DIY Project: Stenciled Pillow

So, who knew finding rad pillows where such a nightmare? I sure did not.

For example, I just got these pillows, which arrived in the mail this morning. I got them on sale, at a killer price, but they were not returnable. When I ordered them, what was described on the website as "sequins" looked all kinds of gorgeous. I LOVED the look, and was literary squealing with happiness at my incredible "score". On arrived, it turned out what some people call "sequins" should have been called "sea shell buttons", and I was not pleased, to say the least. Sequins would go perfectly in my new office. Shell-button-covered pillows? Not so much.

However, the pillows are obviously very photogenic, since even my pictures make them look pretty cool, and a lot prettier than they are in person. But if you squint and look at the picture, with a little bit of imagination, you might be able to discern what I though they would actually look like, if they would have been made with actual sequins.

But there is no fooling anyone that these are "sequins" when you see them up close.

So, what's a girl to do with two pillows who scream "sea cottage" instead of "fabulous"?

Well... burning them did come to mind, but only for a second. Then I raided my craft supplies for 1 letter stencil, 1 black fabric marker, & 1 sharp blade.

First, I had to cut off all the buttons, and remove the thread left behind. It didn't take long, and I was left with a really nice, high quality linen pillow, complete with a hidden zipper.

The sea-shell pillows looks crazy good in pictures, and you can't event tell it's not sequins.

Here they look just like they did on the website, deceptively GORGEOUS & perfect for my room.

I started filling in my letters with my marker right away. I didn't work too meticulously, since I wanted a stamped, kind of rough look. Just as I thought "I better not have any typos" I quickly printed a typo. Le sigh. In the end, my repeated "it" got covered by a heart, and I'm ok with it as it is. Clearly, it's handmade, but it looks pretty good & offers nice contrast with the rest of my pillow population. I even kept one of the pillows in it's original, button-covered state. On it's own, it looks less cottage-y, and with a bit of squinting it looks almost half as pretty as it's picture.

The quote is from a David Gray song that my Husband & I listened to a lot when we met.

What do you think? An improvement, or best left as it was?