Decorative pillows are a fantastic way to change the decor around your house for each season without breaking the bank. But often finding a place to store these pillows you accumulate can become rather tricky. Which is why swapping out full pillows for simple pillow covers is the way to go.
Which allows you opportunity to get really creative and experiment with your decorative designs. Might I introduce the concept of pillow-bombing? Pillow bombing is the act of a strategically timed replacement of all of the pillows in a friend’s home with pre-decorated prank pillow cases of your own. Do they hate the word, “Moist”? Every pillow now has “Moist” sprawled across it. Are they not a fan of people soliciting religion? Oops… all of the pillows on your couch now have some super cheesy Jesus quote upon them. Perhaps there is the perfect inside joke within your friend group to easily repurposing all the pillow cases in your life.
Or… You can also just make your own DIY Seasonal Throw Pillows for the actual use of decorating your home for the holidays. Boring, but I guess. Let’s begin:
MATERIALS:
- Pillow Cases of varying sizes
- HTV Vinyl
- Sublimation Printer, Paper, etc.
- Heat Press and the like
- Cricut, Cricut Design Space, etc.
For my personalized pillow covers, I’ll be making blatantly obvious, over-the-top, not real Jesus propaganda pillows to bomb my friend’s belated birthday present while staying with her for a wonderful weekend of bonding. Be chill — It’s a year’s long running inside joke thing…
Collect Pillow Cases of Varying Sizes & Material
For my project I knew that I would want to sublimate some of the cases, so light colored polyester or poly/blend fabric would be best. I was even lucky enough to find some 100% polyester based satin pillow cases at the dollar store for exactly that. I knew I would cut out the simpler shapes and designs using my Cricut. So any time I would be out shopping, I would be on the lookout for a deal on pillow covers. Amazon was also a good resource for cheap pillow cases.
Eventually I collected a large variety of shapes and sizes, which was great because I had very little idea of what actual pillows I would be pillow bombing at my friend’s home. (It had been a while since I last visited, and this scheme wasn’t in the works back then). I knew I would bomb her bed, so standard pillow cases were great for that. And I knew she has square and rectangle throw pillows in the living room, so I kept my fingers crossed that the selection I had acquired would do the job.
***Super Duper Budget Hack: If you really want to save money, (especially if this is just a one-off prank), use an old sheet and a hot glue gun to create your own DIY pillow cases. Simply use the pillow being covered as reference and cut the sheet a bit larger, taking in account the depth of the stuffing and room for the seam. Glue three of the four sides, turn it inside out and — poof — your own DIY pillow case.
Design Your Pillows
I scoured the internet for inspiration, and I began creating concepts to start applying to my sheets. Some were designed to be cut out on vinyl with my Cricut, while others were designed using Procreate or Canva to be sent to the sublimation printer. Alternatively one could design all of the elements to be made on Direct To Film (DTF) transfer sheets.
With everything cut out and printed, it was time to start making…
Heat Press The Pillow Cases
The real work horse for this project was my little 9×9 Cricut Easypress.
With any designs using Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV), follow the manufacturer’s recommended settings. For this project, the heat press was set at 320 degrees F for 15-20 seconds per press.
For sublimation printing, set the heat press to 380-400 degrees F for 20-35 seconds, depending on the fabrication of the pillow case.
If you are using Direct To Film, abide by the DTF transfer manufacturer’s temperature instructions. Generally, a temperature of 275-325 degrees F, with a short 7-10 second press is recommended.
After everything was created and cooled, it was just a matter of timing…
Stage Your Pillows
Food, drinks, friends, fun. …More food. After a wonderful weekend together, Brooke and I had to part ways. She works for the school district, and had left before I had even woken up. All part of the plan…
With the house empty, it was time to stage my scrupulous plan. I unpacked all of the pillowcases from my travel bag, and rushed into her room. One at a time, I replaced each of her bed’s pillow cases with one of my own. I then cased her living room’s decorative pillow collection strewn upon the furniture.
…and then… I packed up my luggage, turned on the dishwasher, and was on my way home. Rather anticlimactic, I have to admit.
That evening, however, I finally was able to see my handiwork pay off. Around 8pm a slew of notifications lit up my phone. Videos of her and a friend, fresh from a dinner date, doing a walkthrough of her own home, giggling uncontrollably and trying to read aloud or comment on each image that had encompassed her home. It seemed to have very much tickled her funny bone. She even called the next day to let me know she would be keeping them around for a while; every time she sees them she would bust into laughter.
And there you go
…A belated birthday present that cost little more than some time, and brought a smile to a friend’s face.
What sort of pillow bombing can you come up with? I’m always fishing for ideas, so leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for checking this post out, and Okay, bye!!!