I’m sort of feeling like I’m prepared for the holiday season – please note that I said “sort of”.
In all seriousness, because that is my middle name, I AM trying to get things done a little bit ahead of time. One of these “things” is that I’m already knocking out making our teacher gifts, and for fun, I’ve teamed up with some other fabulous bloggers to give you a round of Teacher Gift Idea inspiration along with a phenomenal GIVEAWAY!!!
I love teachers! When I volunteer for a classroom party and leave (after 25 minutes) feeling exhausted, I think to myself that I can’t imagine doing their job for 8+ hours a day! I know, I once homeschooled, but hey, I was a relaxed teacher because I only had three students – the odds were in my favor – most days.
With that being said, I owe my children’s teachers A LOT. So the least I can do is give them a relaxing holiday gift.
Last year I made homemade taco seasoning and that went over really well. So this year I started brainstorming and I was reminded of the eye pillows that I had made for my weekly yoga classes. (Pictured above.) I get relaxed just looking at them. And I thought – Hey! I’ll make those AND neck pillows and my children’s teachers won’t be able to stop relaxing at the end of their incredibly long days.
{DIY} Tutorial – Eye & Neck Pillows
To make one set of {1} Eye Pillow and {1} Neck Pillow, you will need a 1/4 yard of fabric, 1-2 small bags of rice, lavender essential oil, and a calming mood.
Step One:
I laid out my existing neck pillow that I’ve had for years. My dear friend Emily gave it to me and I think of her every time I heat this bad boy up. Love you Em!
Anyhow, this is how I created a pattern – that is a loose term – I just cut around the model pillow. The fabric is folded in half so I actually cut two. You could easily create your own pattern in a U shape of even do a rectangle shape. Let your creativity take over!
Because I am a perfectionist eye ball everything, I folded it over and made sure the two sides paired up nicely, like dance partners should.
Step Two:
I stitched the two pieces together, right sides together, leaving a small opening at one of the ends. (Imagine you are making a pillow, oh wait you are!) Then I turned the neck pillow inside out and began the stuffing of the rice.
Insert – where Morgan makes a mess everywhere – I am not a smooth rice filler.
This is my cute funnel that attempts to help me with the job. I also added a few drops of my lavender essential oil to encourage to the relaxation feel of the gift. Ommmmm…..
And that bag says rice – I think – it’s in Portuguese so it could say something else – but it sure looks like rice to me.
*You want to fill your pillow (neck or eye) with rice that is NOT instant rice. Down the road when someone is warming up their pillow, you do not want the rice to start cooking!
Step Three:
At the end, where I left the opening, I tucked the two ends in together and created a smooth ending and then stitched it up. So simple! And I feel so relaxed just looking at it!
Here are two of my completed sets. Both the neck and eye pillows.
