Sweater Pillow DIY

A few days ago a sad thing happened. My very favorite sweater (and pretty much my only sweater at this point) decided to get a teeny tiny hold in it. Normally I would keep wearing it, but this hole happened to be right in the chest area, and showed my wonderful purple bra off to the world (I only have one bra right now too, boy do I need to go shopping!). I love this sweater, mostly because it is 3/4 sleeve. I genuinely hate long sleeves, and always roll them up, so this saves me a step! After much sadness I decided the sweater could no longer be worn and decided to throw it out.
Before I had even gotten it over my head I decided that it might be perfectly useable in some other way, and my mind decided that it should be made into a comfy cozy pillow cover so I can keep feeling it's warmth.

A few days later I tracked down some thread, a needle, and some scissors and went to work. I cut all the way across the sweater just under the arm pits so I had a tube top like thing. I also cut off the sleeves for use in a let project. Not sure what yet, but we will figure something out! I then turned it inside out and hand stitched the entirety of one side.
This would probably have gone faster if I had used my machine, but my white bobbin was missing and I did not have an empty one. So I sat and stitched while enjoying a nice glass of water and watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars.
I then turned it right side out, inserted the pillow, and carefully hand stitched all along the other side of the pillow.
It took about an hour altogether, but now I have a soft warm pillow perfect for the Holidays and cold weather.
Since it went so well, I grabbed a pillow whose cover had gone missing, and some green damask pattern fabric I had bought for Halloween and made up another little pillow.
They now both grace my favorite little red chair from Ikea (which needs a cleaning badly!). I imagine it will be the perfect little spot for sipping some Hot Cocoa this holiday season as I admire my Christmas tree and wait for my husband to get home late at night. It sure put me in a holiday mood, so I got out a garland that never made it into the Christmas storage and put it up as well. So now my house is slowly on it's transformation to a Holiday haven.

So What Do you think I should do with the Sleeves? I am thinking either some type of vase cover, or making them into rice bags. Any other suggestions out there?

Hero Up: Superhero Sign Tutorial

Sorry for the hiatus yesterday. My husband skipped school for the afternoon, so I was busy coming up with a few awesome projects to work on for a submission for a design team call.
 A few of the projects were ones I already had  in my head for other purposes, one being my boys superhero room. They have been asking to have a Superhero room for several months now, and my head has been spinning with a bunch of ideas on how to do it. I am not a huge fan of the Character sets you can buy, so I am trying to craft their room around primary colors, with a really graphic retro look.

The first project I worked on for their room is a pair of Superhero automotopia signs that say "Ka-pow" and "Wham". These were pretty easy, and they turned out so good that I wanted to share how I made them with you!

Materials Needed

• 2- 12 x 12 canvases 
• Mod Podge 
• Foam Brush
• 5- 8.5 x 11 Sheets Black Cardstock
• 3- 8.5 x 11 Sheets Yellow Cardstock
• 2- 8.5 x 11 Sheets Blue Cardstock 
• 1- 8.5 x 11 Sheet Red Cardstock 
• Silhouette Machine
• Ka-Pow cut shape
• Wham cut shape

• First thing you need to do is open up the cut shapes in the silhouette. They are sized to fit an 8.5 X 11 sheet, but  we want to make the bigger. Un-group the shapes (Ctrl+U) and layer them on top of each other so you have it made into the final shape. It helps to fill each piece with the color you will be cutting it from. It should look something like the picture to the right. Now re-group the layers (Ctrl+G), and re-size the group so that the largest side is 11 inches. Make sure you have "lock aspect ratio" selected so you don't get it stretched strangely. 

• Next we are going to un-group them again (Ctrl+U) and separate them. If you have a Silhouette Cameo you can just cut each layer as is. I have a silhouette SD, so I have to cut up the pieces so they will fit in my cutting area. Start with the bottom layer (Yellow on Ka-pow, or Black on Wham), and center it in the cut area. Then take you knife tool and slice down the center of your image. Repeat on all layers you cannot fit in the 8.5 x 11 space. It should look similar to the picture to the right. You will end up with five peices for the "Kapow" and six pieces for the "Wham". 
• Cut each piece from the appropriate color cardstock.
• Starting from the bottom layers, assemble and Mod Podge each layer on to a 12 x 12 canvas in order. Make sure you use plenty of Mod Podge! One all layers are added on Mod Podge the entire surface, or spray with an acrylic spray to keep your masterpiece in place. Let dry thoroughly.
• Hand them to your children and let them pretend to be superheros before you hang them (the pictures, not the kids!) on the wall.

There you have it! Super cute Superhero art work for your kids room! I would estimate that the pair of signs cost me about $5 to make. That is a super deal! :)


When the boys room is all done I will make sure to give you guys a tour! There will be lots of DIY and re-purposing  going on. Some of the currently planned projects are a superhero mod podged table, a superhero tea set, and a superhero dress-up station! Stay tuned for the details!