You’re going to need to keep yourself warm in the cold winter, so instead of buying another hot water bottle or a boring beanbag, get a little crafty this weekend and make your own personalised DIY microwaveable beanbag.

What you’ll need:

– 1 – 2 packets of pearl barley per beanbag

– 2 pieces (26 cm x 24 cm) fun fabric for the outside cover (we used this beautiful from our friends at Zana)

– 2 pieces (24 cm x 22 cm) plain calico or something similar for the inner cover

– sewing materials

What to do:

To make your ‘happy sakkie’, start by measuring and cutting your material to the right size. Because we had such awesome fabric from the team at Zana, we chose two different prints to use on either side.

Once your inner material is cut and you have your 2 sides, put the right sides together facing inwards and sew along 3 of the sides, as if making a pillowcase; make sure you leave one side open where you can fill.

Turn your ‘pillowcase’ outside in, so the sewing edge is tucked inside. You can now fill your bag with pearl barley, don’t pack it too full, a good test is to hold the open edge closed and lay on a flat surface to see that the contents spread and the bag is not overfull. You can then sew the inside cover shut completely.

You are then going to repeat the steps above with the selected outside print material, again creating a pillowcase and sewing along 3 edges. Turn the pillowcase outside in and slip your already sealed beanbag inside the cover. Turn the open edges of the material inwards to create a neat edge and seal with a final row of stitching.

And there you have it, a homemade DIY microwaveable beanbag that can be heated for 2 – 3 minutes at a time and if under a blanket, will stay warm for hours.

We love putting ours at the bottom of the bed, under the cover, so it’s nice and toasty when its time to jump in!

Love this DIY Microwaveable BeanbagMore Weekend Project inspiration? Click HERE.