DIY Hand-Painted Quote Pillow: Choose Happy and Walk the Moon Lyrics

A few weeks ago I posted my Bright Side/Monday Side Pillow and promised I would be making more, so here is another easy tutorial for a throw pillow. And don’t ask if I have too many for a normal person, because I definitely do. Day bed = pillows. Capiche?

This method is very customizable, meaning you can paint on whatever image you’d like. However, since I essentially used a tracing technique, your base fabric will need to be light enough to see through. I happen to have a lot of white in my décor, so this was no biggie for me. Plus those little golden arrows are just so cute!

You will need:

Computer and printer

Wax paper or plastic wrap

½ yard light colored cotton fabric, patterned if you’d like (You should be able to see through it!)

Fine artist’s brush

Fabric Creations soft fabric ink* in contrasting color

Fabric scissors

Water erasable ink pen

Sewing machine and related notions

Stuffing… much stuffing

*This is not sponsored in any way, shape, or form, I just happen to really love this product! It's thinner and less gloppy than normal fabric paint, is easy to control while painting, and settles into the fabric really nicely. But yeah, regular fabric paint would definitely work too!

Step 1

Convert the image or phrase of your choice to black and white, and print as large as possible on one sheet of paper. You also want to mark the center of the image, and can do this before you print it, or afterwards with a ruler and pen. You also have the luxury of adding this point in white if you do it on the computer, right over the black text in the center!

Step 2

Cut 2 rectangles of fabric to your desired pillow size, adding one inch to each dimension for seam allowances. I used a pillow I already had as a reference, and ended up cutting my fabric 19” x 11”.

Step 4

Fold one piece of the fabric in half both ways (so into quarters) and mark the center of this piece with a water-soluble or disappearing ink pen. Iron both pieces of fabric to get rid of those icky wrinkles.

Step 5

Tape your computer paper to the surface you will be working on, followed by a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Then, lay out your fabric piece so the center points line up, and gently tape it to the surface as well.

Step 6

Then, just paint your image onto the fabric, essentially tracing the outline from the computer image. I would also suggest having the image pulled up on a computer nearby, or printing out an extra, in case the outlines are difficult to see in any places.

It is also helpful to paint each line lightly, then fill it in and thicken it. This will make it easier to follow the image and keep the lines straight. Work from top left to bottom right if you are right handed and like to draw your hand through wet paint like I do.

Step 7

After letting it dry for 24 hours, heat set your paint. If you used a water-soluble ink pen, also get rid of that mark in the center by either spritzing your fabric with water or rinsing it.

Step 8

Pin your fabric pieces with right sides together, making sure the pattern is oriented correctly. Then stitch around the pillow leaving a gap at the base, clip the corners, turn it, and stuff it. Stitch up the gap as well! I like to do this by hand with a slip stitch.

This idea was actually the invention of my older sister, the one and only Samantha, who whipped up the square pillow you see above as a Christmas gift! It was also really lovely see some doodles I’d already created for the blog in pillow form, and for much cheaper than you could order it online! (“Choose Happy” is here, and the lyric from my babes, Walk the Moon, can be downloaded here!)

I hope you love these little pillows as much as I do! I can say that my collection is quite sizable, and will honestly probably keep growing! They are just such a fun, easy, and unique piece of room décor that can add quite the personal touch, don’t you think?

What kind of décor takes the cake in your house? (Ooh, cake pillow next?!)

Stay lovely,

DIY Valentine's Day Inspired Sleep Masks!

When I shuttled myself up to Aggieland last August to start the whole college business, I gained an absolutely beautiful room! I’m slowly building up wall décor for this space, but lucky for me, I get to skip a whole wall! Why you ask? (And this is even luckier.) Absolutely giant windows!!! They are incredibly beautiful and make everything feel so airy and fun. The only problem then is that when it starts getting light outside, my brain goes, “time to wake up!” Early rising like this would be an awesome thing, except for the fact that I regularly stay up far too late! So as we blissfully glide into spring (yes, that it what the transition feels like to me), I decided to whip up some fun sleep masks for that rising sun in the early morn!

DIY sleep masks aren’t really new, a quick Pinterest search will show you that, but I’ve been dying to try out my own embellishments. And then a day full of hearts and pink and love and stuff comes barreling towards me so I said, “why not Valentine’s Day inspired sleep masks?” (Check out me and my dialogue tonight. Obviously, I am now a fiction author.) I mean talk about a fun and personalized gift!! AND I get to once again use the fabulously sparkly glitter fabric I purchased for my Bright Side/Monday Side Pillow—it comes in so many colors! Yayyyy!

You will need:

A sleep mask to use as a pattern or this nifty template I made ya

1/4 yard black satin fabric

Glitter fabric sheets in the desired color (You could probably also spray on glitter with a product like this one!)

Scissors of the craft and fabric persuasions

Scrap fleece

Fabric glue (I used this brand)

Needle ‘n thread

Sewing machine

Fold over elastic (also nifty for a DIY Elastic JournalClosure *shameless self-promotion* or hair ties)

Step 1

Click here to download a sleep mask template and print it on computer paper! Or if you don’t like my overall shape, use your own mask as a template (or in my case my sister’s mask)! A quick Pinterest search will also get you what you desire and you can create the embellishment templates in a word processing program! All those are 2.5” in height, just to give you all the options you could possibly want.

