Styrofoam Puffy Pillows, Can Milk at Home and More

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PHOTO: NICKI KLEIN PARSONS
Styrofoam packing peanuts and old bedsheets can make nice, big puffy pillows for everyday use.

Styrofoam Puffy Pillows

How do old sheets and “puffy” Styrofoam packing pieces go together? At our house, the two materials have been combined with some inexpensive new cover material to create giant, futon-like pillows. Our four young sons use the lightweight but comfortable private islands for reading, watching television or just late-night summer stargazing.

The puffy pillows were a project for the whole family, mother and child alike. The boys called a friend with an office machine store who was willing to save us large amounts of the Styrofoam packing pieces. Because each of the finished pillows is about 48 inches long by 44 inches wide and 5 inches thick, we needed a full box of the pieces — about 24 square inches — to fill each one.

Each of the children helped sew a large pillowcase from old sheets for the inside cover. The long side of the case was left open. Because the inside pillowcase must keep the packing material from escaping, we double-stitched all the seams. The inside pillowcases were then turned to put rough edges inside.

To keep the puffy pieces from sliding to one end of the pillow, we next sewed four “baffles,” or compartments, about 12 inches apart across the width of the pillow, still leaving the long side open for stuffing. (Our 9- and 10-year-olds were able to do most of the machine sewing of their pillowcases with minimal help; the 6- and 8-year-olds needed a little more.)

  • Published on Oct 1, 1991
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