Our Hopeful Home: From Placemat to Pillow in 3 Easy Steps

Today I'm going to take a Christmas placemat and turn it into a Christmas pillow.

Do you love decorating for Christmas with holiday-themed pillows, but don't love their high price tags? That's me in a nutshell when it comes to Christmas pillows. But never fear -- I will show you how to go inexpensively From Placemat to Pillow in 3 Easy Steps just in time for Christmas.

While today's post is about Christmas pillows, I've been known to DIY other types of pillows as well. Like my Thanksgiving pillow made out of Pier One napkins.

floursack towel DIY pillow iron-on monogram decal

Or my monogram pillow made out of flour sack dish towels.

And every time I make a pillow I admit that I'm not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination. I usually use Stitch Witchery and iron things shut instead of sewing. I'm all for shortcuts, aren't you? And today I've got a great one. Only minimal stitching involved!

Target clearance white felt placemat red snowflakes

How about using placemats for pillows covers? I picked up these four gorgeous placemats on clearance at Target after Christmas last year. And when I say clearance I mean clearance.

Price: $1.18 each. Yes you read that right.

I knew when I bought them I was going to use them for pillows. They're made of a very soft, yet sturdy felt-like material on the front. The back fabric is a basic muslin. And the red appliqué flowers are just gorgeous. These really work well as part of my Christmas decor this year as I'm totally into red right now.

STEP 1: Rip out seam.

All you need to do is use a seam ripper to gently rip out some stitches, starting from one corner of the placemat. You need to make the opening large enough to be able to place your hand inside so that you can fill it with stuffing. I chose to open the seam on the side that did not have applique on it so as to avoid the possibility of it looking wonky and uneven after I closed it up. (I'm not the best seamstress, just sayin'.)

STEP 2: Fill with polyfill stuffing or pillow insert.

I chose the polyfill method. Keep in mind that if you choose to go the pillow insert route you'll have to rip out a lot more stitches and as a result you'll have a lot more area to sew closed!

STEP 3: Use needle and invisible thread to sew the opening closed.

The thread I use is called Coats Transparent. I got it at JoAnne's. It's a bear to thread onto the needle because its so hard to see, but it's great for invisible seams! This is especially important for those of us who were not born with a sewing needle in our hand. You can make a few mistakes but they won't be noticeable. (Don't tell anyone that I said that.)

My Cost:

Placemat: $1.18 Target Christmas clearance 2014

Polyfill: $1.00 Goodwill

Total: $2.18 per pillow. ( I already had thread and seam ripper.)

white felt placemat with red snowflakes noel pillow

And yes, I made two! At that low price I bought four placements. I think I'll make the other two next year. You might think that four of these pillows will be overkill but rest assured, we have a gargantuan sectional sofa that these will look incredible on.

winter white DIY Christmas red snowflake pillow

Here they sit in our foyer on my favorite slipper chair that I love to use for photo shoots. There's great light in the foyer on most days.

white Target placemat pillows red snowflakes red Noel pillow

The red Noel pillow is a Target dollar spot purchase. I think they all go really well together, don't you? I also think my placemat pillows give Pottery Barn Christmas pillows a run for their money. What do you think?

Expensive-looking pillows without the expense!

Well, Christmas is right around the corner! Are you ready? I'm done shopping and decorating but have not even begun to think about wrapping and baking cookies. Whoops. Today was the kids' last day of school so I say let the holidays begin!

Well, that's it for today, friends.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about
From Placemat To Pillow in 3 Easy Steps
and that I've inspired you in some way!

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