How To Make The Cutest Stenciled Ornament Pillow Covers
I'm so excited to share the news that I'm one of the new members of the Int'l Bloggers Club. A group of bloggers from around the globe who come together every month to share a themed DIY project. This month the theme is cotton and so I'm going to show you how to make the cutest stenciled ornament pillow covers for the holidays.
You may be thinking, Marie we haven't had Halloween yet and already you're doing Christmas! I know, I get it, but when the cotton challenge came up I had already planned on making these holiday pillows so I fast-tracked my plans.
I've been following the Int'l Bloggers Club since they formed in 2016. I love the idea of blogging friends from different countries being creative together using products from their regions. I'm so honored to have been asked to join this talented group of ladies. Links to my friend's cotton projects are included at the bottom of this post.
Before we get into the how-to of these pillows, I have to share my solution for condensing our overflowing collection of seasonal pillows. I went from bags of pillows taking up an entire shelf in the storage room to all of them fitting inside ONE drawer. The solution; have one set of pillow inserts and change the covers ONLY for every season|holiday.
During a trip to IKEA in late summer, I bought two orange and two white cotton pillow covers. I made DIY Checkered Pillow Covers For Fall with the orange ones and now I'm using the white ones for these cute Christmas Ornament Pillows.
Okay, enough blabbering here's how easy it was to make these stenciled ornament pillow covers, starting with these supplies.
You could eliminate the need for fabric medium by using either fabric paint or multi-surface paint in holiday red. I used what I had on hand.
Next, cut cardboard or craft paper to fit inside the pillow covers. This will prevent the paint from seeping through to the back of the covers.
To get an easy orientation for using all five ornaments without having to lift the stencil and realign for the bottom two ornaments, I sliced & diced the stencil and taped the pieces together. I'm not going to lie, it was hard cutting up a stencil but no matter how I tried aligning them with the full stencil on my practice boards, they never lined up nicely.
The ornament stencil comes in multiple sizes so you could use a larger stencil than my 8 1/2" x 11" with fewer ornaments. The possibilities are endless.
Attach the bows to the bottom of the ornament ribbons with a needle and thread, folding the raw edge under to eliminate any fraying.
These are super easy to make and took me all of a couple hours from start to finish. I love the pop of red against the white and the simplicity of these pillows. They would work with any holiday theme and I could see them on an entryway bench to greet visitors.
Red is my favorite color and so these are going to look great with the other red decorations that will be incorporated into our living room when we decorate for the holidays.
For more DIY Holiday Pillow inspiration you may like these Burlap Skating Silhouette Pillows that I practically made in my sleep. I also made these DIY Snowflake Pillows with mini mirrors. Here are some more budget-friendly DIY holiday decorating ideas.
You may be thinking, Marie we haven't had Halloween yet and already you're doing Christmas! I know, I get it, but when the cotton challenge came up I had already planned on making these holiday pillows so I fast-tracked my plans.
Stenciled Christmas Ornament Pillow Covers
I've been following the Int'l Bloggers Club since they formed in 2016. I love the idea of blogging friends from different countries being creative together using products from their regions. I'm so honored to have been asked to join this talented group of ladies. Links to my friend's cotton projects are included at the bottom of this post.
Before we get into the how-to of these pillows, I have to share my solution for condensing our overflowing collection of seasonal pillows. I went from bags of pillows taking up an entire shelf in the storage room to all of them fitting inside ONE drawer. The solution; have one set of pillow inserts and change the covers ONLY for every season|holiday.
During a trip to IKEA in late summer, I bought two orange and two white cotton pillow covers. I made DIY Checkered Pillow Covers For Fall with the orange ones and now I'm using the white ones for these cute Christmas Ornament Pillows.
Okay, enough blabbering here's how easy it was to make these stenciled ornament pillow covers, starting with these supplies.
This post includes affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. See my full disclosure policy.
I used two white IKEA Gurli 20" x 20" 100% cotton pillow covers, an adorable Ornament Stencil, 2 rolls of 3/8-inch UNwired tartan holiday ribbon, and a small stencil brush.
For the paint, I used Holiday Red acrylic paint, fabric medium, Silver glitter paint, and Champagne glitter paint.
I used two white IKEA Gurli 20" x 20" 100% cotton pillow covers, an adorable Ornament Stencil, 2 rolls of 3/8-inch UNwired tartan holiday ribbon, and a small stencil brush.
