Last week we visited the DS to pick some items for Ethan’s school project and of course I couldn’t leave without taking a little walk down the aisles for potential DIY projects. That’s when I spotted some plain vinyl totes. I saw potential and brought them home….
Having been inspired by a Chanel towel I spotted in a magazine with the word ‘plage’ (‘beach’ in French), I knew what I wanted to do. I taped and painted several stripes in various shades of blue and painted the word ‘plage’.
You can obviously see that my letters were hand painted (use a stencil to make yours look more polished).
Pretty, no? But we’re not quite done yet…
I love staging my final products and believe that taking the time to stage is as important as creating something beautiful. When I photograph bags, I usually stuff them with pillows and books or whatever I find around. The above is a behind the scene photo of the inside of the bag.
I have made and showed you several bags before (here, here and here) and each time I thought that they would make pretty pillows if only I had a sewing machine.
This fabric was a little different and I knew I could easily convert this tote into a pillow by simply hot gluing the opening and cutting off the handles. And so that’s what I did.
Love the pop of blue against the white…
I painted a PB inspired octopus pillow to go with my summer beachy theme. I like the faded uneven look of the picture.
The pillow in the background is also handmade with red sharpies. I’m experimenting various ways to give the illusion of Ikat print. Hopefully I’ll find an easy way to show you. In the meantime, I hope you feel inspired to make your own pillows from dollar store totes.
Not bad for less than $2.00.
much love,
Lucy
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what a sweet craft idea, and so nice that it’s cheap 🙂
Have a great week!
tereza
I love it, Lucy. What a great idea and you can’t beat the price! I do think staging is what makes most blogs! I need to DO that! I just kind of plop and shoot…I need to take a few lessons from you- xo Diana
Just beautiful, Lucy! And that octopus is just wonderful! I love the bright blue against the white…and I love the “behind-the-scenes” photo…staging is infinitely important and can definitely make or break a post. You are a complete master at it…
Love em! Great job!
You are so clever! These are wonderful pillows and totes. Love the octopus!
Love! I’ve been wanting to get some new summer pillows for the living room. The prices have scared me off! Now I think I know how to resolve my dilemma! Thanks 🙂
I am way too obsessed with that octopus, it is totally adorable! Fantastic work!
Wow Lucy this is so awesome. I just love this and the colours are just perfect. This was such a wonderful post. I would love it if you would share this at our WIW linky party. I hope you can join.
Paula
ivyandelephants.blogspot.com
I love your octopus! (How could I not having a tentacle as my logo ^^) I also made a lot of octopus pillows over the past, I just love how they look like and yours fits perfectly in your colour style!
What a great eye! Your beautiful photos make the project really pop!
Lucy girl, you are too much. These are beautiful. I featured you again!
http://socialsalutations.blogspot.com/2012/06/friday-im-in-love-dreaming-of-beach.html
XOXO
Jenn
amazing! Great job!
Love your octopus. It looks very Thomas Paul.
I did storatge boxes with sharpies and paper trying to make ikat. Fabric sounds like a better ida.
Brilliant! Is it my eyes or does the bag look more square and the pillow looks rectangle. How did you achieve that? TFS!