Written by Dina of Honey & Fitz

Whenever I design a kid’s bedroom, I try to include a personalized element. Kid’s love things with their names on them right? This super easy DIY gold foil pillow (no sewing involved!) combines 2 things I love – a hint of metallic sparkle and a personalization.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 pillow cover – Pick a size and color that works for your room. A solid color works great but this could be fun on a pattern too. Etsy is a great spot for finding inexpensive, solid colored, linen pillows. If you want to do a full name, I recommend a 12″x20″ pillow like I used. If you want to do just a monogram or initial, a simple square would be perfect.
• Iron-on gold metallic vinyl
• Scissors
• Template

Starting with your selected pillow, determine the right size for your letters. This will vary based on the name you’re working with. For my pillow I needed 4 letters and I ended up making each 750pt in Microsoft Word. I put the ‘e’ and ‘a’ on their own pages and the two l’s on 1 page and printed them all out on card stock.

Cut out all your letters and trace them IN REVERSE on the back side (the silver side) of your vinyl.

Once you have all your letters cut out, play around with the position of them on the pillow. I like to hold a tape measure along the bottom of the pillow and then hold a straight edge along the bottom edge to line up my letters.

Once you’re satisfied with your layout, iron on the first and last letter. This will give you a nice line to work within for the middle letters.

Before you iron on your first letter, iron the pillow cover itself and warm up the fabric. This will let the vinyl adhere more uniformly. Then, holding your letter firmly in place, begin to move your iron over the letter in quick, circular motions. It doesn’t take much to make the transfer and you’ll immediately see the letter change from smooth to more textured. Keep the iron moving so as not to scorch the vinyl. It’s probably a good idea to use a pressing fabric (an old plain white t-shirt, for example)

Let your letter cool completely and then go back and peel off the clear protective layer. It’s not immediately clear that this exists but run your nail around the edge and give it a little tug. Peel it back to reveal your sparkly work!

(If at any point while you’re peeling the protective layer away you notice the vinyl itself pulling up, don’t panic! Place the protective layer back down and hit it with the iron for another second or two. Let it cool and try again.)

Stuff your pillow with a down insert 2″ larger in length and width that your cover. Fluff and enjoy!

Now that you’re armed with the basics, get creative. Don’t restrict yourself to a name – you could do anything! A great big heart, a star, an anchor…even create your own pattern with a few smaller pieces ironed on in a grid. These would make great baby shower gifts right?

I recently shared a sweet little girl’s room I designed where I used one of these pillows on the bed. Check it out here.

Dina Holland is a blogger and interior designer. She lives in Boston, MA with her husband and two young sons, Knox and Reed. She shares her adventures in DIY, interior design work and the renovation of her century old home on her blog Honey & Fitz.