For the paint, I used Holiday Red acrylic paint, fabric medium, Silver glitter paint, and Champagne glitter paint.
You could eliminate the need for fabric medium by using either fabric paint or multi-surface paint in holiday red. I used what I had on hand.
Prep before stenciling the pillows
The first thing you want to do is wash the pillow covers in warm water, hang to dry, and iron on a medium heat setting.Next, cut cardboard or craft paper to fit inside the pillow covers. This will prevent the paint from seeping through to the back of the covers.
To get an easy orientation for using all five ornaments without having to lift the stencil and realign for the bottom two ornaments, I sliced & diced the stencil and taped the pieces together. I'm not going to lie, it was hard cutting up a stencil but no matter how I tried aligning them with the full stencil on my practice boards, they never lined up nicely.
The ornament stencil comes in multiple sizes so you could use a larger stencil than my 8 1/2" x 11" with fewer ornaments. The possibilities are endless.
Stenciling the pillows with base color
- Spray the back of the stencil with low tack stencil adhesive and wait around a minute before setting onto the covers.
- Once you have your placement, rub your hand over the stencil for good adhesion to prevent any paint bleed.
Stencil Tip 1: Add a border along the edge of the stencil with wide painter's tape. This will prevent accidentally pouncing over the edge of the stencil and onto the pillow cover. You won't regret taking this extra precaution, ask me how I know.
- Mix 1 part fabric medium to 2 parts holiday red craft paint and stir well. If you're using fabric paint or multi-surface paint you can skip this step.
- Dip a stencil brush into the paint and offload onto a paper towel until very little paint is left on the brush.
- Dab the paint onto the stencil and repeat until you have full coverage.
- If you have experience stenciling you could speed the stencil process by rolling the paint with a foam roller.
- Note: Before lifting the stencil to move onto the second pillow cover, read the next step first.
Stenciling the pillows with top color
Once the holiday red base color is dry to the touch (mere minutes) let's add some sparkle to those ornaments!- Depending on your preferences you could go with either silver or gold sparkles.
- I wanted both so I mixed equal amounts of silver and champagne glitter glue onto a plastic takeout lid.
- With a small stencil brush, I applied the glitter paint exactly the same way as the holiday red.
- You're essentially removing the excess liquid and left with the sparkles and a bit of glue on the brush. There are no rules, add as little or as much glitter on the ornaments that suits your fancy.
Stencil Tip 2: Remove any paint that may have seeped onto the back side of the stencil with a baby wipe before moving onto the second pillow cover.
Ribbons and bows for the ornaments pillows
- Cut 10 strands of 3/8-inch tartan holiday ribbon in 14-inch lengths for the ornament ribbons.
- Cut another 10 strands approximately 7-inches long for the bows.
- Grab a dinner fork and watch this video that I found for a super easy way to make tiny bows.
Attach the bows to the bottom of the ornament ribbons with a needle and thread, folding the raw edge under to eliminate any fraying.
Attaching the ribbon to the ornament pillow covers
- With no-sew fabric glue and a small paint brush, brush the back of the ribbon strands, working in sections, and glue them onto the pillow covers. The strands will hang over the covers and we'll trim them once dry.
- Secure with painter's tape until dry (mine were left overnight).
- Remove the cardboard or craft paper inserts.
- Trim the excess ribbon flush with the edge of the covers.
- Trim the tails on the bows at a 45º angle.
Important: The fabric glue must be heat set with an iron after 72 hours. I placed a white cotton pillowcase over the pillow covers, set the iron to the cotton heat setting, and ironed over the ribbon.
These are super easy to make and took me all of a couple hours from start to finish. I love the pop of red against the white and the simplicity of these pillows. They would work with any holiday theme and I could see them on an entryway bench to greet visitors.
Red is my favorite color and so these are going to look great with the other red decorations that will be incorporated into our living room when we decorate for the holidays.
For more DIY Holiday Pillow inspiration you may like these Burlap Skating Silhouette Pillows that I practically made in my sleep. I also made these DIY Snowflake Pillows with mini mirrors. Here are some more budget-friendly DIY holiday decorating ideas.
Join me and visit the links below to the other DIY "cotton" inspired projects...
I share my projects at these fabulous link parties.
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