This easy DIY pillow tutorial has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KYTrySomethingNew #CollectiveBias
After the newlywed phase wears off, you begin to settle in to your marriage. You get comfortable and that can be a great feeling. However, you can’t let things cool down. Although things may not be hot and heavy on a daily basis, it should still be hot!
My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years now. In fact, our anniversary is tomorrow. Sometimes it takes an effort to get past the day to day events and spend some intimate time together. Recently I came up with a cute idea for letting each other know when we’re in the mood.
Tonight /Not Tonight Pillow
You may have seen a Tonight / Not Tonight pillow before. One side says “tonight” to show you are ready for some fun. The other side says “not tonight” to indicate you’d rather get some extra shuteye.
I decided to make a pillow like this, but add my own little twist with a third option “How about…” This way we can make some suggestions. Then I realized… I don’t know how to make a pillow! I’ve mentioned a few times that I am not the most crafty person. I can come up with ideas, but can’t always find a way to see them through.
No-sew bolster pillow
I did a bit of research and found that you don’t need to sew in order to make a pillow. There are actually some really easy ways to get the look you want. Since I wanted 3 options to be written on my pillow, I couldn’t use a two-sided pillow. Instead I needed an easy way to make a bolster pillow. Here is what I came up with…
How to make a DIY bolster pillow with writing
Supplies needed:
- Bolster pillow form
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Instant bond fabric tape (not the kind that requires an iron)
- Thin permanent marker
- Thicker permanent marker
- 2 rubber bands
- 3 pieces of printer paper
- Printer
- Light box (optional)
Directions:
Step 1:
On your computer, create the words you want and make them large enough to be read on the pillow. Print them out, one set of words per page.
If you like the font I used, you can download and print the words I used here.
Step 2:
Roll the pillow form up in your fabric and then cut to size. Make sure to leave at least 5-6″ extra on each side and 3″ extra around the circumference of the pillow. You may need more if your pillow is larger.
Step 3:
Iron the fabric to remove wrinkles.
Step 4:
Lay the fabric out with the back side facing up. Measure (or eyeball like I did) where the center is and tape one of the pages to the fabric with the words against the fabric. I had fabric that made it easy to keep the paper straight. If yours isn’t easy, make sure to measure to keep the paper straight on the fabric or your words will end up crooked on the pillow.
Repeat with the other two pages making sure that they are relatively evenly spaced on the fabric. (I don’t have the patience to be exact)
Step 5:
Turn the fabric over and use the thin permanent marker to trace an outline of the words.
If you are not able to see the words easily through the fabric, you can do one of the following to trace your letters:
- use a light box
- tape the fabric up to a window (be prepared for an arm workout)
- or use a flashlight app on your phone and place it under the paper to show the words more clearly (don’t press down too hard if you use this option)
Step 6:
Fill in the outlines using the thicker permanent marker.
Step 7:
When you eventually wrap the pillow, you will want a finished edge. Turn one of the long edges over about 1/2″ and use the instant bond fabric tape to create a finished edge.
Step 8:
With the words on the fabric facing up, roll the pillow form up in the fabric (this mean the outside of the pillow will not show the words).
Making sure the pillow form is centered in the fabric, gather one end of the fabric and wrap a rubber band tightly around the gather. Repeat on the other side. Your pillow should now look like a piece of candy.
Step 10:
Remove the pillow form from the fabric and turn it right-side out. The gathered sections wrapped in rubber bands should now be on the inside of the fabric cover.
Put the bolster pillow form back in the fabric making sure that the rubber band sections are laying as flat as possible.
Tip: if it looks like you have too much fabric inside the ends of the pillow, cut some of the extra fabric off of the sections gathered in rubber bands.
Step 12:
Pull the fabric tightly around the pillow and seal it closed with instant bond fabric tape (finished edge of fabric should be on top).
Your pillow is now complete and you and your spouse can have fun letting each other know!
Ideas for “How About…”
For my extra section of the pillow (“How About…”) I thought we could add a note of what we want to do, or put a certain outfit next to the pillow. When I was at Walmart the other day, I saw this display for K-Y® LOVE Sensuality Pleasure Gel and K-Y® LOVE Passion Pleasure Gel and I knew I wanted to pick some up to put next to the pillow!
If you don’t see the display above at your Walmart, you can get it in the Family Planning aisle as well.
Now that the cooler fall weather is right around the corner, how do you plan to heat things up at your house? Get more ideas here.
Renee Marchol says
Stacey! This is so positive and lovely! Continues #loveisrespect #loveisconsent #loveshouldnthurt in marriage! Thanks for modeling this. And happy anniversary!
Molly says
Yes!! Such a great idea, and your tutorial is so great! Thanks for the “How About…” idea, think I’m gonna use it 🙂
Linda says
Thank you,I love the pillows.
Elizabeth O. says
I love the DIY print on the pillows! So easy to do, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of doing it before.
Dawn says
This is a neat idea! I am not crafty either, so I like that it’s a no sew project.
Carrie @huppiemama says
This is such an awesome idea! This technique can be used to make so many different “bedtime” pillows. #client