Make a funky and fresh throw pillow with two doilies and a little tasseled trim

Have you ever wanted to create a beautiful craft with an old lace doily or a new one from a home accessories store? This pillow is intricate, functional and fanciful as well as relatively easy to create, and it all starts with two lacy doilies.

The finished throw pillow is a great addition to your bedspread, to a living room couch or even to a child's play area. The look is classic and elegant, but the tassels give it a modern punch and a pop of color that make it impossible to ignore. The best thing about it is that it uses doilies to create a lovely design without you having to do any kind of intricate needlework. In short, it's easy and beautiful, the two best things any craft can be!

- Two large black squares of fabric about 15 inches by 15 inches (or 38 centimeters by 38 centimeters)
- Two doilies, one larger than the other
-A length of trim with multicolored tassels that is long enough to go around the entire pillow, at least 60 inches (152.5 centimeters)
- A pair of scissors
- A small dish or pin cushion full of pins
- A sewing machine
- A needle
- Black thread
- A bottle of tacky glue or fabric glue
- Polyester pillow stuffing

1. Lay your first 15-by-15-inch square piece of fabric out on a flat surface like a table or a countertop. Place the two doilies on the piece of fabric cater-corner to one another, and let the doilies hang off the edges of the fabric a bit. Arrange them so they are flat on the fabric.

2. Use the pins to carefully pin the doilies to the fabric. Make sure not to move the doilies as you pin them down.

3. Thread the black thread through the needle, and tie it off at the end. Use the black thread to sew the doily carefully to the fabric, removing the pins as you go. The sewing does not have to be perfect or incredibly tight. Just affix the doily to the fabric with a few light stitches.

4. Flip the fabric over so that it is doily-side down. Use the scissors to cut off the hanging edges of the doilies so everything left is what is sewn to the fabric.

5. Unravel the piece of trim, and arrange it around the edge of the piece of fabric so it covers the bottom edge. Cut the trim. Then do this three more times, cutting pieces of trim that are the same size as the edge of the fabric for all four edges. Use the bottle of fabric glue to affix the trim to the edges of the pillow, and be careful not to glue the tassels down.

Tip: It's easier to do this if all the tassels are facing inward. They are less likely to get in the way of your gluing this way.

6. Next, add a few pins to hold the trim down to the edge of the fabric. Then carefully feed the fabric through a sewing machine to sew the trim onto the fabric, removing the pins as you go.

7. Once you remove the fabric from the sewing machine, place it doily-side up again on the flat surface. Place the other piece of identical black fabric on top and pin the fabric pieces together at the edges. Use the sewing machine again to sew the black fabric onto the other piece of fabric with the trim and the doilies, removing the pins as you go.

8. Leave a small hole through which you may turn the whole thing inside out. This way, you should be able to see the doilies and the trim, and there should still be a hole big enough for your hand to fit through. Through the small hole, stuff several handfuls of polyester pillow filling, enough to make the pillow feel firm yet soft. Fluff the pillow several times to make sure the amount of stuffing is correct.

9. Thread more black thread through the needle, and sew the last small hole in the pillow shut by hand.

Now, you will have a pillow that's exciting as well as cozy with the perfect marriage of sophisticated and offbeat. This pillow can go anywhere in your house, and it's one your guests will love and that you will also be able to cuddle with on nights spent home alone.