The heart symbol makes our lives more beautiful in a lot of ways. The symbol is commonly used to express our love for something or someone and this can be translated into a lot of cute DIY projects. Accent pillows are one option. Whether you transform these projects into a gift for someone you love or you simply see them as a cute idea for your own home, the crafting process remains the same.

To make this beautiful pillow cover you need two different types of fabric. One is for the cover itself and one for the heart shaped decoration at the center. If you want you can simply add the heart decoration to an existing pillow, giving it a quick and beautiful makeover. You can use patterned fabric which you cut into the shape of a heart and sew to the pillow cover.{found on vanessachristenson}.

If you want to make a heart-shaped crochet pillow, the instructions are a bit different. The list of supplies this time includes about 40 meters of roving and an additional 20 meters for stuffing the pillow. Using these you’ll be crocheting a chunky heart pillow. You can follow the instructions on lebenslustiger to make sure you get the design right.

A somewhat similar but, at the same time, very different project can be found on persialou. The heart-shaped pillow featured here is made up several different individual pieces that are put together like pieces of a puzzle. The supplies needed for the project are yarn in several different colors, crochet hooks, a yarn needle, some cotton fabric and fiber fill. Basically you’ll have to crochet 24 small hexagons which you’ll then sew together to form the heart.

A different design can be created using the following supplies: white fabric, pillow insert, black and white striped fabric, gold vinyl, masking tape and a printable heart template. First you cut the fabric, then you trace and cut the heart template on the iron on vinyl, lay it on the fabric and iron it in place. When it cools down you can peel off the plastic liner. The final step is to sew the pillow cover and to stuff it. {found on kristimurphy}.

If you want you can give your pillow a secret pocket. If you’re offering the pillow as a gift (for Valentine’s Day maybe) you can put a note in the pocket with a beautiful message on it. The whole project is quite simple actually. You need a square of fabric for the backing and another one for the front, a piece of red felt fabric, matching thread and stuffing. Follow the instructions on seekatesewfor perfect results.

Your pillow can also send a message. You can choose to add lettering to the design to make it more personal. You can find an inspiring example of how such a strategy would work out on persialou. Here you’ll find the list of supplies needed for the project as well as detailed instructions for each step and tips on how to customize the design to suit your own style.

To get a watercolor pillow cover such as the one featured on pitterandglink you’ll actually have to use Sharpies. Once you have a nice collection of colored Sharpies you can go ahead and start the whole project. You’ll also need fabric, a heart template and a spray bottle filled with water. Instead of fabric you can also use an existing pillow cover.

A less colorful but just as interesting design can be found on sarahhearts. You can customize your pillow by using patterned fabric for the cover. The black and white polka dot pattern featured here is really chic and goes really well with the golden heart at the center. You can customize both the shape of the pillow and the color palette in order to make the design more personal and to give it the look you want.

Let’s now move on to two fun and very cute projects. The first one is for a geometric heart design. The pillow cover featured on clonesnclowns also has two pink pom-poms in the corners which you can add two. The heart is made with wool thread and using an embroidery hoop and a paper template. Check out the full tutorial for more details and inspiration.

The second project is described on sewsomestuff. The design is really lovely and to make it you need white cotton fabric, pink yarn, red felt, red thread, black embroidery thread, an embroidery hoop and a template. First you cut out two 15” squares of fabric and then you print out the pattern. Retrace it on the back of the fabric with a pencil. It’s then time to start the embroidery and to add the little felt hearts. At the end, sew the pillow cover together.