DIY Watercolor Heart-Embellished Pillow

Hey, y'all!  It's no secret that I love to craft, and although I do all different types of crafts, sometimes I feel like I don't always stretch my creativity as much as I should.  Yes, there's a crafting comfort zone, and sometimes I get stuck inside my little zone.  Recently I had the chance to do a mystery box challenge--just the thing I needed to stretch my creativity a bit.  The idea behind the challenge is that a box of mysterious craft supplies was shipped to me, and when I received the box, I had to create something from the supplies.  From all the mystery and creativity stretching, my DIY Watercolor Heart-Embellished Pillow was born.

Now I know you're probably curious what was in my mystery box when it arrived, so here you go...

I received lots of goodies from iLoveToCreate.com: three stencils, a pillow cover, pink paracord, stencil spray adhesive, a roller, Fabric Fusion, and three types of Tulip soft matte fabric paint.  Luckily the rules of the challenge didn't require me to use every single item in the box in this one project.  If it would have, I would probably still be in the corner rocking back and forth freaking out because I couldn't figure out how to put everything together without having a hot mess of a project.  I mean, can you imagine a peace sign, "love," wing paracord painted pillow cover.  I shudder to think.  Anyway, I decided to focus on a few of the supplies and create a pillow cover with a watercolor effect that featured a big pink heart.

I started the project by utilizing the pillow cover.  I selected a bunch of Sharpies from my collection and some alcohol in a spray bottle to create a watercolor look on the pillow cover.  (I tried this technique previously with my Faux Watercolor Makeup Pouch.)

I scribbled over the white pillow cover with several Sharpies.  Notice that I scribbled horizontally.  That helps create a more realistic watercolor effect.  Once I had the pillow cover scribbled completely, I used my spray bottle to saturate the pillow cover with alcohol.  (I laid my pillow cover on waxed paper when completing this step to keep from staining anything.)  I then dried the pillow cover with my hair dryer and repeated the entire process because the colors weren't dark enough for my liking.  This time, though, I dripped alcohol over the cover, and I like the effect that created on the fabric.

Once I dried my pillow cover the last time, I printed a heart sized to fit the corner of my pillow cover.

I cut out the middle of the heart and taped it down onto the pillow cover.  I used the heart as a guide to glue the pink paracord down onto the cover using the Fabric Fusion.  I did two rows of the paracord.

Once the heart was adhered, I decided it needed to pop a little more.  I used Raspberry Tulip Soft Matte fabric paint and a paint brush to fill in the inside of the heart.  I then let the heart dry flat as instructed on the paint bottle directions.  Once the paint was dry, my brand new pillow cover was complete.  I stuffed it with a pillow insert and couldn't wait to snap some pictures of it.

I love how the pillow turned out!  It's a fun piece of Valentine's decor, but since it's not over-the-top Valentine's Day, it can technically be used year-round.

I love that you could create a pillow cover to match your personal style simply by using different color Sharpies and another embellishment in the corner.  Wouldn't a huge letter or number be cute in the corner instead of the heart? I have to say that I was a little intimidated when my mystery box arrived because I was worried that all my creativity would suddenly disappear and I would have no idea what to create.  As soon as I got over that initial intimidation, I had a lot of fun creating this project.  I guess stretching my creativity turned out pretty well.

Want to see what some of my friends made from their mystery boxes? 

 Check out Happy Hour Projects' Stenciled Gift Pouch, SevenAlive's Ombre Stenciled Bleeding Heart Pillow, It Happens In a Blink's Stenciled Love Pillow.

If you would like to win some supplies to create your own fun project, enter this giveaway for a chance to win your own Craft Stash, Udderly Smooth, and a $50 Starbucks gift card!

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Good luck! Related Post:

Stenciled Watercolor Makeup Pouch

1 Drop Cloth, 2 Designs, 3 Pillows

I haven't mentioned the room I'm designing at my mom's house for a while.  It's still a work in progress, but it's ALMOST finished.  I can't wait to show you the reveal!  I have been doing lots of little projects for the room.  The bed in the room needed pillows, so I decided to try something I've seen other people do: make pillows out of drop cloth.  

So I started with a drop cloth I got from Lowe's for $9.99.  I also invested in a rotary cutting tool and a cutting mat.  (I can't believe I just now bought one!  I should have a LONG time ago!)   

I found an awesome tutorial on how to make an envelope pillow cover here.  So I sketched out how I would need to cut my fabric according to those directions.

These are the measurements I used for the two square pillows.

I cut my fabric according to the directions, and I came up with two designs: