Mothers Day is less than a month away and I thought, over the next few weeks, I’d share some simple ideas that every mom would appreciate (including me !) Almost every mom I know enjoys a hot cup of tea, specially in our desi culture! It’s traditional to have tea and samosas when we have friends or relatives over. I’ll be making a scented trivet which is perfect for such occasions. Your Mom will love this simple yet unique handmade gift.

You Will Need:

100% Cotton fabric

Rice (one cup)

Essential Oil of your choice

Take your rice and put it in a ziplock bag . Add about 8/10 drops of your fragrance oil into the rice and close the bag. Mix the rice thoroughly and leave it overnight for the rice to infuse the oil.

The next day cut two nine inch squares from your fabric . With the wrong side facing up iron a quarter inch hem on one side of each square. Sew the three sides leaving the hemmed side open. Turn the fabric  inside out. Make even lines across one side of the fabric. I made mine about one inch apart.

  Sew on the marked lines making sure you keep your lines straight.

You will now have these small pockets to fill with rice.

You can use a funnel for this or make a paper cone to fill the pockets. I used a small milk jug with a spout that fit perfectly. Now let me warn you that filling the rice into these narrow pockets was not as easy as I thought . I found the best way to do this is to hold the bag straight up into the ziplock bag and start filling. This way the rice won’t fall all over the place. Keep pushing the rice down so there are no air pockets . Remember to leave a one inch space at the end of each pocket.

Push the rice back and pin where the rice ends. Top stitch across to seal.

Even out the rice filling and you’re done! Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds or until you reach the desired level of heat.Place your freshly made teapot on it and enjoy the aroma while sipping your tea.

You can use this as a trivet for your hot pans too, but you don’t need to microwave it as the heat from the pan will release the fragrance from the rice.