DIY Heated Neck/Back/Chest Pillow

I'm in such a DIY mood!  I am sick, and pretty miserable.  I don't really get sick often... almost never.  I remember when I was in high school I got a cold (or flu, or whatever people get from mass exposure to other sick people).  I thought I was dying.  I was this close to giving away my possessions and saying goodbye to loved ones.  It was unbelievable to me that most people went through this every year, if not every season.

I get sick about once a year now, sometimes every other year.  I was a teacher for almost five years, and that ensures you get sick.  Now I spend at least 5 days a week with several toddlers and their parents.  I might as well get used to this stuff.

Anyway, my neck is sore and I used to have this great heated neck pillow thing that I would put in the microwave and then lay on my neck.  It was the kind of thing that you get at some girly shoppe (yes, a shoppe with an extra p and an e) for more than it would cost to make ten of your own.  I made one of my own because the good old gift one has disappeared.

There are many tutorials for this online, and if I had an ounce of energy I would have at least fired up the sewing machine, but this is bare bones simple for anyone else who might be sick and in need of a quick fix.

What you need:
1 old sock, the longer the better
about 2 cups of rice (I used the small bag of rice that my husband used to dry his cellphone in after our daughter put it in the toilet.  He put it BACK IN THE CUPBOARD like it hadn't been used to leach toilet water, so this was a good use for it instead of a revenge dinner for him.)
1 rubber band
optional: tea bag of chamomile, dried lavender, etc. (I used a bag of Tension Tamer by Celestial Seasonings).

Put rice and contents of tea bag in sock, secure open end of sock with rubber band.  Microwave for about 1- 1.5 minutes and you have a nice warm neck pillow.  The tea bag helps offer some calming aromatherapy to the mix.  Sure, you might feel dirty using microwave aromatherapy, but when you are sick you make exceptions.

DIY Snack Carrier

Today I was looking everywhere for Violet's Muchkin snack catcher.  I love how easy it is to hand off some o's cereal, berries, or peas in this device and let her feed herself.  But today I am sick and tired and not interested in going on the hunt that will likely lead to the back yard because the dogs also love this clever little catcher.  We have lost many to dog destruction, and keep buying more.  While they are affordable, I just didn't want to go buy anymore today, so I made my own.  Mine doesn't have handles, so Violet had to sit on the floor to enjoy her snacks, or hold it with her arm, but that wasn't a problem.

To make this, I used an old margarine container and my kitchen scissors.  And thin plastic container with a lid would work, and it would probably be nice to have different shapes and sizes for different purposes.

I like the way the curved slits on the Munchkin Snack Catcher fit together better than those I've seen with straight across slits, so I imitated that shape and cut my own slits with a similar curve.

Once I had added the o's cereal, I passed it off to Violet for some product testing.  She discovered that this larger container could fit both her hands, and like she does with her Munchkin Snack Catcher, she promptly pulled out a handful for the dog before feeding herself.

She didn't take off the lid though, so it served it's purpose well.  I have some grapes and blueberries in the refrigerator, and tomorrow it will go to good use because I can give her berries that way without ending up with purple feet from the mess of giving her an open container (which I did this morning- call me Smurfette).

How to Make a Fleece Overcoat for Babywearing

I have been looking over some friends' great jackets that go over baby while baby is in a carrier (quite frankly, everyone I know wears an Ergo, so let's just say Ergo).  One friend has a jacket that is a fleece layer that she can wear when it's chilly but not dead-of-winter-in-Alaska, then there's a waterproof cover she can wear over it.  It has slits in the front and back for baby's head to pop out.

I'm cheap, and a bit crafty (I own scissors), so I decided to raid my closet and see what I could come up with.  First, I considered cutting into a very nice, very warm jacket that my husband got me for Christmas a few years ago.  Luckily, I wasn't drunk, so I didn't have my scissors handy.  Next, I started looking at all my husband's fleece jackets.  They aren't super-warm, but they sure do the job.  If you had a tiny warm body pressed to your back, they would be even warmer...  Again, I thought better of mangling one of his jackets also.  Then, in the back of my closet, I found a fleece jacket that I haven't warn in years, and that I got for free when I taught at a middle school.  It's really big because that's the only size they had left when I made it to the office to pick up my free jacket.  Perfect.  A large sweater/jacket fits over a baby and me quite easily.  Hmmmm...

So I put on the sweater, then the Ergo, then the baby.  Once the baby was secure, I asked my husband (who was just happy I wasn't eyeing his favorite jackets with scissors in my hands anymore) to pinch the fabric right at the base of the baby's neck.  He held on while I took off the jacket and I cut a slit about 7 inches long where he had held.  I didn't worry about slits in front, because if I'm wearing my daughter in front I can just wear a zip front jacket and not zip it all the way... Not rocket science here, but somehow I have now saved hundreds of dollars and spent ZERO dollars.  If you count the cost of the scissors you are ridiculous.

We tried it out on a very crisp day when we went hiking in Glen Alps in light snow.  I was sweating like an animal that sweats a lot (most people say pig, but pigs don't sweat- that's why they hang out in the mud).  The baby was so cozy she slept for the entire hike, including some serious scrambling up a mountain when I was literally on all fours at points.

Hands and feet were tucked in snug as a bug in a rug.