I’ve been in a fight with my Christmas Decor.
I want it to be hot pink, purple, teal blue, glittery, sparkly…kind of like our Halloween house. I walk the aisles of Target and ooh and ahhh. And I’ve had this idea in my head for a month to make fun Christmas pillows in those shades, maybe with sequined balls?
But as I pulled the old decor from the attic last month I realized that everything we have is a complete 180 from such flashy ideas.
In the boxes were these orange and green snowflake ornaments made of natural wood (bought at Target last year). And I found our red Christmas balls….and our wooden Christmas tree village…and a lot of things that were more traditional and natural shades.
Not hot pink.
So…my concession speech.
Decor, you win.
I could replace you entirely but I’m not ready to ditch the old items and pay for the new. Maybe I’ll phase you out over time. But for now Christmas is yours and I’ll jump on board. When else do I get to use red in our house? (it’s nowhere in our everyday decor). A woodsy, orangey/green, more natural look sounds fun.
And we’ll shake hands on a rework of my Christmas pillow idea.
Does it get any easier?
If you need a last minute splash of Cheer, pick your favorite Christmas saying and stitch it to a pillow. So easy! (for any holiday)
Other ideas that would work with our color scheme….
It would be fun to make two throw pillows for opposite ends of the couch, one with fala lalala; the other with la la la la. Or you could make 5 small pillows in different colors each with a “fa” or “la”….
Or a Ho Ho Ho.
Or Jingle? Maybe sew little bells in place of the dots on “j” and “i”?
Endless options.
Here’s what I did:
* Grab fleece and felt, whatever color you want. I went with natural shades to match our snowflake ornaments.
* Decide what size/shape you’re making. You can make a slipcover for a pillow you already own. Or sew the new pillow shut with an insert pillow or stuffing inside. I made a slip cover.
* Cut a front and back to your pillow from Fleece (or cotton, muslin, knit, whatever you want)
* Create and print your letters on paper first, from a Word doc (or Sillhoutte cutter, Cricut, or draw them by hand). I used IMPACT font at 500 pt size. To save on toner, outline the letters by highlighting the letters, go to Format, Font, and click “outline”.
* Cut out the letters and trace them to felt. I find that tracing the letters backward reduces the chance of stray pen marks showing on the right side of the fabric.
* Cut out the felt letters and pin them in place on the Pillow front.
* Sew each letter to the pillow front, about 1/8 inch from the edge of the letter. When sewing circular letters don’t tug the fabric or it will be stretched and wonky. Sew small bits at a time and then stop, lift your presser foot, and allow the fabric to bounce back.
* Finally, sew the front and back of your pillow together and stuff.
Done!
Nicely stitched letters on the front:
Slip cover on the back:
And there it sits on my favorite chair.
It’s not your typical Christmas color but I like the flavor it adds to our house.
I love felt! This book looks amazing!
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