Pinterest Challenge Painted Pillows

Has it seemed like I've been distant lately? I'm sorry if it has felt like that but life is strange right now. We're facing down a year of sporadic deployments which are starting soon and I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with it since it will be our first long bit away from each other since we've been married. I'm thankful I'll have my mom, brother, and a house full of cats so it won't feel too lonely but it's still going to be an adjustment. 

I've been working on some projects though so hopefully I can get back to a more regular blogging schedule. 

Today I'm participating in the Pinterest Challenge that Young House Love and a few other bloggers are having on Wednesday.

I've seen lots of pillow DIYs on Pinterest and I've even painted curtains so I didn't think painting a pillow was too much of a stretch. I had some extra canvas from my drop cloth curtain project. 

For a while I had no idea what I would paint. I toyed with the idea of a monogram, a silhouette, a random pattern or design... I didn't know what.

So, I visited my "Our Rental" board on Pinterest and saw this cute sign that I had pinned.

Sign from Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co., $20

I immediately knew that was it! I drew a stencil so I could place it on the pillow in the exact way I wanted and taped around it with masking tape. 

I used the same paint I had leftover from the painted curtain project- just regular old acrylic craft paint. 

I gave it two coats and peeled off the tape before it was dry very carefully to insure crisp, clean lines. 

With right sides together I sewed around the pillow and left an opening to turn it.

I then stuffed it and sewed the small opening... and bam! Done. It turned out so adorably! 

I think it looks great in our little dining room nook with my thrift store bench (that I bought for $9.99, I still can't believe it was that cheap!).