Personalized Pillow Project

You always knew your kids were works of art - now you can prove it by making pillow figures based on the shapes of their bodies. Just follow these simple steps.

Materials and Tools:

fabric of your choosing
nontoxic finger paint
sewing machine
thread
pillow batting

Steps:

1. Choose a fabric you like that's a few inches longer than your child is tall.

2. Have your child lie on the fabric on his back, and trace his outline.

3. Place his palms and the soles of his feet in nontoxic finger paint.

4. Gently press his handprints and footprints onto the portion of the outline where hands and feet go on the body.

5. After imprinting his hands and feet, if he's old enough or wants to, either your child can finger paint a face and other decorations.

6. Leaving a half-inch seam allowance, cut around the outline. Using the first cutout as a pattern, cut another piece of fabric to match.

7. Place front sides together and sew around the edge, but don't sew it completely shut; leave about an 8-inch opening.

8. Turn it inside out so that the front sides are now front-facing.

9. Stuff your pillow with polyester batting, and hand-stitch the remaining opening.