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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Quick! I Need Pillows...

My decorating style is constantly changing. (Yep, I'm ADD - as they used to call it when I taught school, oh so long ago.) I change my accessory colors on a whim! (the furniture moves too!) Now the fact that I am frugal (cheap!) and I really cannot sew makes this a real challenge. That is, until I saw an idea (who knows where I saw it) for using placemats as pillows.

Well, I stored this idea in my brain for a very long time...until I found the most adorable placemat at Steinmart...

Thankfully, this cool abaca cloth and raffia mat had a loose back and was easy to open up a small part of the stitching and stuff. Then all I had to do was hand sew it back (just don't look at my stitches!)
Voila...a cute pillow!



Well, my success with this got my creative juices flowing and I began the GREAT PLACEMAT HUNT.
Here are a few of my finds...

These two place mats actually had fusible webbing between the front and back, but with careful "pulling", they separated...and made a beautiful, albeit a little stiff, pillow. They are good accents on the bed in the guest room.








Pillows in waiting...

Not one of these placemats shown cost more than $3.00. Which means that each PILLOW cost no more than $5.00 to make...including stuffing. All the placemats were found at Steinmart, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx.

Happy hunting!
Jane

21 comments:

Ms. Bake-it said...

What a fabulous idea! I especially love your seahorse and starfish pillows! Now you have my mind working on ideas... Especially considering some of the pillows I have been looking at recently are too expensive for my frugal nature.

Thanks for sharing this idea with us!

~ Tracy

Bama Belle said...

GREAT IDEA! WOW I love this, you are so creative This is a must try. Big hugs!

Sharon said...

I echo the ladies above... Great idea!

Kat said...

This is a great idea! I love that blue and green stripe - so summery (hurry up summer!). I am definitely sewing challenged. I think my "great home-ec incident of 1972 is in Wilkipedia lol. But I might be tempted to try this. Kathy

Tammy518 said...

That's so cool! I would have never thought of it.

Shellbelle said...

When I first came to visit today and saw that flamingo pillow, I loved it! AND then I read that you made it and then I read what you made it from and girl, I have one word for you — BRILLIANT!

I saw some cute placemats at Beall's Outlet the other day and I'm going back over to see if they're still there!

Maria Killam said...

Wow that is such a great idea! That's creative!!

Jamie said...

Don't you just love HomeGoods! The Flamingo pillow speaks to my heat. Thanks for the idea.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

I love your placemat pillows. They are so pretty and what great colors. I love to change my color scheme often too and this is such a great idea. Gorgeous. Hugs, Marty

Maya @ Completely Coastal said...

I love that idea! And I saw it somewhere too, a while ago, but didn't keep track.

Unknown said...

Im ADD too. I think it is a pre-req for us creatives. I swear if I ever focused the things I could get done would be SCARY! hehe

Our Porch in Hillsborough said...

What a fabulous idea - especially since the really cute placemats with great embellishments don't always fare well in the laundry - and pillows can go much longer between washes! Also, thanks for the great comment on my blog today - my parents' wedding silver is Joan of Arc so I always look for pieces of it, too. I'd love to visit Silver Queen, but at least I'm close to Replacements . . .
Have a great weekend!

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Very nice, Jane! You did a great job!

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Genious!! What a wonderful idea.
Happy Valentine's Day hugs ~lynne~

beachvintage.com said...

This is just a fabulous idea Jane, I love the flamingo one!

beachvintage.com said...

This is just a great idea Jane and I love the flamingo one.

Laura Trevey said...

What an amazing idea!!!
xoxo Laura

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

What cute ideas! Now I'm going to start looking for some neat placemats!!

Thanks for sharing your Valentine's Day celebration with me!

Katherine

Mary Bergfeld said...

You are far more clever than I. Too much time in the kitchen has dimmed my wits :-). Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

DesignTies said...

What a great idea!! Love the turquoise & green striped "pillow in waiting" :-) I have a feeling you'll be making a LOT of pillows in the next little while :-) Hey, you could even whip up a couple for your grandpuppies :-)

Kelly

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

GREAT IDEA! You found some great fun placemats, Jane!