Pillows full of sentiment

Happy Wednesday everyone! I wanted to share a project I made for a friend because it was just so genius I'll probably be making my own soon. While I'd love to say this was all my idea, I cannot. Because it wasn't. My dear friend Mary asked if I could turn a couple of her shirts into pillow covers, and while I'd never done that before, I knew it could be done. Shirts are fabric too afterall...

You may be wondering what would make shirts so sentimental as to cause someone to want to keep them forever as a pillow-
well I'll tell ya-

The pink one on the left is a maternity shirt that Mary wore while pregnant with her daughter Rory, and she wore the turquoise shirt while in Ethiopia adopting her daughter Magy.

Pretty cool, huh?

I've got a couple maternity shirts I'll never wear again but would love to preserve in some way because they're special to me, ya know?

First, we picked out coordinating fabrics and then I got to cutting. I used the same technique as with THESE pillows except that I had 3 seperate pieces this time instead of 1. Same dimensions, with a piece in the front (the shirt), and two pieces that overlapped in the back to make the envelope part.

To create monograms on the front, I cut out letters with my cricut, flipped them backwards, and traced them onto the back of the fabric.

Then pinned them and stitched each to the front of the t-shirt piece. It's much easier if you're gonna add a monogram to do it before sewing the whole she-bang together.

After attaching the letters to the front, I laid the pieces of each pillow right-sides-together and stitched all 4 sides. Flip them right-side-out, grab a pillow, and there ya go.

An awesome way to hold on to a garment with special meaning without having to wear it. Maybe YOU have some special pieces that this project would be perfect for-

Before I sign off for today, I have to share two more things.

First: this pic of MM that I snapped with my phone a couple nights ago. I don't even think she understands about Santa and the chimney and whatnot, but doesn't this just seem as though she's looking for him?

Precious girly.

And 2nd:

I know there are several companies/organizations out there who are giving $ to various charities during the holidays and while we all would love to do our part, it's sometimes not realistic for us to volunteer hours of our time or give away loads of our money. There is, however, one company who is donating $1 to Toys for Tots for every viewing of this video-

so here's a way you can help and ALL you have to do is click this link.

That's it.

It's super short and just like that, you've (kind of) donated a buck to a great organization.

Happy Viewing!

http://www.luckie.com/santa/



craft #3: I loves my monogram

I was originally going to title this post,

"I'd like to add his initial to my monogram..."

ten-thousand bonus points to the person who can tell what song that's from.

Back to business-

today's craft is all about the mighty

monogram.

If you've been to my house,

or even seen pictures,

you know that I have M's all over the place.

In the foyer-

St. Patty's Day foyer decor

On top of the piano-

fabric M from Anthropologie- thanks Christa!

In the hutch in the dining room-

On the mantel-

(and that one even grew recently....)

large craft M from JoAnn

And on my front door-

Gold M and grapevine wreath, both from hob lob

So is it any wonder then, that I would want to include a craft that had to do with my Monogram?

no, it's no wonder.

Here's what I started with for this project-

a couple of 'M's from the hob lob (already had these),

and an 11 x 14 frame (picked this up from wal-mart for 5 bucks)

The M in the bottom of the pic actually fit better inside the frame, so that's the one I went with. The hardest part of this project for me was deciding how to 'dress' the M.

For example-

just yesterday I saw this post on My Blessed Life-

cute as a button, right?

I'm also loving that she spray-painted her frame.

pretty pretty...

Now, the button idea isn't new, in fact it's quite popular, and for good reason.  How cute would that be in a playroom?

Speaking of playrooms, here's another example I found several months ago

 from Dollar Store Crafts-

Not only is this a cute decor item, but what an awesome teacher gift as well! I was very close to gluing on the crayolas, but alas...

I knew the only room I could put my new 'M' in would be the playroom,

so-

I went with fabric.

because I just happen to have egads of it.

can I get a Roll Tide?

houndstooth is a pretty big deal in these parts, since the University is just down the street. Just wanted to clarify for those of you who are new here!

I found the large houndstooth fabric at fabric.com and I'm lovin it.

just like micky-D's...

I placed the 'M' on the fabric and marked where I'd need to cut slits so that I could fold the fabric over the letter and hot glue it-

I could have also traced the letter and attached that with hot glue, but the fabric would have only covered the top and I wanted the sides to be covered as well. It's really just whatever suits ya fancy, ya know?

Then I cut around the 'M', being sure to leave enough material to wrap and glue...

I started at the top, securing it with glue first so the fabric stayed put-

and no, I'm not working with a 'W' now, that's just what happens when you turn an 'M' upside-down.

Sarcastic much?

Next, I pulled the bottom of the fabric up and secured that with glue-

Then I moved to the middle section, pulling and gluing, pulling and gluing...

Until that whole 'M' was a Bama fan.

Next, I started on the frame-

since I already knew I wasn't going to be using the glass in the frame

(the 'M' is at least a quarter of an inch thick)

I set it aside for another project and took that lovely came-in-the-frame-picture of the smiling girl-

placed it on a piece of white poster board, and cut out a perfect 11 X 14 piece. I placed the poster board in the frame, replaced the frame's back piece, and hot glued my newly covered 'M' in the center of the poster board-

Whatcha think?

I love it!

Even on my kitchen desk, it looks fab!

And also....

did you see me?

I'm thinking of making a Hitchcock-ian appearance in all of my posts like that-

back to the craft...

And here she is in the foyer.

At 1:35 am.

Because that's when my kiddos are sleeping.

sometimes.

Not quite sure where it will live just yet, but I love that it can work in a playroom, as well as our family room or the dining room, or even a bedroom.

I loves ya, houndstooth M.

Welcome to the family...

So-

What would YOU cover your monogram in?

Do tell...

pssssssttt.....for info on how I made the mossy 'M' in my header, go HERE

 

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs,

We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado,