Friend, I feel like I might have the most amazing answer to seasonal decorating ever. How many million pillows and pillow covers do you have? A ton right!? Well this changeable decorative pillow cover idea will narrow down your pillow stash while making your pillow game stronger! It’s SO FUN!
I love IKEA, their pillow covers and inserts are affordable and cute. I get all my pillow inserts there and opt for the down pillow inserts because they are the coziest to me. I recently made a trip to IKEA and stocked up on some plain pillow covers to decorate myself and came up with this fun idea.
If you have some scrap material and Velcro you are good to get started! I’ll give you the step by step in a second, but first I want you to think about all the possibility this little pillow holds! You can change out it’s “face” every season, holidays, even on a Tuesday just because… it is THAT EASY and you will have so much fun designing pillows YOU love!
I wanted to start with a summery feel, so my first changeable pillow face was this cute Basil picture inspired by my recent dollar spot purchase at Target! They only had kitchen towels and I thought this idea would be great on a pillow, so I made it.
Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to put it into action. You can bet I will be making some more pillow face covers soon and I will be sure to share them with you. I’d love to see yours as well if you make some! Now here is how to get this little pillow situation started!
How to Make An changeable Decor Pillow
- I bought a ready made pillow cover with a zipper enclosure. You can make your own pillow if you want, here is a tutorial on a pocket pillow cover.
- Determine the size you want your pillow face to be, this will depend on the pillow size you start with. I used a 20 X 20 pillow for this project. I wanted a 12 X 12 face for it.
- Cut some 12 X 12 fabric pieces to use for your pillow face. I used old sheets that I had on hand, but think of fun fabrics, vintage fabrics, whatever style you have!
- Cut 4 – 2 inch pieces of Velcro.
- Lay the 12 X 12 face on the pillow and center it, use a measuring tape and make it even!
- Place the Velcro in between the pillow and the face, use fabric glue to secure the Velcro to each piece. FYI, I used the loop side of the Velcro on the pillow and the fuzzier side on the face because it tends to loose it’s stick sooner and this piece won’t be used as much as the base pillow.
- Once the fabric glue dries, separate the pieces and sew the Velcro to the bottom pillow. You will use this same method every time you make a new face, but will only have to glue the Velcro to the face piece. By sticking the Velcro to the existing piece on the pillow and gluing them to the face, you will get the Velcro pieces to line up perfectly each time with ease! I didn’t sew the Velcro to the face side because I didn’t want the stitching to show.
- Now decorate the face and make a ton to change out! Her is how I made the Basil pillow cover.
Basil Pillow Cover Directions
- I choose to make a Basil pillow cover because I love Basil and we cook with it often. If you choose to make a different herb pillow I suggest looking up pictures (actual images, not art images) of the plant you want to showcase. When you do check out the leaf shape, color and structure, how they group and where the meet on the stem. If you look at the plant like that it is much easier to break down and recreate!
- I used a piece of felt and free hand cut some different size leaves for my Basil.
- For the Basil typography part I used Scrapbooking stamps and gel ink! You could use A Maker’s Studio mesh stencils or if you have good handwriting (which I don’t) freehand it with a thin brush and paint or Calligraphy pen.
- I freehand brushed the stem with diluted Gel Art ink.
- Next I laid out my leaf design and glued it with my favorite glue for this kind of project.
- Once it was all dry I attached it to my base pillow! Super cute.
- Now tell me all the ideas you can think of for a cute pillow face and Pin it before you go please!!!
Shirley says
I really love your basil pillow! Very cute idea cutting the felt leaves for it. For me, that type of thing goes in the kitchen or dining room. Not that I have the space for it but I could possible use the design in another way, such as a picture. Keep Creating!
Kim at Salvaged Living says
yes you could do lots of things with this idea, it is in our little breakfast room off the kitchen, but it would really go just about anywhere in our house! have fun making your own
Kim Gibson says
Great idea! I too have a thing for pillows and have way too many….
Kim at Salvaged Living says
it’s a problem over here for sure lol!
Marie says
Some Bible Verses and promises in pretty lettering would be really neat. Then I could change them out as reminders or to fit my specific “life seasons”.
Kim at Salvaged Living says
i agree!
nancy says
Beautiful pillows.
Kim at Salvaged Living says
thank you Nancy!
Wanda Carter says
I love pillows too. The problem is the pillow itself. Our pillows get used a lot and before long the pillow is flat and out of shape. Is there a brand you use that is better for shape?
Kim at Salvaged Living says
I suggest getting down filled pillows, or down alternative. Go ahead and spend a few extra dollars on them…they are so worth it and don’t loose shape, you just fluff them and go on. I use the ones from IKEA, they are inexpensive and wonderful!
Kristie Vanderpool says
Hi Kim, love this project & would love to do something like this! Did you get the stamps at Hobby Lobby or somewhere else? Thank You❣️
Kim at Salvaged Living says
I’ve had the stamps a while and got them from a scrapbook supply store!