no-sew Easter & spring pillow

I do not sew. Not even a little. Alright, maybe a button here and there but it’s not pretty. I so wish I could sew. My mom just gave me her sewing machine and I have looked into taking sewing classes but just haven’t taken the plunge yet.

I see ideas or projects that involve sewing and it makes me very jealous. For example, pillows. I love pillows and I think they are one thing that can really transform a room. I change mine depending on the season or holiday as much as I can. If I could make my own pillows I would be in heaven. I’ve seen pillows made with all sorts of materials including old jeans, T-shirts, burlap… with fun embellishments and trims. So someday I will learn to sew. But for now, I will just keep adding no-sew embellishments to existing pillows.

And since my home is desperately in need of some spring touches, I decided to “make” an Easter pillow that could also be used throughout the spring. I had done a bunny stencil last year and figured I could paint this on a roll of pink burlap and add that to a pillow I already had. But then I went to Target. And, oh their pillows… I found an adorable gray and white chevron outdoor/indoor pillow for $8. How could I pass that up? So my bunny stencil, pink burlap and my new gray and white chevron pillow. Bam! We have an Easter/spring pillow.

Here are the instructions for my no-sew Easter/spring pillow:

1. Download and print out my FREE bunny stencil. Click here to download. I provided 2 sizes of bunnies – I used the smaller one for this pillow. After you download and print, cut the bunny shape out with scissors or an Xacto knife.

2. Gather your other materials: white acrylic paint, a 1/2″ pom pom, a small paint brush, glue gun, scissors, buttons, thread & needle, and a 4″ burlap roll {I used pink burlap}. The roll works better than a piece of burlap because the edges won’t fray. But if you want a rougher more free-form look, go with a piece of burlap cut to your desired size.

3. Measure and cut the burlap so that it wraps around the entire pillow, adding about 3 more inches.

4. Fold over the trimmed burlap edge and glue a hem on it.

5. Mark where the bunny image is to go on the front and remove the burlap. Place a piece of scrap paper under the burlap and paint the bunny stencil on it in the correct position. To get a good image, I kept the stencil down with paper clips and also held the edges down while I painted. I used inward strokes with my paint brush to prevent the paint from bleeding. Burlap is rough and the image will not have perfect edges. That’s the beauty of it. But you might want to try the stencil on a piece of scrap burlap to get the hang of it. This is also why I didn’t glue the burlap piece on the pillow until after I painted the stencil – just in case I messed it up.

6. Glue the pom pom on the tail.

7. After the paint dries completely, attach the burlap to the back of the pillow with the glue.

8. Pull it tight and attach the hemmed edge with glue also. Be sure to use the glue sparingly – it can seep through the burlap and create big clumps.

9. Add 2 buttons to the back if you’re feeling it. I think this step adds a nice finishing touch and allows you to turn the pillow around for a more generic springtime version.

What do you think of my no-sew Easter/spring pillow? If you don’t feel like tackling a pillow project, here are a few other options for the bunny stencil. Enjoy!