Prayer Pillowcase Swap

This swap is along the same lines as the prayer shawl, the pagan prayer quilt, etc. But in this swap, you will create a pillowcase for your partner to rest their weary head on at night.

The description for this might be complicated, so hold on! Also - THanks so much to Autumn Moon for being very key in this whole swap's creation. She inspired me with her swap, then helped me come up with a good idea for this one, plus she donated the instructions. I'm in her debt. :)

First - This is for any and all religions. During this swap, you will pray or meditate or however you communicate with your deity while you make the pillowcase. Your prayers (I'm going to use that word since it's easiest) should be about your partner. Maybe look at their profile or talk with them and see what they're going through right now (please feel free to post if you'd like specific prayers for something, etc.). If you don't know what to pray for, pray for good health, happiness, their family, or just that they'll grow spiritually with their own religion. Pour as many good thoughts and feelings into that pillowcase as you can, so that when your partner uses it, they can rest easily on the love and prayers of a person far away. :)

Second - Feel free to improvise on the instructions in this description. Sew tassels, buttons, pockets, whatever you'd like, onto the pillow. Just make sure that it's the kind of pillow you'd like to put YOUR head on (like... don't put 100 buttons on it for their hair to get tangled in, you catch my drift?). Embellishments of that kind are not neccessary, however - you can stick to the instructions in this description and that be all. :)

Third... the instructions:

You will need:

A 100% cotton pillowcase. You must use a white, eggshell, or off-white sheet. You can sometimes find things like this at discount stores for an inexpensive price. Must be 100% cotton!!!

A box of regular Crayola brand crayons, the more the better.

Blue painter's masking tape, the low-tack kind. YOU CAN BUY IT AT ANY HARDWARE STORE, ASK IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BUY, THEY WILL HELP YOU.

Lots of newspapers and paper towels.

An old, raggety ironing board and iron. Don't use a good one!

Instructions:

Find a flat, sturdy, clean surface.

Wash your pillowcase in hot water and dry it.

Tape down a bunch of old newspapers to your work surface, make sure the newspapers cover a larger area than your pillowcase does. Then, tape your pillowcase down flat to the newspapers.

Draw whatever you'd like on the pillowcase - write quotes, verses, or prayers.... draw symbols from your religion, or just draw happy faces and sunshines. Draw a pattern or write words, do whatever you'd like. I doubt it would be an issue, but plase no profanity or gore or anything like that, k? Other than that - do whatever you wish!

spread out three layers of newspaper and three layers of paper towels on the ironing board. lay your pillowcase on the ironing board, then put two more layers of paper towels over it, and with a very hot iron, iron over the paper towels to draw the wax out of the fabric. Be very careful not to burn yourself or cause a fire. When you have all the wax ironed out of the fabric, the pigments from the crayons should be left. Iron over the pillowcase one more time with paper towels and the hot iron to make sure the colors are set and the wax is gone. (NOTE - It has been recommended that you put old towels or very very thick layers of paper towels, or possibly cardboard, down inside your pillowcase so that the dyes do not bleed through to the other side and ruin your hard work. BE VERY CAREFUL with this!!! I'd hate for you to do so much work on it for it to be ruined!!)

Mix two cups of salt in a five gallon bucket, 2/3 full of cool water. Saok the sheet in the bucket overnight. Be careful that no children or pets drown in the open bucket.

The next day, wash you pillowcase in cold water with mild detergent in your washing machine. Dry on warm setting.

Ta-da!

Along with your pillowcase, please include a note about your religious background, what you prayed for while you created this, and some well-wishes and kind thoughts for them. :)

Since this swap is very very important to me, and obviously takes a lot of work to do, I'll be checking profiles VERY carefully, as I hate flakers and they always manage to cause problems in my swaps (grawr). I hope everyone has a ton of fun with this swap, and if anyone has any ideas/suggestions/questions - don't hesitate to ask!!!

Oh - and this is International because pillowcases aren't THAT expensive to send if you fold them up small enough. :) No newbies, please... Ratings have to be very high (4.8 or above) and I WILL ban all people who look grrful.

Have tons of fun!!

-Jesse