A corn heating pad is one of my all-time favorite gifts that I have received. This heating pad is a great muscle pain soother, back relaxer, or anything that a little warmth will give a bit of pain relief. The best part is it can be used hot or cold.

CORN HEATING PAD

We call it the Crunchy Little Corn Bag!  My mom received one back when I was in high school,
and we were always fighting over it. When I was student teaching, one of my darling students gave me one for Christmas.  And here it is – almost 10 years later – my beloved corn bag!

They can be made in all sizes for all purposes. These corn-filled bags are perfect for sore muscles, neck pain, cramp soothers, and hand warmers, and they are also a bed warmer. The possibilities are endless.

WHY USE CORN INSTEAD OF RICE OR BEANS?

Corn stays cleanest the longest, won’t have problems with humidity, mold, mildew, and generally won’t provoke allergies.

CORN HEATING PAD SUPPLIES

We’re not just making your run of the mill crunchy little corn bag, we’re making an AWESOMEFIED crunchy little corn bag with ruffles. Here is what you need:

Flannel or cotton fabric, cut into the following sizes:

  • 9×11″ (for the bag)
  • 8×5″ (for the bow tie)
  • 2×5″ (for the bow tie)
  • 4 pieces of 1×5″ (for the ruffles)
  • dried corn (see note about using field corn)
  • scissors
  • sewing machine
  • thread

How to Make a Corn Filled Heating Pad

  1. Take your 8×5″ piece and sew it right sides together with a 1/4″ seam.
  2. Take your 2×5″ piece and sew it wrong sides together with a 1/4″ seam.sewing heating pad
  3. Turn your 8×5″ with right sides out and press both the 8×5″ piece and the 2×5″ piece with the seam in the middle.pressing heating pad
  4. To make the bow fold the 8×5″, fold the raw edges over to meet in the middle, and sew down the middle.making bow decoration
  5. Bunch it up to look like a bow tie and then hand sew it together. pinch fabric to make bow
    So it looks like this!making the bow
  6. Wrap your 2×5″ piece around your bow tie, and secure with your sewing machine or hand sew. Clip off the excess. making center of bow detail
  7. Onto the ruffles. I’m a ruffle cheater. I set my tension high with a long stitch and let my machine do most of the work.

Step Six:
With whatever ruffle method you prefer – be it sewing a long basting stitch and pulling just the top thread to gather, or cheating and letting your machine do the work – ruffle/gather your four pieces of 1×5″ flannel.

So then you’ll have a pretty pile like this!

Step Seven:
Lay your piece of 9×22 flannel out
and find the middle of HALF of it (9×11) – allowing for seam allowances.
I figured it would be about 4×5″ mark if I used 1/2″ seams.
Lay the middle of the bow tie on your middle mark.
Step Eight:
Arrange your ruffles where you want them, and pin them down. I played with a few configurations (a frame, one ruffle on top & three on bottom), but I settled on two ruffles on top of the bow tie and two below.

Step Nine:
Sew down the middle of ruffles with a regular length stitch. I’m reminding you to switch back both your tension and length because I always forget and then I’m silently cursing myself for forgetting.
Then, hand stitch the bow tie into place. I did lots of stitches in the middles, and then a few on each end, so it didn’t twist about willy nilly.

Step Ten:
Take you 9×22″ piece and sew right sides together with a 1/2″ seam
on 3 sides, leaving one side open.
(in my picture, I only sewed down the 2 long sides, but went back and did the bottom,
because I realized it would throw off my seam allowance figures for the ruffle/bow tie placement)

Step Eleven:
Clip your corners.

Step Twelve:
Turn right sides out.
It should look like this!

Step Thirteen:
Top stitch around the 3 closed sides to give it a finished look.

Step Fourteen:
Fill with 3 ½ to 4 cups (about 2 pounds) with corn. You can find field corn by the pound where bird food is sold – it is whole kernel corn. Use whole corn, not cracked corn.
Or you can go to the local feed store and buy a 50lb bag of recleaned corn like I did 🙂
If you’re making a lot of them, it’s a great idea. It’s usually $13-15 for a 50lb bag.
And no, you can’t just use popping corn. . . LOL

You don’t want to fill it all the way full, you want the corn to be loose in the bag.

