Christmas Eve Pillows

I can't believe it's taken me so long to post this! We had a wonderful Christmas and really enjoyed the Christmas break together. Usually my husband works during the break between Christmas and New Year's. This year he had the week off so we had lots of family time. We also have a birthday in our family early in the New Year (more on that in a different post). We went back to work/school/daycare on Monday but by Monday night 2 of us came down with the a tummy bug that has been going around. By the end of the week all 3 kids and I had had the bug. We are all back to normal now though.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve after we go to mass, we get together with my husband's family for some snacks and togetherness. After we have a snack each child is allowed to open one gift. For the past 3 years I've been making something for my kids for Christmas Eve. This year I made pillows with their names appliqued on them. Two of our kids have unusual names so they will hardly ever have anything with their names on them unless I make something for them.

I searched high and low for some reasonably priced pillows that would be the right size. I really didn't want to spend anywhere near $20 on a pillow that would be used as a pillow form. I got lucky and found 1 pillow at Wal-Mart on clearance for $6 early in December. Then I spent the next 2 weeks searching for 2 more cheap pillows. I finally found some at Sears on clearance for $7 - which is still at least $3 cheaper than the small pillow forms you can buy at Fabricland (I think they are more than $10 but I can't remember). I measured the pillows to determine the size of the pillow cover I wanted and included a zipper in the bottom so the cover can be washed seperately from the pillow. Two kids love blue and one loves orange. I couldn't find any sturdy solid orange fabric so I had to settle for blue for him too - which worked out perfectly anyway since the boys share blue room. I used a cotton canvas since I wanted something very strong and sturdy for the base of the pillow. I thought this would help to secure and support the applique as well.

For my daughter - Caelen (I know the n looks like an r in this picture but the pillow is really full).

For my oldest son - Tyler.
For the youngest - Rhett.

They love these pillows and sleep with them every night.