It’s easier than you think to DIY your own pillows!
When my son was 3 years old (gulp, a decade ago!), he was in love with his preschool teacher. His preschool teacher had a love for cardinals, and the next obvious step in this chain is that my son developed a love for cardinals.
Or as he always said, “red birds”.
He was always the first to spot a red bird wherever we went or from way across our backyard! He was mesmerized by them. He would write stories, draw pictures and stare out his bedroom window looking for them.
It’s become his quirk. I always buy him a “red bird” gift for Christmas. It got a bit easier as his love for red birds turned into a specific love for the Arizona Cardinals. We’re seriously going on a decade now of this interest, and he swears up and down that he will be traveling across the country to attend college in Arizona in 5 short years. But we’re going to go ahead and ignore that proclamation, because this isn’t a post about how easy it is to get me to cry!
Instead I spend my time incorporating cardinals in small, abstract ways into our decor. It would be a lot easier if I had more of a country decor style! I tend to lean more towards funky modern, so I often have to DIY my “red bird projects” rather than find them on a shelf in store.
When I saw this Flock of Cranes Paint-a-Pillow kit, I had to have it! Anything to get a 13 year old boy to smile and hug his mom, right?!
The kit arrives ready to go so you can get started immeidately!
I know it’s hard to see in the above picture, but the pillow cover insert is already in place with the stencil on top of it and secured. You seriously just need to pour some paint out and you’re ready to go!
Speaking of paint, they sell so many different colors of fabric paints plus rollers and stencil brushes. They also send you a sample piece of fabric with a small stencil so you can practice your technique before you get started on the actual pillow cover! I am not the best stenciler by a long shot (can we say “heavy hand”), so I super appreciated the sample to practice on!
Once I was ready, I rolled my black paint on using the styrofoam tray they provided. Then I used a small stencil brush for the red bird.
Once it’s dry, you unzip the end and pull the cardboard insert out. Then you just insert the pillow form, zip it back up and it’s ready to go! I spent about 10 minutes total on set-up and painting 2 pillows!
I love them and my son loves them! Think it will be enough to get him to stay on the East Coast for college?? That would be the real magic of Paint-a Pillow, wouldn’t it?!
