I literally have the slowest internet on the planet.
Maybe even the universe.
Truly.
In the time I spend waiting for pictures to upload, e-mails to download, blog posts to pull up, trying to read posts….
….I could have written the sequel to war and peace.
And even with the slowest internet on the planet, it only took me thirty minutes to make this pillow.
Easiest. DIY. Ever.
Need a present idea for the house (or the person) who has everything?
This is the project for you.
This is such a fun way to personalize a gift.
What about a house or farm that has been in the family for generations?
What about a newlyweds’ first home?
What about a lake house or beach house or tree house or house that has special meaning?
Why not make them into a one-of-a-kind-special-you’ll-look-so-creative-and-amazing-and-it-will-only-take-you-thirty-minutes kind of gift?
To begin you will need to start with a picture of the house.
This was a picture I took earlier this year.
Back when the trees had leaves.
Using the Waterlogue app on your phone make the picture look like this.
If you don’t have an i-phone or i-pad you can also use PicMonkey.
Using the free version click on the second tab and then click on Posterize.
It creates a very similar effect.
After you transform your photo, you want to print it out onto a piece of transfer paper.
I’m transferring it to a cream pillow case (I found these at IKEA), so I used the light transfer paper.
You can find this paper at Wal-Mart or craft supply stores.
After you print it out it will look like this.
You can trim it to fit if there are any edges without printing on them.
Then flip it upside down and iron onto your pillow.
Follow the directions on the package.
Make sure you turn OFF the steam function and make slow 20 second passes over your paper.
Repeat until the paper has adhered to your pillow.
Let paper and pillow cool for two minutes.
Then slowly remove paper backing.
It’s almost like Christmas.
The image appears right there on your pillow.
Here’s the finished pillow.
My house smiled and told me thank you.
Now I’m off to wait on a few blogs to load. 🙂
PS Happy day and CONGRATULATIONS to Barbara Thiessen on winning the candle prize package!
PPS If you missed the candle giveaway, but still want to order one….we just re-stocked them in the shop. 🙂
I also just posted some fun last minute Thanksgiving table fluffing tips over on the Lamps Plus blog today. You can check them out here.
Wow. That looked easy. I am so going to try this. Love it.
Cute pillow and I know a thing or two about pillows! ☺️
gorgeous ... love this idea!!!!!! That waterlogue ..app s the bomb!!!! :)
I absolutely love this! Your blog is one of my favorites- I really enjoy your sweet posts, lovely photos and your great sense of humor! All the uploading time it takes to create your blog is totally worth it! :)
I have to walk down the road past my nearest neighbor to send text w/pic. Love your comment about war and peace.
Pinning for later. I think I'll do this with my daughter's pretty rental house and when she and her boyfriend (they live together) get engaged, I'll give as an engagement gift. Memories! Thanks so much Karianne for the tutorial.
Love it! What a sweet idea for a gift.
Love this!!! Going on my TO DO list for certain!!!! Hugs, Debbie
Love it! What type of printer did you use ... ink-jet, laser?
Beautiful ! Unique and inspiring for special gifts as you mentioned.
Cute pillow! I love Waterlogue!
This is a FAB gift idea. I plan to try to do one for my sister and her husband, who have spent the last 15 years restoring their old Spanish house. Now I hope it's as easy to do as you claim it will be :) Thanks!!
My daughter and son-in-law just bought their first home- this would be a darling Christmas gift. The app makes an unremarkable home, 2 story brick colonial, remarkable! Love this idea!! Thanks Karianne...love your posts AND your sense of humor too!
What a great gift for the one who has everything!! I may even be able to do this!!
This is a great idea, Karianne! Thanks for sharing! And congrats to Barbara!
