You guys may know of Ankasa’s collection of couture home furnishings which includes hand-embroidered pillows going for more than $300 a pop. But you may not know that one of our favorite online retailers, Ballard Designs, has debuted an exclusive line of Ankasa pillows for less than a third of the price. And thanks to the lovely folks at Ballard, one lucky reader is going to win one of these couture pillows on the house!
Each of these three high-end pillows is hand cut and features rich, hand embroidered details that are sure to dress up any seat in your house. You’ve got two 18″ square and a 12″ x 20″ floral throw pillow to choose from. Although with such hard work put into their intricate designs I feel like we should call them “carefully place” pillows, not “throw pillows.”
To enter, just comment on this post with the words “HAND ‘EM OVER” by Wednesday, March 18th at 8pm EST. And while you’re at it, we’d also love to know the most intricate, delicate or complicated thing you’ve ever made with your own two hands. A masterful painting? A mutli-course meal? An extra tall Jenga tower? Oh and in case you don’t know the giveaway drill by now: please limit one entry per e-mail address (our winners are blindly selected using random.org). This prize is available to US residents only. Good luck…
Looking for even more details on our giveaways? Check out the Giveaway FAQs. Images courtesy of Ballard Designs.
Heather says
HAND ‘EM OVER
Ellen says
What beautiful pillows! Enough to make me come out of lurkdom….
HAND ‘EM OVER!
The most intricate things I have ever made with my hands are my wedding invitations and a cross-stitch sampler for my mother. :)
Amanda says
Hand Em Over! So beautiful!
Jamie says
HAND ‘EM OVER!!
our wedding invitations
Ele says
Hand ‘em over!
I just made a table runner in sewing class!!!
Alison says
HAND EM OVER!!!
Blayne says
HAND EM OVER! Oh my goodness those are just my style. The most time consuming thing I ever made was probably my wedding invitations, or my scrapbooks… an ever evolving project.
Nancy says
“HAND ‘EM OVER”
The most intricate thing I’ve made was a flower girl’s dress for a sister-in-law’s wedding.
Erin says
Hand ’em over! The most intricate thing…hmmm…probably my first Thanksgiving dinner. More elaborate than it needed to be, for sure.
Lauren says
HAND ‘EM OVER! The most recent and intricate thing that I made with my hands was a three-stand emerald-glass bead bracelet…took longer than I thought, but definitely worth it. Plus, it fits my wrist perfectly!!
Christina Peterson says
Hand ’em over!
My first sewing adventure, placemats and napkins, was the most time consuming homemade project thus far.
Diva Style says
HAND ‘EM OVER!! The most difficult thing I’ve ever made with my hands is pottery!! I took a class last year, (and still have time to make up and pottery to glaze!) and it could get kind of frustrating at times…but I do have some lovely pieces around my home thanks to all my hard work and determination. :-)
Shelly says
Ohhhh, Ahhhh
Those would work very well in my new livingroom!
Amber Devers says
HAND ‘EM OVER
I’m not much of a “maker” but I did paint a canvas with my nieces one year while I was in college and when I put it on display, my roomate thought it was “so cute” and asked what grade I was in when I made it :)
Teresa says
HAND EM OVER
Love these! I have made a few quilts that have been complicated!
Larissa says
Hand ’em over! (please) Those are gorgeous!! I ‘m not known for my sewing talent, but I do love cooking. Thanksgiving dinner, pies, caramel rolls; I love to play in the kitchen!!
Pamela says
“Hand ‘Em Over”
Most intricate thing I’ve made is recovered an armchair.
Karen says
HAND ‘EM OVER!!! Beautiful!
Sara says
Hand ‘Em Over
I have made a few time consuming things like my wedding invites and our kitchen curtains. I enjoy being crafty once in a blue moon!
Sarah says
HAND ‘EM OVER! This might be a bit sad if it’s the most intricate thing I’ve made, but what comes to mind first are the bracelets that I used to braid in intricate patterns – most often, my friends and I would make them while we sat poolside all summer as tweens. Ah, to be young again….
Lauren says
HAND ‘EM OVER! I made personalized onesies for my nephew. Super cute!
Laura says
HAND ‘EM OVER!!!
marissa says
HAND ‘EM OVER Very Pretty!
I made a quilt once. That was pretty difficult for me. :)
Karli says
HAND ‘EM OVER. A hand embroidered hankie for my wedding. It was my something blue.
liz says
HAND ‘EM OVER!!
