Pin Test #18: DIY Word Pillows

It's Pin Test #18 and finally I can share with you what I made for my mom and sisters for Christmas. They finally got the box in the mail yesterday, although apparently it took a good beating getting there. Looking back I should have packed the box more tightly. I'm usually so good about that.

After getting some great inspiration from Pinterest (here and here) I decided to make funky bed pillows for my mom and sisters. I was going to make the pillow covers then remembered that I could save a LOT of money and time if I could find a pillow cover and insert I already liked at IKEA. This seemed like a great idea since I was under a major time crunch and had a ton on my plate.

I have had two pillows with the blue and green striped cover, like above, on my sofa for a year while now and they inspired me for this project. The striped cases come in three different colors and it just so happened that each coordinated with a bedroom or color scheme that each of my girls liked.

The one challenge was that the pillows were much bigger than I wanted. I knew I wanted something short and long so I looked around the IKEA pillow bins and found pillows that were the same length but four inches shorter. So the covers were 16" x 30" and the inserts I found were "12" high by 30" wide. I liked that size much better for this specific project and purpose. So I bought the covers, brought them home and chopped 3.5" off the tops and put in a half inch seam and I had myself three 12" high covers, ready to roll.

I printed the words onto paper and then used the paper as a pattern on the felt. I used Wonder Under to adhere them to the pillows. Getting the felt to adhere was much easier than I had expected it to be. Originally I had thought about stitching around the edges, but it took away from the way I wanted to look, so I was happy to find it unnecessary. The key is to use the best quality felt by-the-yard you can. You only need to buy about 1/4 yard. The heavier, better quality felt will last a lot longer and won't pill up as easily.

So while the original idea certainly isn't mine, I was happy with the way these turned out and feel like they have their own unique spunk about them with the brightly striped pillow covers. I already have several more Pin Tests in the works to share with you. Next Tuesday I'll post the next one.

We have a beach day planned today and I have a little New Year's Party up my sleeve for tonight. I have no guarantees though that my two party attendees will hold up until midnight. Neither of them can be trusted to stay awake once they tire. I may have to start the celebrations early and end them early. No doubt this night owl will be awake for the dropping of the ball, the banging of the pots and the fireworks. Sending you very best wishes for the year to come!