mini-ice pack tutorial

my sister and nephew were visiting last week and while they were here, he fell down (as toddlers tend to do frequently) and scraped up his hands a little bit.  we brought him inside and my sister asked if i had any ice we could put on his hands and i realized that i had the perfect thing in my freezer for him.  about a year ago, i needed some tiny ice packs and so i did some research online and discovered that if you freeze liquid dish soap (or water + rubbing alcohol or soap + alcohol or some combination of all three, but soap alone works just fine) it’s sort of like those gel packs they sell for big bucks.  it thaws more… softly somehow.  anyway, so i’d filled up some small plastic zip bags with dish soap and then sewed a flannel pocket to keep them in so that the cold plastic wouldn’t freeze to my skin and they are just so nice when you need to ice something down.  and they are the perfect size for little kid hands.  he loved them and i ended up making him four more (without the soap–they were flying home) to take home (see photo above.  i let him pick the fabrics.  he loved that part too.).  here’s how you can make some for yourself.

1.  first, you find a tiny plastic zip-top bag.  the ones i use are jewelry bags from bead shops.  (note:  the ones i made for my nephew had bigger, more square-ish bags than the one i used for this photo tutorial.)  then, cut a piece of flannel that is at least 2.5 times the width (or length… it doesn’t really matter) of the bag and at least 1/2″ or more longer than the bag.  in the final product, i plan to fold down the top edge of the bag, so i disregarded that portion of the bag when figuring out the width of my fabric.

2.  next, hem the ends that will overlap so that you don’t have raw edges exposed in your final product.

3.  then, fold the flannel so that the hemmed edges overlap and so that the finished pocket will be slightly larger than your baggie (when it’s filled with soap).

4.  sew the side seams.

5.  turn it right-side out.

6.  fill your baggie with dish soap (or water and alcohol if you prefer, but it’s messier if that leaks later!) about 2/3 full.  then squeeze out all the air and seal it shut.

7.  tuck your soap bag into the flannel pocket and throw the whole thing into your freezer.  you’ll be glad the next time you need it!

8.  make lots more because they’re cute, easy and fast to make and they’ll make you (or some kid) smile the next time an ouchy happens.

p.s. in case you were all wondering, the lemon custard cakes are divine served cold as well.  really, you must try this recipe.  if you have a lemon in your refrigerator, you probably have all of the rest of the ingredients too.  and if you don’t have ramekins (alkelda, i’m talkin’ to you!) i’d bet that the recipe would work just fine in short tumblers.  be brave!  whipping egg whites to “soft peaks” isn’t that scary!  (and besides, i sort of messed my egg whites up a little bit and the recipe still worked just fine.)

p.p.s.  here’s a cute picture of my sister and nephew playing with the baby–i couldn’t resist!