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Young House Love » Reader Redesigns » Reader Redesign: A Monstrous Duvet

| By John Petersik | January 12, 2012 | 165 Comments

Reader Redesign: A Monstrous Duvet

Okay, okay – so we’re taking a breather from our usual kitchen-related reader redesigns to share a super cool project on a smaller scale. Well, if you call a project that involves 120 hand-drawn monsters a “small” undertaking. Now I’ve got your curiosity piqued, eh? I’ll let Jen explain:

My son Daniel is a prolific artist and I wanted to showcase some of his sketches and decided that I would do so on a duvet cover. He designs his own Pokemon, complete wtih names, types, and evolutions and he chose those for the project. Here are his design sheets:

Jen Original Drawings

I photographed each chosen design. Then in Photoshop I erased all extra marks around the edge, used the Hue / Saturation tool to effectively bleach out all colour, converted it to grayscale and increased brightness and contrast to get a nice, pure black & white image to trace. Then I resized each chosen character to fit on a sheet of paper and printed them out.

Jen Monsters Printed

I chose the first image to trace, put it on a piece of cardboard and slid it into the top left corner of the duvet cover. Then I began tracing it with the fabric marker.

Jen Tracing Hand

This is after about four and half hours of tracing:

Jen Midway Tracing

Preparing the images took around 2-3 hours (I didn’t take note of the time) and the actual tracing took around 8 hours. I didn’t do it all in one go but worked on it as and when I had time, packing it away in between tracing sessions. And here is the final product, which I am so happy about – and thankfully Daniel likes it too! – Jen

Jen Bed After 2

Jen Bed After 1

Now c’mon, how cool is that? Daniel not only gets to sleep among his (very inventive!) creations every night, but also gets this daily reminder of how dedicated his mom is to celebrating his imagination. You can check out Jen’s blog for more pics and info on the process, like whether or not it survived the wash (spoiler alert: it did!). Maybe we’ll make Clara one of these someday. And even if kid doodles aren’t your design of choice, I can see this method working to transfer a large handwritten love letter or something. So cool.

Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for ESBlondieESBlondie says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    I LOVE this!! I ran across her blog not long ago and made a mental note to make something like this one day. So creative!

    Reply
  2. Avatar for AmandaAmanda says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    This is so cool!!! Way to go, Jen!!! Your son is so lucky to have you as a mom!!

    Reply
  3. Avatar for marci lambertmarci lambert says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    incredibly cool!

    Reply
  4. Avatar for NikiNiki says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    This is amazing! It looks fantastic and what a great way to foster creativity.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Jessica MatthewsJessica Matthews says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    That’s awesome!!!!

    Reply
  6. Avatar for PriscillaPriscilla says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    This is so awesome. My 4 year old would love a duvet like this one. Daniel (and his mom) need to get a marketer to market his designs.

    Reply
  7. Avatar for AndreaAndrea says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    That is incredibly adorable. What a great idea!!!

    Reply
  8. Avatar for MaryMary says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    awesome!! had to pin it immediately of course.

    Reply
  9. Avatar for Kristen @ Popcorn on the StoveKristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    That’s adorable! What a lucky boy!

    Reply
  10. Avatar for CandiLCandiL says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    This is awesome!! I want one for me!!

    Reply
  11. Avatar for ShreyaShreya says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    That is amazing! What a lovely and creative idea for a one-of-a-kind duvet cover!

    Reply
  12. Avatar for Ashley@AttemptsAtDomesticationAshley@AttemptsAtDomestication says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    This is so awesome!

    Reply
  13. Avatar for AmandaAmanda says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    This is so clever! I’m pinning this to file away for later. What a lucky little guy :)

    Reply
  14. Avatar for ValerieValerie says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    I think that is the sweetest coolest mom project ever! I likely will just give my daughter (who also loves to draw) the fabric pen and let her go at it herself to shave down the time spent. Yes, you’d likely get some “mistakes” here and there, but it could just be part of the charm of it. :)

    love the idea of doing this with a love letter as well John. too sweet!

    this is my favorite reader redesign yet—funny, heart of a mom I guess.

