During the winter months our den usually looks like this:
But it just wasn’t jiving with my spring timey feeling. I needed a little splash of color. So it was quite fortunate that I ran into this little placemat the last time I was at Pier1.
The two sided colorful piece was on sale in the clearance section for…oh yeah….only 98 cents. I loved the colors and couldn’t help but think that perhaps it would look good in our den. Plus, it coordinated with the pillows that I put out in the adjoining living room. I can’t help loving being matchy-matchy….it’s a sickness, I tell ya.
I know that I outlined how to make a placemat into a pillow before…but this time I wanted to do it a little differently. Instead of stuffing the fiberfill directly into the placemat, I ripped open one seam and added a 9″ hidden coat zipper. It was really quite easy and all I had to do was follow the directions that came with the zipper. Then I used the feather pillow insert that was in the previous chocolate brown pillow cover. It actually is quite convenient…because now I only have to store a pillow cover (which takes up about 3 square inches of room) versus an entire pillow (saving me 21 square inches – valuable space for a packrat like me).
While I was sewing the placemat into a pillow cover, I brainstormed other ways to add a little more pow to our monochromatic den. Then it hit me…why not add some flowers to coordinate with our new flowery pillowcover!? Man…I should be given an award for this kind of genius.
Enter our hydrangea bushes.
The hydrangea bushes we planted last year were in full flourish and were quite robust with blooms. Aren’t they divine?
I cut a handfull of stems and plopped em into a blue bubbly hurricane vase I scored at Goodwill for $8. It was so simple and beautiful. Plus, it coordinated with our new pillow perfectly (see the big blue hydrangea on the pillow?).
So that is how our den got an under-ten-buck makeover perfect for welcoming the warmer months. Pretty cool huh? I like it like I like bacon-wrapped-bacon. The question is…do you love it? How bout them hydrangeas? I never met a hydrangea I didn’t like 🙂 Or perhaps you are just excited about turning one of your placemats into a pillow cover? Or maybe you have another method for saying Hola to the summer months…do tell.
I love it! I think the pillow/placemat looks adorable, and I am so jealous of your hydrangeas! I’m in New England and ours is still filling in with leaves, and there are no blooms yet. It’ll be at least another month before that happens 🙁
Also – I’m glad you’re blogging on a more regular basis again. I love the pictures of Will, and it’s nice to have some of your fabulous home decor stuff too. (And, I have two babies, so I know just how hard it is to do, well, anything, while they’re around!)
That’s a beautiful pillow! Definitely want to try that one of these days
Ok bacon girl… You must try these evil appetizers- take a ritz cracker, put Parmesan cheese on it, wrap with raw bacon and bake on a cookie tray… It’s awful and amazing at the same time. Your world will be changed!
I can’t believe how big your hydrangea bush is after just one year! I am j-e-a-l-o-u-s! It’s beautiful and I hope to have one of my own someday!
Love the pillow and the hydrangeas! We have a bush near our house and every other evening me, the hubs and doggie go for a walk so I can pick some, bring them back to the house. Our house now has blue hydrangeas scattered all over the house and I love it!!
very nice! great job!
Beautiful hydrangeas! I love the pillow too. 🙂
I wish we had some land for some hydrangea bushes. We live in an apartment. I will need to go to my parents and pick some of theirs!
I love hydrangeas! It is hard to have them because we can live in apartment. Maybe I can add them to some planters.
I love the colors! You find the coolest/best priced stuff.
They just shut down the only Pier 1 near me : /
love it!! I did that same thing recently with napkins from Pier 1!
I picked up that same pattern from Pier 1 but it was a table runner – I love it!
Great idea for sure going to keep my eyes open for place mats on sale!
That looks gorgeous! I love your idea of turning an affordable placemat into a pillow and I’m going to steal it as soon as I can. 🙂
Love that place mat pillow! Now the only question is…is it still available at my Pier 1? I sure hope so!
yay! Love the splash of colour! And I SOOO want a hydrangea bush – are they hard to look after?
Looks great! Any ideas how to do this for someone who just CANNOT sew for the life of her? Is there a way to re-seal the pillow without sewing?! 🙂
Thank you for such a great idea.
I love the placemat pillow! What a great find!!
I love the placemat turned pillow! Just beautiful
Take Care,
Lisa
P.S.
Will is so adorable!
I love Love LOVE hydrangeas and being matchy-matchy! Are we sisters separated at birth?! 🙂
I think the hydrangea is an underrated flower, but to me, a cluster in a vase is more beautiful than roses.
