On this special day we made a batch of super easy plush pillows for the kids to paint, coloring book style!
To make the pillows, simply paint fun cartoony designs on canvas fabric and stitch them into quick pillows. Prepare a newspaper floor for the kids to spread out on, a variety of colorful fabric paints and lots of extra brushes and wet wipes.
It was super fun to help the kids paint and see which plush they each chose. It was honestly one of the best days I can remember in a long long time. 
Making these special days takes some effort, sure, but it's more than worth it! xo. Elsie
Credits// Author and Photography: Elsie Larson, Project Assistant: Katie Shelton. Big thanks to Doren and Pat for helping out with our fun day with the kiddos!
67 Comments
How fun! What a great idea for a kid-friendly craft afternoon. 🙂
Priceless memory-making right there! xox
How clever + an excellent keepsake! xo
this looks so so great! my nieces would just love this 🙂 and I love how you think about being aunts, it’s really something special, isn’t it? xx Cici
Such a cute idea, I’m going to have to do this soon.
These are adorable! What a great idea. 🙂
Oh how fun!!! I need to do this with my nephew.
I love the idea of “3D art.” How fun for a bunch of kiddos. I can imagine there are a lot of other fun projects to make when you start thinking outside the box about what you can paint. Thanks for the inspiration!
So sweet, I’d love to do this with my niece 🙂
Rosie x | Every Word Handwritten
I am about to let my middle schoolers design their own monster plushes! It is going to be so fun!
This is such a cute idea to hang out with you nieces and nephews. I don’t remember spending too much time with my aunts and uncles, and I kind of regret it now!
I have spend tons of time though with my boyfriends nephews. I am trying so hard to get them into coloring and crafting!
Leah Faye
a clover and a bee
What a great idea! My kiddos would love this.
These are wonderful! That would have been so special to me as a kid.
Just a note: Kids will draw/paint AMAZING things on their own… Try this with blank canvas or muslin, and let them do ALL the work… Then, let them dry and stitch them together. Kids are WAY more inventive then we are. Let them take the reigns completely, and they will grow far more!
This is such a cute and wonderful idea! x
holljc.blogspot.co.uk
Such a cute idea!
http://talisatalksbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/birchbox-october-2013.html
Cute idea for my nieces 🙂
Jessica
The Way to My Hart
How cute!! This is a great idea and so easy and fun. What a great christmas present for the grandparents.
I love this idea, I can’t wait to try it with my little one. How fun would it be to wrap one up with the paints like a little kit? Perfect gift!
These are the cutest.
Is this a DIY? There are no instructions on HOW to make a pillow, I don’t know how to “simply” make a pillow, or stitch something on to a pillow. You could at least link us to a useful tutorial.
These are soo cute! What a great idea! Fun for kids and the dogs!
Oh, what an awesome idea! My nephew is 3, and he would love this! We live 3 hours away so this would be a great thing for him to make and keep with him. Awesome!
I seriously love this! and for those less artistic among us Ikea used to carry a great coloring book fabric you could use
I love this idea! I will definitely have to try it out for my son 🙂
I love it. What a great idea. Wish I could sew and actually draw the dachshund. I’m sure they had a blast.
Hi Hannah,
No, this is not a DIY.
Here are a few past pillow tutorials we’ve taught-
http://abeautifulmess.com/2013/05/super-cute-quick-diy-porch-pillows.html
http://abeautifulmess.com/2012/07/make-your-own-paint-by-numbers-pillow.html
http://abeautifulmess.com/2012/09/apple-plush-pillow-tutorial-with-download.html
http://abeautifulmess.com/2012/10/nesting-hand-printed-pillows-.html
http://abeautifulmess.com/2013/01/refresh-your-space-with-a-pretty-pillow-diy.html
http://abeautifulmess.com/2012/04/simple-horse-throw-pillows.html
have a great night!
elsie
such a cute idea! its like a huggable painting 🙂
and those ghost pinatas are simply adorable!!!
This looks like a great idea. And looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the wonderful idea from 3girls1apple.com
Can’t wait to make these with my nephews!
this is so darling! what a great idea!
Too cute!
this is such a wonderful idea!
http://hanaljoofri.blogspot.sg/
Such a darling idea! I’ll bet they LOVED painting on plush. Such a neat thing for them to keep! 🙂
http://sometimesgracefully.com
Is the template somewhere or a how-to for this?
Ok… this would be fun for wine night with my girls! Whoop Whoop! Thanks for sharing!
You guys make the most adorable drawings! I love these little pillows – such a fun project 🙂
Bailey
Great idea! Love your little nephew with his shirt buttoned wrong! 🙂
SO adorable! I wanna do these for every year as they grow. A plush of their favourite thing and then have them paint it. Like a progression. I even want to paint one for me. SO cute.
My god, this is a very great idea for rainny afternoons !
My son will love it
thanks for sharing!
Aaaaw, how cute! xx
http://www.creativityandchocolate.com
That is such a LOVELY idea! I can’t wait until I have nieces and nephes. I wanna be that cool aunt everyone loves to visit and have fun with 😉
I’ll so pin this idea to my “Children” pinterest board ^^ And I think Suki’s my favourite, too 🙂
Awesome post.
oh this is so so awesome! we have lots of kids in our lives too (and none of our own yet). we’re moving from a flat to a house in january and i can’t wait to be able to have them over to do something like this, thanks for a really great idea!
Simply beautiful, love your work!!
Lovely idea.
http://thinkworkandgo.blogspot.com/
so cute!! brilliant idea…. i’m going to pinch it 😉
Alex,
If you want a basic pillow tutorial, look here! http://abeautifulmess.com/2013/05/super-cute-quick-diy-porch-pillows.html The illustrations were sketched by hand because they are personal to our family and little things I knew the kids might like. Hope that helps! elsie
Haha- you’re right!!!!
elsie
such a great idea!
xxoo,
nikki
http://www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
Totally agree with Hannah…for us not that crafty types, instructions would be helpful:)
i love this.. such a great idea.
Cute! My son would love to do this!
What an awesome idea! I am excited to try this out with my nephews.
Aw so cute!
Agreed! A tutorial would be helpful here. (Also: What kind of paint did you use to create the black outlines? How did you get the lines to be so smooth/consistent? Stuff like that would be good to know!)
What a great idea for kids! I wish I had done more of that kind of thing when my kids were little. Great post. xxoo JO
These are very cute, what a lovely idea.
Such a fun and cute idea for the kiddos!!
Lulu xx
http://www.luluslittlewonderland.blogspot.com
This is such a cute idea!
What a great idea!! I can’t wait till I meet my little one and can finally do these fun things with the kiddos. 🙂
xo kristen genevieve
sunnywithachanceoflemons.blogspot.com
bloglovin.com/blog/9906379/sunny-with-a-chance-of-lemons
Where is that lovely rug from??
Hi Maria,
It’s from Urban Outfitters (2 years ago).
elsie
Thanks! I thought it looked familiar 🙂
This is cool! Pillows with little effort and so much fun for the children.
Where does your rug come from? It looks great, and I’m looking for exactly thar kind of rug at the moment.
Super cute and fun! 🙂
http://www.smartdresser.net/
Great idea! Christmas is coming…