    Reply
  15. Avatar for Jamie@WrightHouseAffairs.com[email protected] says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    What a clever (and thrifty) keepsake!

    Reply
  16. Avatar for shanna o.shanna o. says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    That is ridiculously cute! OMG.

    Reply
  17. Avatar for MeganMegan says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    Coolest. Mom. Ever.

    Reply
  18. Avatar for Karen FKaren F says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    that. is. so. cool!

    On a somewhat related note, for my daughter’s birthday party she’s having a pajama party, and I was planning on having the kids color on white pillowcases (which they can take home as the favor) – good to know that the process (using fabric markers, etc) works!

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      Such a fun project! I love it!

      xo,
      s

  19. Avatar for Brittany *Sparkles*Brittany *Sparkles* says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    This is the cutest idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  20. Avatar for susansusan says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    I has an almost IKEA look to it. That’s really great.

    Reply
  21. Avatar for braelinbraelin says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Wow- what an incredible project! I can still vividly remember my childhood sheets (Rainbow Bright were my favorites…), so I imagine this will leave a lasting memory of a caring and loving mom. Love it!

    Reply
  22. Avatar for Lindsey @ arkadian belle woodsLindsey @ arkadian belle woods says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Umm wow! Jen did an amazing job! How cool that must be as a kid to have ‘published’ work! Not only that but a one-of-a-kind bedset?! This is pretty awesome! Great idea!

    Reply
  23. Avatar for Ann MarieAnn Marie says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    What a fun and creative way to show off your kid’s talents! Just amazing!

    Reply
  24. Avatar for ErickaEricka says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    This is an awesome, awesome, awesome idea! What a cool way to showcase your child’s talent!

    Reply
  25. Avatar for EmilyEmily says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    This is awesome. I don’t have kids, and I don’t love Pokemon, but it looks so wonderful in the black & white outlines! I can see how this would translate to so many other things.

    I have a general question for the readers. I have seen so many really cool projects that I would love to try my hand at, but they seem to ALL involve owning or having access to photoshop – which I don’t have.

    1. It seems so expensive
    2. There are so many versions

    Are there cheaper work-arounds available? What are they? If I were to get photoshop, which would be the most useful at the best price?

    Just for reference, I have used it a little in my former job (I don’t know what version).

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:36 pm

      Anyone have advice for Emily on this? We have Adobe Creative Suite from our former lives in advertising, but it’s pricey. Are there beginner packages that are less (or free downloads that might help?).

      xo,
      s

    • Avatar for MoniqueMonique says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:47 pm

      I’ve just downloaded the 30 day free trials of photoshop before and tried to get as much creative-ness out of those 30 days as possible!

    • Avatar for JuliaJulia says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:49 pm

      You could try using GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) or buy Photoshop Elements, which is the consumer version of Adobe Photoshop. Gimp is free but it has a steeper learning curve than Photoshop Elements.

    • Avatar for TracyTracy says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm

      There’s Photoshop Elements. I found this, only skimmed it but maybe it will help.

      http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/3583/lightroom-vs-elements-vs-photoshop-side-by-side-comparison

    • Avatar for Dream Day Cakes®Dream Day Cakes® says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm

      The old school method is a projector or a photocopier. We need to do thinks like this all the time at the bakery, but you can’t really photoshop a cake. Your local copy store will usually have a copy machine that lets you magnify an image. Some libraries let you borrow projection lamps as well. Both would be perfect.

    • Avatar for Mary KMary K says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:55 pm

      GIMP is a good alternative! I’m not sure if it has all the functionality, but it certainly has a lot of it. It’s free and available for windows/mac/etc.

      http://www.gimp.org/

    • Avatar for KristenKristen says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:59 pm

      There are some free online photoshop type websites if you google “free online photoshop”. The one I use is Pixlr.com and I really like it (when you get to the homepage click the “open photo editor” link to get to the photoshop program and it’s all right there you don’t have to download anything). If you’ve used photoshop before its super easy to navigate. Hope that helps!