Hi KariAnne! What an awesome idea! I love it and soooo totally doable! I do have one more idea on this - use your computer's feature to "flip" the image so when you print it and turn the image over on the transfer paper you actually have it facing the right way - so many farm houses have a multilevel where the left or right is two story and the other end is a one story so the picture will match! :)
What a lovely idea! My mother in law is downsizing, but there are a lot of great memories in her old house...I'm thinking this might be a nice remembrance for all of us!
the pillow is lovely....I just wanted to write and let you know how much I look forward to reading your posts...they can always make me smile ,just wanted to say thanks!
Totally a great idea. I will have to do this for Christmas gifts. Would even be good with family pictures or Family Reunion gifts…Thanks!!! Love your house too.
That is so cool! I have had a package of this kind of transfer paper for about five years, wondering why I had it. Now I know! Hope there isn't an expiration date on it!
Great idea, Kari Anne. Is there a way to do this project so that the picture isn't backwards?
Carol, I've flipped it with the printer before and I've flipped it as an image box in Word. I found this article that explains several different ways: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/reverse-image-microsoft-word-image-transfer-79240.html Hope this helps! karianne
awwww what a sweet pillow kari. You're so creative! gail
Oh, this is truly beautiful, KariAnne, and I like that it is simple enough that even I might not be able to screw it up...we shall soon see...hehe! This will actually make a really awesome gift for my best friend who will be moving from his longtime abode next summer...a kind of daily remembrance of the old homestead, you know? If I had a home as beautiful as yours, I'd be transferring its picture onto everything I own...seriously!
Love this and hope to do with Memory Keeper Farm. Still need to explore Picmonkey bless you for mentioning it! My internet matches yours!! So funny!!! That is why I got to bed get up at midnight to do blog seems like it is a bit faster then! Bless you for all you do despite Internet ills sweet girl! Enjoy that sunshine today!
Love this! Definitely going to do this for friends for Christmas!
Well, even though you have the slowest Internet in the Universe you still manage to get done more than ten. You are just a dynamo!! I love the idea -- what a great present to give or to make for yourself. I guess you're like the Energizer bunny -- your ideas just keep going and going. Sending big hugs!
This is the cutest idea ever! I have done the heat transfers before, but turning them into a watercolor of your home is just adorable. What a great holiday present for family. I might be making one of these for my grandmother of the house she grew up in!
Love this idea! This is just the gift that I needed for someone! Thanks so much for sharing:)
Oh, I want to try this....gonna get a pic of the first house we lived in and our home now....great idea!!! Thanks so much!
great idea, thank so much for the DIY instructions. Perfect for the person that has everything. Have a great weekend. Mary
Hi Karianne, beautiful gift idea. This reminds me of our watercolor picture framing you did a while back. I think this would also be a lovely idea to apply to a canvas tote and fill it with house-warming gifts for a new (or old) homeowner too. Nice. Enjoy your day!
JoAnn Fabrics carries a paper backed fabric in standard 8 1/2 x 11 that you can run through the printer and skip the iron. You just peal the paper off after it's printed and proceed. I made a coordinating fabric border to make my pillow bigger than the paper sized piece of fabric. And I LOVE waterlogue!
Adorable!! Love, love!!
A beautiful idea KariAnne....your home looks so beautiful on the pillow...or anywhere!
Very cool. I like this idea a lot.
Oh my goodness KariAnne, thanks to you I now have the most fabulous gift idea for my son who built his first home this summer and a friend who is saying goodbye to her home of 20+ years as they retire out-of-province. Thank you so much for the inspiration!!!
All that on your phone! great idea and I have everything but the pillow! time to go shopping! Thanks Karianne
A suggestion is to flip the image horizontal to make it appear as you see the house/image. If you don't flip then it will look backwards, especially if you have any numbers or letters. I love the suggestion of PicMonkey posterize. I use picMonkey all the time but haven't used that feature. Fabulous idea!
I've played with my Waterlogue app but I've never created a beautiful pillow like yours! Oh the possibilities! Right now I'm thinking that I might grab my dogs for a photo shoot and have their portraits on pillows for the couch in the den. You are brilliant my friend. Blessings, Patti
Beauteous. I know a sweet farm house that would love to grace a pillow, thanks for the instructions ;)