Recycled Onesie For All!
Years ago when I was first married, my family decided that we would all make each other Christmas gifts rather than buy them. Chris and I made rice buddies for all. The classic rice buddy that you can put in the microwave and use as a heating pad through winter. We chose a plaid flannel to make it look cozy and we even wrote a song, but I can't seem to remember those classic lyrics.
Fast forward years later (15 years to be exact) and my two and four year old nieces have discovered my sister's old rice buddy. Their nightly argument has been over who gets to warm it up and snuggle it. Needless to say as a doting aunt I can't be part of the cause of their stress, so when my niece just had her birthday there were two new rice buddies all ready to be warmed and snuggled!
Looking over my mom's children store inventory with all the soft baby onesies I couldn't help but see a quick and easy craft project that would help save all the precious and loved baby onesies that babies have grown out of! This craft took me approximately 15 minutes and would be great if I had toddlers, but it turns out even my older children like the feel and scent of an old fashioned rice buddy, so now our house is properly stocked as well!
Here are the instructions in the case your house needs a rice buddy or two!
1. Pick out your favorite onesie
2. Snip off the snaps (this needs to be microwavable!)
3. Adjust the length of the arms to be what you desire. I chose to go with a "cap sleeve" to keep the shape of the onesie but not actually enough to fill with rice.
4. Turn the onesie inside out and sew along the bottom opening
5. Sew the "sleeves" closed
6. Turn the onesie right-side out
7. Optional: Mix your favorite scented oil into your rice. I chose 15 drops of lavender.
8. Fill your onesie from the neck hole until the desired weight is achieved. I used approx. 2.5 lbs of white long grain rice.
9. Sew your neck hole closed. Be sure to sew from edge to edge as those onesie sleeves can create some holes for little grains of rice to escape!
Voila! Insta Rice Buddy!
These can act as a great keepsake for your favorite baby outfits and let your little one snuggle their own little outfits as they play!