    • Avatar for Kristi @ Addicted 2 DecoratingKristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating says

      January 12, 2012 at 3:25 pm

      I use Paint Shop Pro, and I love it. I can do some pretty involved things with it, too. My mom is a Photoshop pro (a professional photographer who also did detailed photo restorations until she retired), and even she has been amazed at what I’m able to do with Paint Shop Pro. I think it cost me about $35 on Ebay.

    • Avatar for KatieKatie says

      January 12, 2012 at 3:36 pm

      Just throwing in my recommendation for GIMP as well. I’ve been using it for the past several weeks to tweak the photos that I include on my blog and love that it’s pretty user friendly and easy to navigate. And you can find loads of tutorials for it via Google. Good luck!!

    • Avatar for heatherheather says

      January 12, 2012 at 3:53 pm

      it might just be because I’m a fan of vector editing, but I love Inkscape (it’s the vector freeware version of Gimp..so to say. Kind of Illustrator to Photoshop). It’s really easy to scan in a photo, then click “trace” and have it turn into a vector image. It might be easier in Gimp to scan it in and do it her way, I don’t know. They are both good free programs.

    • Avatar for GreenInOCGreenInOC says

      January 12, 2012 at 4:40 pm

      Depends on what you are using it for but Pages (part of iWork for Mac) is an amazing “word processing” program. It’s in quotes because the graphics capabilities rock!

      For a project like this, I don’t even think she had to go to so much work to get the object ready for tracing – I’m saying this with absolutely no authority except for a really, really big lazy gene! I would have just scanned them in and copied each drawing over to another document (using Pages – which is so simple it’s stupid!), switched the image to b&w, enlarged and printed it.

    • Avatar for JennJenn says

      January 12, 2012 at 7:23 pm

      Paint.net is a good free Photoshop alternative! I’ve also used Gimp, but I feel like Paint.net is a little more user-friendly.

    • Avatar for CrissCriss says

      January 12, 2012 at 8:04 pm

      http://www.picnik.com is a useful (free) web-based photo editing tool that I use a lot.

    • Avatar for MorganMorgan says

      January 12, 2012 at 9:01 pm

      if you are a student or know someone that is a student or a teacher you can get photoshop for a discount!! That is what my dad does since my hubby is a teacher and I am a student! Just an idea

    • Avatar for LineLine says

      January 13, 2012 at 5:38 am

      I use GIMP as well. You get just about the same options as with Photoshop, and for this particular project you could definitely do the same with GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/)

    • Avatar for JennaJenna says

      January 13, 2012 at 9:45 am

      Many universities will sell limited versions (only able to be downloaded to 3 computers instead of 5) at their bookstores for $200 or so. That’s how I got mine a few years ago. If you know someone that attends a university, they just have to use their student ID to purchase it.

    • Avatar for Sherry from BCSherry from BC says

      January 13, 2012 at 11:38 am

      I have an older big Photoshop but my I was given Photoshop Elements (roughly $99) and find it suits my purposes. The big one just has too many tools and options while Elements is more for the duffer like myself. Not sure if that is in your price range but it is a lot cheaper than the big daddy.

  26. Avatar for MamaJMamaJ says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    Coolest mom EVER! What a great idea.

    Reply
  27. Avatar for RobinRobin says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    That looks amazing! I love that she encourages her son to be creative and to continue drawing cartoons. That must have made him so proud of his work.

    Reply
  28. Avatar for PaddyPaddy says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    Wow. Truly amazing and so very unique

    http://paddyclifford.wordpress.com

    Reply
  29. Avatar for TaraTara says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    This is SO COOL! Way to go Jen! You deserve a #1 Mom Award :)

    Reply
  30. Avatar for Ashley BAshley B says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    I am SO in love with this! I love the fun ways creative parents encourage their creative offspring!

    Reply
  31. Avatar for natnat says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    This is the coolest things I ever saw! So clever and thoughtful and loving. I now know what to do with my kid work that I have occumulated over the years! I could never get rid of anything but couldnt cover the walls top to bottom with the work either. Thank you Jen and thank you guys for posting!

