How to Decorate for the Holidays with DIY Throw Pillows

I came across so many cute holiday throw pillows and covers online this month. Unfortunately, I had a promise to keep. In my last post, I shared how I vowed not to get carried away decorating our home this year. And I planned to keep this promise. But honestly, I was feeling a little down about this, the couch needs holiday cheer (I kept telling myself). And being the DIYer that I am, I got to doing some research and was able to pull off making some DIY throw pillows. That’s right!

They are not perfect but hey I had a lot of fun making them and the family loves using them when we hang out in the living room.

First, I searched google for a vintage truck and pine tree image of my liking. I did not use a photo editor because to be quite honest, with a one year old at home, sometimes I just have to keep things simple. So, I just traced both images on to pieces of paper right from my laptop screen. Once on paper, I went over it with a black sharpie and then traced it onto the fabric. I used a pillowcase that I no longer needed for my fabric and cut it to 20×20, leaving a little extra for sewing later.

I used paint that I had at hand, and I mean the kind of paint that you use on walls. Shocking right? I got this idea from House Updated, check out the tutorial here. It really works, I’ve washed the pillow a few times and the paint has not faded one bit. And the paint doesn’t feel rough to the touch either.

On the pine tree, I just used a silver sharpie and that has not faded either. It may look otherwise but I promise the streaks were left that way on purpose. I feel that it gives the pillow character.

I let the paint dry overnight and washed the cover in the morning. Then I stuffed it with some fiber filling that I already had. You can get some filling at a craft store like Michaels, they have poly-fil and even a fancier feather filling. You could also opt for buying a pillow inserts instead, IKEA has some cheap but good inserts. I was skeptical but am glad that I gave this a try. It decorated the space a bit, don’t you think?

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As I will make this my last post for the year. I will disconnect for the Holidays but you can keep track of my adventures via Instagram. See you back in January 2017!

Saludos,