We forgot to go to Wal-Mart last night, and when I looked at dad's list, he had listed an eye-mask. He apparently forgot his in Arizona the last time he visited. I suggested instead of buying one, I could easily make one. I even teased him that I could put some lavender in it (I got a bunch on sale when I was doing soap making). I made the mask and started to think about how easy it would be to sew rice and lavender eye pillows. Here is the design I came up with:

I have noticed on other eye pillows that they are either too full, and therefore feel like an elephant is sitting on your eyes rather than a relaxing pillow, or they are about half full and everything slides down to the sides so your temples get all the rice. I designed this pillow to solve both problems.

I sewed the pillow into 4 chambers. The rice is then held roughly in place, with enough room to still have it conform to your face. It is also much lighter then the elephant-style ones.

As always, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I added in some finishing details, including a little bow and some lace. The bow actually helps make the sides much more stable, so it serves two purposes by looking nice and adding strength.

I used white rice and lavender buds inside the pillow. It doesn't look like a lot of lavender, but a little goes a long way. My whole sewing room now smells of lavender!