Pillow Happy (or cooped up in the house on a cold, winter day)

So, I was bored the other day and it was just too cold and I was too lazy to bundle myself and two wild children up to take them anywhere.  I desperately wanted a project to work on.  But, what in the world could I do that did not entail a trip to Hobby Lobby?

I recently had replaced the pillowcases on our bed.  We received them as a wedding gift off our registry 5 years ago.  While they were expensive sheets, they had seen better days. After I replaced the pillowcases, I wadded them up and threw them in the kitchen garbage can.  Fast forward a few hours and I am laying in bed trying to go to sleep.  True story:  my mind began wandering and I thought of those pillow cases laying in the garbage can.  "I could use those for something", I thought.  For what, well, I didn't know...but, something!  So, I jumped out of bed, went out into the garage and dug through the trash bag that had already been taken out.  There, about halfway down in the bag, were my pillowcases covered in black bean "juice" from the Mexican meal we enjoyed earlier that night! I pulled them out, tossed them in the washer and went back to bed!

Back to my bored, stuck-in-the-house with two wild children day.  I remembered the pillowcases that were still in washing machine.  That could be my "project"!  I threw them in the dryer and the gears began to turn.

First, I cut the frayed and tattered edges off the case leaving the big, rectangular "body" of the case.  (Note: I set these aside.  I still may think of something to use these for.  I have learned my lesson and did not throw them in the kitchen garbage with the remnants of our evening meal!)  I folded the pillow case over, using the double layer of fabric to give some reinforcement to the lightweight sheet fabric.  I stitched all around, leaving a open section for filling the pillow.  I turned it right side out and did a top stitch for a more finished look.  Nothing fancy, just a basic pillow.

Now, this was a cute little pillow, but it needed a little whimsy added.  What could I do?  I remembered this fabric from a bag project I recently made (more on that in a later post).

The pillow cases obviously already match my bedding and the fabric is a perfect match to the wall color in my bedroom.  Score with the "free" fabric scraps!!  I began scouring the internet for some type of embellishment where I could use my scraps.  I found two that I loved.  Lucky me, I had two pillows.  I did two different embellishments...the first were these frayed fabric rosettes I found on this tutorial.

Aren't they cute?  And they are so simple!  So simple, in fact, that I was able to complete these while intervening as my girls were literally lapping up water out of the dog bowl.  Fun times.  Later, my "crafting" was interrupted as the aforementioned dog bowl was shattered on our ceramic tile and I had to drag out my trusty Steam & Sweep for glass cleanup. Have I told you how much I love my mop?

Anyway, for my second pillow, I made a single, large fabric flower which I found here. (Have I mentioned that Google is my best friend?)  I love how it turned out!

Doesn't this spruce up our plain jane bed?

Still thinking on another type of pillow to go in the middle - who knows what I may dig out of my trash can!  You may also notice that this picture kind of shows another lonely little corner of my house - above my bed.  Still thinking on something fun to go up there.  Maybe a vinyl decal? Hmmm....