DIY Lavender Rice Heat Pack & Bath Roses

Rose petals can add relaxation to a bath.

While chasing after children, struggling to succeed at work and trying to find time to fit friends and family into your hectic days, it can become difficult to find time to relax and enjoy yourself. Most people would associate soothing baths and warm, scented heat rubs with a day at the spa, but the fact is that you can treat yourself to this type of luxury at home. Creating a homemade rice heat pack and taking a rose petal bath can help reduce the stress and strain of everyday living and help you prepare to face new challenges ahead.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton sock
• Uncooked rice
• Bowl
• Lavender essential oil
• Rubber band or string
• Microwave
• Stove
• Rose petals
• Pot
• Lid
• Bathtub
• Colander

Instructions

Heat Pack

1. Fill a cotton sock about ¾ of the way full with uncooked white rice. Leave enough room in the sock to allow for the rice to shift so that it can conform to your body when applied to a sore or tired area.

2. Pour the uncooked rice into a bowl; measure it out in a sock first so that you know how much rice to use. Add two to three drops of lavender essential oil into the bowl and mix gently with your hands or a wooden spoon; the lavender scent will infuse with the rice, creating an additional aromatherapy level to your warm sock.

3. Smell the mixture and add more lavender as necessary. Remember, when you heat up the sock the lavender smell will be a little stronger than it is when the rice is cold. Pour the rice/lavender mixture back into the sock.

4. Tie the top of the sock closed with a rubber band or string to secure the rice in place. Turn the sock upside down to make sure no rice escapes.

5. Heat the sock in a microwave for one to two minutes before use. Some people prefer higher heat than others, so adjust the time needed in the microwave accordingly.

6. Apply the sock to sore muscles or joints, or use it as a bed warmer.

Rose Bath

1. Boil 2 cups of water on a stove. Pour in ½ cup of rose petals and cover the still-boiling water with a lid for two to three minutes. Remove the pot from heat and allow the water to cool while still covered.

2. Drain the water through a colander into another bowl; the colander will catch the rose petals.

3. Fill a bathtub with your preferred temperature of water. While the tub fills, pour the rose water into the tub; this water will add a fresh, flowery smell to your bathwater.

4. Sprinkle the rose petals into the tub so that they float around on top of the water. Relax in the bath for as long as you desire.

Tips & Warnings

• The size of the sock for your heat pack will depend on the size of the pack you want. Smaller socks will cover small joints or sore muscles, while larger men's socks or knee socks can be good as bed warmers or to cover larger areas of the body.

• Add essential oils, bath salts and other additions to the rose bath for added aromatherapy advantages.

• When you heat up the rice sock, the rice inside will be extremely hot. Do not open the sock and touch the rice with bare skin. If the sock is too hot to the touch when you remove it from the microwave, allow it to cool for a minute or place a towel between your skin and the rice pack.

References

• Love Your Baby: Rice Heat Pack
• Simple Aromatherapy Recipes: Foot Bath Recipe
• Old Fashioned Living: Beloved Roses: Healing and Soothing