Step 2

Cut out the mask template from the computer paper. Fold the satin parallel to the selvage to the height of the pattern and pin on the template, then cut both layers at once! (You can trust me, it’s pretty easy.) The fleece will also be cut from the shape inside the seam allowance if you would like to do that at this step.

Step 3

Trace and cut your embellishment from the glitter fabric! It is actually easiest to cut with regular scissors, for the record. Make sure if you are using certain letters such as “L” or “C” that you trace and cut these face down, or they will come out backwards!

Step 4

Attach the glittery embellishments to the right side of one of the satin pieces. I put just a little glue in the center to tack them in place, then made a running stitch by hand around the perimeter of the shapes to be all fancy-like! I would also recommend tacking down the points of a letter such as the x with a needle and thread even if you decide to glue everything. Otherwise, these points tend to stick out and look awkward, especially when the mask goes with the curves of your face.

Step 5

Cut your fold over elastic so that it comfortably stretches around the back of your head from temple to temple. Mine ended up being 13.”

Step 6

Now you will stack and pin your pieces for sewing. Start with the unembellished satin piece, right side up, followed by the elastic, also right side up. Since the elastic will be wider than the mask, you can go ahead and pin the ends down straight across from one another. Place the embellished satin piece face down on top, and pin everything together, sandwiching the ends of the elastic between the two satin layers.

Step 7

Stitch it all up, leaving a 2” gap at the top for turning, and using a narrow seam allowance.

Step 8

Notch the curves of the sleep mask by cutting out little triangle shapes. This will make everything lay out more smoothly and beautifully at the end.

Step 9

Turn the mask right sides out and push out the curved edges, then iron them on a low setting from the unembellished side to get pretty, clean curves (without melting your glitter vinyl).

Step 10

Insert the fleece piece you cut earlier and smooth it out between the layers. If it is too bunchy, you may need to trim it down a little. Once its’s in place, slip stitch that gap closed.

Step 11

Now take a gosh darn nap, because you worked very hard and have something pretty to help you out!

One of these babies is soon to be on a trip to Ohio to wish my bestie a very Happy Valentine’s Day—sorry for the spoiler Theresa dear! Sweet dreams love!

I do have to say that this little guy is so SO comfy! Between the satin, fleece insert, and fold over elastic at the back, this is one of the comfiest sleep masks I have ever tried on. I mean I might be a little biased because I get to look a little like my favorite emoji now, but I’m not completely lying! And it is well suited for that very beautiful and very bright window.

Some other cute variations on this idea include animal masks, the classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s eyes, or the addition of puns and other lovely words! What kind of sleep mask would you put together? Maybe one with emoji eyes?! (I mean, really, they’re emoji eyes.)

Stay lovely,

DIY Bright Side/Monday Side Pillow

I am officially warning you to prepare yourself for lots of DIYs concerning pillows. When I decided to be a small child and go for a day bed in my college room, my dream included all the decorative throw pillows. And thanks to Christmas this past year, that dream is slowly being realized! But now that is has begun, the momentum is crazy and I am prepared to face my hatred of sewing in order to make my pillow dreams come true! Do you dare to face the beastly sewing machine with me? (Or maybe you don’t dislike sewing. Then, you are a better crafter than I.)

This pillow is reversible, and says “Bright Side” on one side, and “Monday side” on the other, because I sometimes have difficulty seeing both sides at once. But you know what they say—Look on the bright side! (Even on Mondays.)

You will need:

1/2 yard black cotton fabric

1/2 yard white cotton fabric

White glitter fabric sheets (2) (found at Hobby Lobby by the felt sheets & pompoms)

Gold glitter fabric sheets (2)

Computer (optional)

Cardstock

Pencil

Scissors

Fabric glue (I used Aleene’s Fabric Fusion because it doesn’t have to be ironed and comes in a nifty pen-type bottle)

Sewing machine, fabric scissors, a needle and thread

Step 1

In a word processing program, format your phrase so that one word fits each entire page width wise or use this premade template! Print on cardstock.

Step 2

Cut out the letters and trace each word IN REVERSE on the back side of the respective glitter sheet with a pencil (the words “bright side” in gold and “Monday Side” in white). Cut the letters out of the glitter sheets using regular scissors. This medium is bendable like fabric vinyl, so cutting around the letters and even in their centers is surprisingly easy. You can clean up the edges with a craft knife if you think you need to.

Step 3

Iron and cut a 17” square out of each color of fabric. Lay out the letters, and adhere with fabric glue, focusing on the pointy ends of the letters most. To match the spacing and placement of the letters, glue the white letters onto the black pillow first, cover with a piece of wax paper, and place the white piece of fabric on top. You should be able to see through the white fabric to space and glue the gold letters to it in a similar manner. Let dry completely.

Step 5

Pin the fabric right sides together, and sew up with a sewing machine or running stitch, leaving a 1/2" seam allowance, except for a small section on the bottom edge of the pillow. Snip the corners sthat they fold nicely inside. Turn the fabric right sides out, stuff liberally, and stich closed by hand with a slip stitch.

If you want an elephant pillow, try this tutorial and upsize the pattern! (My sister made it for me!)

In case you can’t tell, I really appreciate punny wordplay type-of-things, and this was a really fun way for me to incorporate that nerdy love! If you don’t want to go through cutting out the letters, you could also use iron-ons or paint instead, but I’m just a little too picky with my typefaces, sparkles, and formatting for that.

Are you convinced I’m obsessed with pillows yet? Anyone share that obsession?

Stay lovely,

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