Love the pillow (what a great price for the placemats!), and I do love love love hydrangeas. I’m hosting a bridal shower for my cousin on Saturday, and hydrangeas will feature heavily into the decorating 🙂
The pillow is Fab!!! I love adding color for spring and summer!!
I love that cute pillow-what a great (inexpensive) idea! I’m totally a hydrangea lover too.
PS-the new header is adorable! 🙂
I love that placemat pillow! It’s a brilliant idea and the fabric is gorgeous. The punch of color it adds is perfect for summer. Well done 🙂
I would also kill for hydrangeas. Sadly, they don’t do so well in Arizona. The sun would scortch them into oblivion so I must continue to live vicariously through you 🙂
Hi Rachel,
sure… there’s a way to tackle this project without a needle or thread…all you have to do is get some iron-on Velcro at your local craft store. After ripping one of the seams, add the Velcro so that it’s invisible when closed. Hope this helps!
XO kbo
That is such a pretty fabric for a pillow (or curtains, too)! Love it!
I also never met a hydrangea I didn’t like, I can’t wait until my blooms but that probably wont be for another month or two. I wish I could get in the spring spirit but it is still very much still winter like in my neck of the woods. Ah, what I would do for some sunshine and colorful flowers.
Just found your site–you’re a hoot!!
I love me some hydrangeas, too!
Katie!! Love your blog–love your living room!! I actually work part time at Pier 1. It’s so hard to not spend your entire paycheck there!! Check your local store frequently. (Well, as frequently as a newborn can allow) Items are marked down every week.
Love it! The pillow, the hydrangeas, the vase…love it! Your den photos are fabulous!!
My hydrangeas just started blooming but I did take a photo right before they did.
http://ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com/2010/05/sweet-shot-tuesday_25.html
and I got some for Mother’s day that I made into a ‘souper’ centerpiece.
http://ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com/2010/05/souper-thrifty-centerpiece.html
I’m so thankful that someone else in this world shares my obsession for hydrangeas :). We moved into our house last spring, and come summer time it was the best surprise of them all!
Your’s look WONDERFUL!! I just noticed yesterday that I’m starting to get blooms :)!! Can’t wait!
Looks FAB!
Clearly great minds think alike. I got these same placemats on clearance in February (with 2-$20 coupons) and made them into tote bags. So cute! (Check mine out here – http://newlywoodwards.blogspot.com/2010/02/practically-free-placemat-totes-and.html)
Hydrangeas are my favorite! And that pillow is Springtime perfection. Love a good {and cheap} DIY project.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Actually, peonies are my favorite. But hydrangeas are a close second {I wouldn’t want to blog police to arrest me for that one}.
so pretty – love the placemats pillow!
love the pillow. and the flowers.
thanks for sharing!
I’ve been crushing on this print at Pier 1 the last few times I’ve been in. I love your pillow!
I’m also a hydrangea junkie… can’t resist.
I love this idea!! It is so simple, yet so effective!
I’m with everyone else, hydrangea’s are my favorite too! Mine don’t look nearly as good as yours though. We just planted four in our front yard a few weeks ago. Can’t wait until I get to enjoy the beautiful blooms!
Awesome Katie! I bought the matching napkin to that placemat a week ago to do the same thing!!!
Hydrangeas are amazing! The pillow too, but oh how I adore those flowers!
Hi Katie!
I am a long time reader, but 1st time commenter!
Ever since you added that ZGallerie Deer Head to your Wish List, you have had me positively DROOLING over it!
I was wondering if you could kindly tell me where you would put it in your house if you got one? Are you buying one?
Thank you!
From,
Andrea in Canada!
Hi Andrea P.
I would love that deer head for Will’s room…or over the fireplace. I can’t decide. And I wish I was buying one…but we are tryin’ to spend $0 on additional purchases right now….since Will was an additional expense that we adore having more than any home decor item, we put ourselves on a ‘freeze’ until we build our savings back up.
XO – katie
You know what’s funny? I just got my Better Homes and Gardens July 2010 issue in the mail today, and was flipping through when I thought, hey! Those are the same pillows I just saw on the Bower Power blog! And they are. On page 44, there are 2 chairs with the same pillows you have (of course they are actual pillows from Pier 1, not place mats creatively made into pillow cases, which in my mind makes yours much cooler), and they also have a vase of hydrangeas on the coffee table. How funny! I guess great decorating minds think alike.