Step Fifteen:
Sew your open side closed with a 1/4″ seam.

And VOILA!
You have an AWESOMEFIED Crunchy Little Corn Bag that someone will cherish for 10+ years.


To both sterilize the corn and help it to dry out, place the newly made bag on a paper towel in your microwave and heat it for 2 – 3 minutes. Let it cool for at least two hours, shake it up, and do it again on a dry paper towel. If your paper towel or the inside of your microwave is still showing moisture,
do the heat/cool cycle one more time.
 

Corn Bag Heating Pad Instructions

When I give them as gifts I include this little card. It is a 4×6 full resolution jpeg that you can right click and save to your computer and then print if you’d like to use it. That way, the person you gave it to won’t be like, Um, what is this??
This little bag can be used as a microwavable heating pad but also a cold pack.  You might also like this rice heating pad with printable gift tags.
 

Kyla blogs at  Funky PolkaDot Giraffe!


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Comments

  1. TO LI: I use cracked corn, too. I “cooked” my bags several times in the microwave before giving them as gifts (as Kyla describes) Maybe your bag just needs a little more “cooking.”

    I have a corn bag that is several years old, still going strong, but sometimes I do smell a corn scent. I do not mind it. It warms up the foot of my bed every cold night.

    My sister and I just bought a 50-pound bag of cracked corn at the feed store this afternoon, and tomorrow (as the snowflakes fall) we will make corn bags for Christmas gifts! I like to rinse off the corn (don’t soak it!) and dry it well before bagging, for less dust.

    Happy Holidays!
    Tristan

  2. could you please let me know why using whole corn than cracked corn? I just got this idea from a friend who told me to use cracked corn. i made one but the bag smelled food, and I wonder if I left it in the microwave for too long and it got partially cooked. But your instruction said that it should be left there for 2-3 minutes to get it dried… I only used it a couple of times and each time I think I let it in microwave for about 3 minutes, It felt damp afterwards, but the smell does not leave. Would it be because it’s cracked corn? Then I need to get whole corns..
    thank you for help.

  3. Kyla,
    I’ve made rice bags and we love them but I think the corn might be a better filler to use for the bags. I always make them from muslin and then make a case so that it can be washed when it gets dirty.
    I love your name, that’s my daughter’s name and people have tried to call her Kayla her entire 28 years.
    Thanks for sharing!

  4. I’ve never thought to use corn. I do not like how rice smells when heated up. Thanks for the tip!!

  5. i like these bags and have made one for a friend with corn. someone mentioned that cherry stones are also great, so have been eating lots of cherries this summer and keeping the stones!!! now to make some more for christmas gifts. thanks

  6. THIS IS GREAT!!! Perfect thing for Christmas presents. I bought one years ago from a local craft store. My mother confiscated it 😛 Maybe it’s time to make a new one!

  7. I like using wheat berry, I could not find corn locally so I tried wheat berries and I love how small they are and round, so no sharp sides

  8. I love this! We actually grow and sell feed corn and I just asked my husband to save me a large bag for Christmas presents. He gave me a very strange look. LOL I think homemade corn filled heating bags (using our own homegrown corn) is the PERFECT idea for us to give our families, kids’ teachers, friends, etc. this Christmas! And I’m definitely making one for me too. I always have cold toes when I go to bed. LOVE this idea!
    Thanks so much for sharing!

  9. I just love this! I love the fabric too…my fave kind! I actually framed some for my apartment. I tweaked my back giving birth, and have been looking for something like this. Why not make my own?

    Jenna
    callherhappy.com

  10. So glad to see this! I bought a corn bag at a market well over 10 years ago and we still use it all the time. I always wanted to know where to get the corn to make another one and you gave me that answer. Now I know what I’m giving for the holidays! √ that off my list!

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