My Secret Santa task this year was to make something (not edible) for under a fiver! I luckily picked out a woman on our team and decided to make a warming wheat bag.
They’re really quite simple to make so thought I’d share with you all!
I made 2 bags to spread the cost and make one for my wonderful mum too!
Here’s what I bought :
1kg Wheat Grain (£2.16 +£2.99 post-EBay)
Vintage Floral Polka Dot Cotton Material (£2 p/mtr- Craft Shop)
Lavender Essential Oil (Body Shop £8) (Similar on EBay here £2.79)
Pink Ribbon (Off cut from market 75p)
Pink Button/s (Market, 25p)
Needle
Embroidery Thread
So yes, that’s more than a fiver each! But… I had already planned to buy the essential oil, as I have a dried lavender heart that needed refreshing, I also used my joy card I got with glamour so it was only £5. It was the last in the shop though, so had a ripped box but I didn’t mind!
I didn’t measure the material as I always prefer to go by eye, so just took the corner of the material folded it diagonally and made a square I then folded opposite and cut it.
For my mums I just cut an oblong piece of material and folded in half again.
The only thing to bear in mind is that these have to fit in a microwave so shouldn’t be too big!! You can use any material but it should always be 100% cotton to retain the heat and not melt.
I don’t have a sewing machine (Santa! If you’re listening …) so I used my embroidery thread in pink and black to sew around the edges. I made sure I didn’t leave any holes between the stitches, the wheat can’t fall out!!
I left a gap and turned the material the right way around.
With my mums I cross stitched ‘MUM’ and sewed a little button on, on the secret Santa I made a little bow out of material scraps and added a button.
I mixed the wheat with a few drops of the lavender oil, and poured it into the bags. I used approx 500g per bag.
Then I cut a small piece of ribbon slotted it in the gap and sewed up the hole.
The ribbon is needed as it gives something to pull the bag out of the microwave with rather than having to grab the whole hot bag.
The last thing to remember is that a cup if water has to be added to the microwave to stop the wheat drying out, to ensure my recipients knew it Mr E made this tags, which really finish the bags off!
The finished products look great don’t you think?
My secret Santa loved hers and I can’t wait to see my mums face when she gets her stocking filler from me!