    Reply
  32. Avatar for AliAli says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    you are the coolest! That kid’s going to be the envy of all his friends!

    Reply
  33. Avatar for LaurenLauren says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    Wow! What an awesome Mom. Love it!

    Reply
  34. Avatar for Liz MassingillLiz Massingill says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    Emily should try using GIMP — it’s an image manipulation software, free download, that has tutorials on the web. http://www.gimp.org/

    Reply
    • Avatar for EmilyREmilyR says

      January 12, 2012 at 2:50 pm

      Thanks! Off to check it out!

  35. Avatar for Dream Day Cakes®Dream Day Cakes® says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    This is amazing… we did a cake with a lot of handwritten doodles on it, became one of our most popular cakes to date. Same must be true here. Not only can you DIY, you can make it uniquely yours. I’m sure this duvet will become something treasured and handed down.

    Reply
  36. Avatar for Christy BryanChristy Bryan says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    That is such a great idea!

    Reply
  37. Avatar for MoniqueMonique says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    This is way cool! I love this!

    Reply
  38. Avatar for Tracy aTracy a says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    Wow, what an amazing project! You’re right on both accounts, it shows off both the son’s creativity and his mother’s love. Couldn’t be better in my opinion!

    Reply
  39. Avatar for Sarah @ Sweetbox EventsSarah @ Sweetbox Events says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    If I were a bedding company, I would totally buy this design :)
    Mom of the year!!!

    Reply
  40. Avatar for Andrea @ the yellow cottageAndrea @ the yellow cottage says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    This could pass as a designer fabric pattern. And I bet Ikea would sell it as a textile in their kids line. Jen and Daniel make a great creative team!

    Reply
  41. Avatar for LaurenLauren says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    Such a good idea!
    Emily… I think there is a photoshop out there that’s like a beginners suite, and you can get it at Staples (or an office store) and I think it’s about $60ish?? I know it’s under $100. I plan on getting it soon becuase this blog is inspiring me to get my photoshop on!

    Reply
  42. Avatar for Brandi @ His Shabby Her ChicBrandi @ His Shabby Her Chic says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    What a great idea!

    I want a monster duvet now too! :)

    Reply
  43. Avatar for Beth CBeth C says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    What a wonderful idea! It looks great. Daniel is so talented–and lucky to have such a thoughtful mom.

    Reply
  44. Avatar for KristalKristal says

    January 12, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    Wow…what an awesome mom. I absolutely love this. A lot of parents stifle their children’s creativity and force them to do what they think they should do. I think it is great that she celebrated his creativity and individuality like that. Go Jen!

    Reply
  45. Avatar for KimKim says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    So cute! When Clara is a little older, you might be interested in her making a plate like this. It’s a kit that comes with markers and a paper template. The child draws on the template, then you send it in and they make it into a melamine plate. So cute! Great gift idea, too.

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      January 12, 2012 at 3:05 pm

      So cute!

      xo,
      s

  46. Avatar for JenMJenM says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    Thanks so much for featuring our project and thank you to everyone for the kind words! You’ve all made my day.

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      January 12, 2012 at 4:00 pm

      Aw, thanks so much for sharing it Jen! We’re smitten and your son is super talented too!

      xo,
      s

  47. Avatar for jessica@fourgenerationsoneroofjessica@fourgenerationsoneroof says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    This is fantastic! Nice job Jen :) My son would love this!

    Reply
  48. Avatar for EricaErica says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    this is the sweetest thing!!

    Reply
  49. Avatar for BaepBaep says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    I’m in love with the nightstand. I want to find something like that for my own room!

    Reply
    • Avatar for JulieJulie says

      January 12, 2012 at 10:32 pm

      The night stand is IKEA. Part of the current lineup.

    • Avatar for JenMJenM says

      January 14, 2012 at 9:38 am

      The nightstand is an inexpensive bathroom cabinet I found in a discount store :) But hopefully as the other reader says you can find something similar at Ikea.

  50. Avatar for MercedesMercedes says

    January 12, 2012 at 3:21 pm

    This is adorable! Sometimes I wonder where people come up with these ideas!

    Reply
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John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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