facing each other, and sew 3 sides closed.  You will have a long tube with one of the short ends open.  Turn it right side out and dump in about 1 cup of rice.  Then you will sew across the tube to keep the rice in about a 4 inch section.

Keep adding a cup of rice and sewing across until you get to the end of your tube.  If you want all the sections the same size, you can measure and mark them before you add the rice, but I just eye-balled it and they all turned out fairly close to the same size.  Then just tuck the end inside and sew across one final time.

On the next cold night, just pop it in the microwave for about 5 minutes and then tuck it into your bed to keep you toes toasty warm!

I made one for each of the kids and they love having them in their beds at night to keep warm!  I also used a few 6 inch square scraps to make a couple hand warmers.

So I made a small dent in my pile of ripped jeans.  Any other good suggetions?

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Blessed Be the Name

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

It has been a difficult week in the community with the passing of Cash and Melanie.  It reminds me to be so thankful for the blessings God has given me in my life.  I know our children belong to Him and He can take them to their eternal home with Him anytime he chooses, but it still a struggle to understand why He chooses to call them home and leave us here without them.  After my brother passed away several years ago, my brother-in-law, who was only 5 or 6 at the time, said we don't need to be sad, God has his house ready, ours isn't ready yet.  So simple, but so hard!  Please continue to remember these families in your prayers in the coming year.  After a few weeks, life seems to go back to normal for the rest of the world, but they are still daily reminded of their loss.  I would encourage you to remember the day each one passed, jot it down by your prayer list or mark it on your calendar.  Each month as that day comes up, remember to pray for them as they mark off another month without their loved one.  Thankfully we can know that this is not the end, though.  When God calls us home, we will be reunited with our loved ones and spend eternity worshipping our Creator with them!

Paws & Tales: God Cares For You {Review & Giveaway!} CLOSED

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers, we had a movie night last week, complete with popcorn, comfy pillows and blankets, and the new Paws & Tales: God Cares For You DVD.  It is based on the Paws & Tales radio show, which the kids have listened to and enjoyed.  They also loved this movie!  It has two episodes on it.  The first is The Good Shepherd, in which C.J. and Ned get to take care of sheep and discover that it is not as easy as it seems it would be.  The second is A Good Foundation, in which they attempt to build a clubhouse and learn the importance of starting with a good foundation.  The kids have watched it several times and it is now one of their favorites! Ned is their favorite character. Hubby and I really like how they are learning good biblical concepts while they are watching and think that this DVD does a better job of fitting this in with the story than a lot of other biblically based movies do.  You can also pop the DVD into your computer and print off some coloring and activity sheets for the kids and some tip sheets with questions and Bible verses for discussion after the movie.  I really appreciate having the tip sheets to be able to see if the kids are grasping the important concepts of the movie.  The Paws & Tales site also has some fun games and activites that the kids enjoyed trying out.  We can't wait for the next movie night with another fun episode of Paws and Tales!



Tyndale was kind enough to include a giveaway for one of my readers as well!  The winner will recieve a certificate for Paws & Tales: God Cares for You which can be redeemed at your local Christian bookstore or be sent by mail to order it from Tyndale.  This giveaway will end at noon (or whenever I get around to it!) on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011 and then I will randomly draw a winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be drawn.

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment letting me know your kids' favorite biblically based movie or radio program.  Please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win!

For an extra entry, follow or subscribe to my blog (see the left column) and leave me a seperate comment letting me know.

For more information about Paws & Tales: God Cares for You, please visit Paws &Tales or Tyndale House Publishers.

I recieved this DVD free from Tyndale House Publishers to review.  All opinions are mine and I get to keep the movie.

God Gave Us the World {Review}

God Gave Us the World is part of the God Gave Us series by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  It is about a little polar bear who is curious about all the other bears when he discovers that not all bears are polar bears just like him.  His mother takes him on a trip to a special museum exhibit, "Bears Around the World," to show him that other bears look different, eat different foods, and live in different places. She explains to the little bear that God created the world and each bear has a special place in it.  The book also finishes up with talking about how we need to take good care of God's world. It is beautifully illustrated by Laura J. Bryant.

My kids loved this book and wanted to read it several times!  I think the book does a nice job of explaining that our God is creative and wanted to create a variety of bears.  This was easy to turn into a discussion with the kids about how He created people different also.  We haven't read any of the other books in the series, but after reading this one we will definitely be checking them out soon!

If you wish to purchase God Gave Us the World for $10.99, you may do so here.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by: Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari {Review & Giveaway!} CLOSED

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark is a cute book about Roger the turtle and Padraig the Dragon as they go on a camp out at Mount Sillymanborrow.  They are excited about camping out all night, but as night comes, it brings some strange and scary noises.  They are determined to spend the whole night outside and discover that they can help each other get past their fears to accomplish this.

I thought this was a really cute book about friendship and helping each other be strong and courageous.  Buddy really enjoyed it too, but I think it was a little bit hard for the younger kids to understand.  There were a few unfamiliar words and phrases.  Even though there is nothing in the story about prayer or God helping them be strong and courageous, there is a short study guide in the back that includes verses and how we can encourage each other.  I also found The Dragon and the Turtle and Donita K. Paul websites that have more fun to expand on the story.

If you wish to purchase The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari for $11.99, you may do so here.

Waterbrook Multnomah sent me two copies of this book, so I have one to giveaway to one of you guys!

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what your favorite adventure (real or pretend play) was when you were young.  Please leave your email address also so I will have a way to contact you if you win. 

For an extra entry, follow or subscribe to my blog (see the left column) and leave me a seperate comment letting me know.

This giveaway will end Feb 9, 2011 at noon (or whenever I get around to it!), when I will randomly pick a winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be drawn. Open to US resident only.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.