When I think about how busy the holiday season is, I wonder why I don’t get started earlier. It isn’t like Christmas falls on a different day each year. It’s always December 25. This year, I’m going to take a little help fromMarie Callender’s Pot Pies to serve a delicious meal to my family while I tackle one of my handmade holiday gifts!
I was shopping at Walmart for a few cold weather essentials – think socks, scarves, and window sealing film- when I suddenly found myself craving pot pie. You’ve heard me mention in my menu planning posts that if we have leftover roasted chicken (or rotisserie for that matter), that I’ll often make a homemade chicken pot pie. Without either on hand, I knew that Marie Callender’s pot pies were a great choice.
Getting home, I quickly popped it in the oven, giving myself one hour and 35 minutes to craft. That’s just the right amount of time to haul out my sewing machine, pull out my scrap stash, and get to work on these great pocket hand warmers. Before you start sewing, make sure your bobbin is full. There is nothing worse than being midway through a sewing project and having and empty bobbin.
Once all my supplies were ready to go, my first step to creating these hand warmers was cutting the fabric into 4 inch squares. I’m terrible at cutting straight lines, resulting in more rhombus shaped fabric pieces. For this project, that is totally okay!
This is a Sewing Tutorial for the World’s Okay-est Sew-er.
For each pocket hand warmer, you’ll need two squares (or two rhombuses) of fabric. You can use the same pattern, one solid/one print, contrasting fabrics, whatever you fancy! That’s the beauty of creating a handmade gift. You can really let your personality shine through.
Pin your fabric squares together with the pretty sides facing in. Sew all the way around leaving a small opening in one side of the fabric.
Turn your fabric right side out. Be gentle doing this. You can purchase a fancy tool in the notions department, use a chopstick, the eraser end of a pencil, or just your hand. Whatever you decide to use, take care to NOT poke it straight through the fabric.
Add about 5 tablespoons of rice to the hand warmer. {Any kind of rice is great, just NOT instant!}
Now you need to seal the opening. If you’re ambitious, you can hand stitch it. If you’re like me, just sew all the way around the edge of the hand warmer. Be careful not to stitch over any grains of rice! This additional stitching provides reinforcement to keep the rice inside the bag and gives the hand warmer a finished look.
Pop them into the microwave for 20-30 seconds before slipping these warm little nuggets into your pockets. Your hands will thank me.
Every time I make these, I always say “I should have made a few more.” These hand warmers are great gifts for neighbors, teachers, dog walkers, the guys that plow your snowy driveways, or anyone else on your list who likes to keep their hands warm.
By the time I cleaned up my sewing mess – I always get thread all over the place! – the delicious smell of the Marie Callender’s pot pie was taking over our home. Marie Callender’s, the warmest comforts of the season wrapped together in a meal made to savor.
I couldn’t wait to bite into the perfectly flaky made from scratch crust, and taste the homemade gravy mixed with vegetables and all white-meat chicken.
During this cold and busy time of year, take a little help from Marie Callender’s. You have enough to do already, leave the cooking to someone else. Be sure to visit potpiesplease.com for more recipe inspiration and follow the conversation on their Facebook page.
My hands are always freezing, so I need to make these for myself! And I love the new family sized pot pies, they are great all year, but especially this busy (and cold) season! #client
That pot pie looks amazing!! Yumm! Also I really need to learn to sew.