Turn Your Child’s Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels

BonBon Break

  Turn Your Child’s Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow

~:: by Amy of While Wearing Heels ::~

Fall is in the air and school has begun, again.

I just sent my daughter off to preschool, for the first time…

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels

And the art, she so lovingly has created, during her hours away from me, is already stacking up.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @Bonbon BreakSure, I’ll hang most of it up and at the end of the year I’ll store it away in a box labeled preschool.

But the problem with storing it away in a box is just that…it is stored away in a box.

Out of sight, out of mind.

So, instead, I’ll appreciate it.  I’ll use it.  I’ll decorate with it.  Sure, I could frame it but why not turn some of that art into a custom pillow. [EXPAND CLICK TO CONTINUE READING>>>]

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

Don’t worry, if you don’t sew, you can use a pre-made pillow {as long as the case is removable from the pillow}.

To get started, you and your little Picasso can pick your favorite masterpieces.  Set up a photo shoot and take some crisp clear pictures of the artwork you want to use.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

Next import your photographed art into PicMonkey, a free photo editing website, and create a collage.  Have fun figuring out the design and arrangement.  If you want to add a quote, or the grade the collection of art was created, pull your newly created collage into PicMonkey’s ‘edit a photo’ tab.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

If you decide to add a quote, or if the art work itself uses words or numbers, you will need to transpose your image.  This can also be done with PicMonkey, in the basic edits section under rotate.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

Pull your image into a word document to determine the size you want.  Print a test page on copier paper to check the size.  When you have the size you want, print it on the transfer paper.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak
Cut your image out, leaving some excess around the edge of the image.
Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

Center the transfer paper, face down, onto the fabric source you want to adhere it to and iron it on. White fabric will work best since the transfer paper does have a transparent quality to it.

*If applying it to a pillow, make sure you remove the pillow prior to ironing.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

When the paper has cooled, gently peel the backing of the transfer paper off.  The image is now permanently affixed to the fabric.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

And, a custom pillow is ready to be proudly displayed.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

The possibilities are endless.  Using this transfer paper technique you could add the collage to a tote bag, a T-shirt, or even a quilt.

I love the idea of creating different squares of treasured artwork, one for each year of school, and displaying them in a quilt that will certainly never be forgotten.

Turn Your Child's Artwork into a Keepsake Pillow by Amy of While Wearing Heels @BonbonBreak

Picasso was right, every child is an artist, so why not display their artwork in a way that can be appreciated and used and not tucked away in a box.

ABOUT AMY: Amy, from While Wearing Heels, suffers from a severe form of Crafter Attention Deficit Disorder SO does her blog. She finds herself doing a lot of tutorials. What sort of a tutorial really depends on the week (crafts, hair, home decor, how to extract a bento box cup from your dog after she has eaten one). She likes to share things she thinks are interesting or helpful and hopes to get that across with a few laughs thrown in.

Join the good times and ideas with Amy on Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook.

This piece was written by Amy of While Wearing Heels exclusively for Bonbon Break Media, LLC

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