Never made anything terrible intricate – just curtains, pillows duvets and I recovered my outdoor patio cushions. Love your blog!
Heather says
HAND ‘EM OVER
PLEASE!!!!
Jessie Stanley says
HAND ‘EM OVER!
When I was in college, I studied for a semester in Siena, Italy, and had the opportunity to take a book-binding class. The handmade books I made and decorated in that class are things I’m still proud of to this day!
jessica says
HAND EM OVER!!!
best thing i’ve made with my hands, all the details that went into my wedding.
Bridget says
hand ’em over!
these pillows are great!
let’s see….the most masterful thing I do with my hands is playing French horn…a difficult Shostakovich passage is really quite a work out!
Lynette says
HAND ‘EM OVER!
The most intricate article I ever made was a cross stitched picture on linen. Talk about an eye crossing experience.
Elizabeth says
Hand Em Over please!
Baking is pretty delicate if you think about it. I’m nuts for baking. The most ambitious and complicated and successful thing I’ve ever baked was a 12 layer cake with homemade buttercream.
Click here for the deets. http://thewaspyredhead.com/?p=420
Lindsi says
“Hand ‘Em Over!” The most intricate thing I’ve made with my hands is my wedding scrapbook. It took a lot of time, creativity and love to finish!
Mary L says
“HAND ‘EM OVER” I am an avid scrapbooker and has been for almost 4 years now. I’ve done a lot of mini albums that my friends and family have enjoyed. Thank you!
Lisa says
Please, won’t you please, HAND ‘EM OVER! I wish I could make something with my own two hands that is as fabulous as those pillows. Holy Smokes they’re so beautiful! If my mother were here reading this she would say, “well you can make those, and this is how you do it!”. Alas, but the apple fell far from the tree. I sort of made a quilt that is on my bed but I have to be honest and say that it was from a kit. I put all the squares together and then asked my Mom (the one with extreme talent in fixing the work of the less talented) to put it all together for me. She is a gem. If I win, I should really give the pillow to her…and tell her that I made it. HA!
Love your blog – I’m new. :)
Katherine says
Hand em Over!
The most intricate, creative project I’ve ever done was a 365 page-a-day calendar. I cut out 365 pieces of card stock and went to town with designs, quotes, pictures, etc…until each day of the entire calendar year had a page and it was all held together with two giant binder rings. It took forever, but was so fun!
Jennifer Jungbluth says
Hand ’em over! The most intricate thing I have done was restoring an old chandelier I had purchased at an auction. It was a mess when I bought it–only half the crystals were hanging the rest were a jumbled filthy mess in the bottom of the box. I had to take it apart and re-wire it. I had to clean and attach each prism with a tiny pliers.
Shannon says
Hand ’em over!
I don’t know if this counts because it’s still not done yet but making a quilt is definitely the most intricate thing I’ve made (am making)!
Alicia says
HAND ‘EM OVER
I guess the most intricate thing I’ve made would be my daughter! Other than that I would say candy cane cookies which seems silly but I dare you to try and make them and come out looking good!
barry says
“hand em’ over” because me feeling the luck of this irish this time around–tee he. They are perfect!!
Meredith says
Oh goodness, I would LOVE for you to HAND EM OVER!
The most complicated and intricate thing I’ve ever done with my hands was back in high school/college when I ran the black and white darkroom. While it can be extremely complicated and complex, there’s just something about producing your own photograph from scratch that’s so incredible. I would absolutely LOVE to have my own darkroom someday…it’s so soothing!
Allison says
Hand ’em over!
Audrey says
“Hand ‘Em Over!” The most intricate thing I have ever created is a picture I drew of my sister. It took my months to get it just the way that I wanted it.
Amy says
Hand ‘Em over!!! I’m currently working on my second quilt ever so I would have to say it’s the most intricate thing I’ve worked on in a long time
Tonya says
Hand ’em over!
The most intricate thing I’ve made? Well, I have made 6 beautiful children, but I can’t claim I made them all by myself. Other than them, I’d have to say a lap quilt I made by hand. Hardly compares to the children though.
indigorchid says
HAND ‘EM OVER! So gorgeous! And this girls apartment is so in need of pretty things in a ‘start-up-phase-apartment’… It would live next to my almost finished norwegian patterned merino wool mittens (that would be the intricate self-created object).
christina says
“Hand “Em Over!” The most intricate thing that I have ever made would have to be a quilt for my sister-in-law for her to use during her chemotherapy treatments 4 years ago.
Becky says
Hand’em Over!!! The most intricate thing I’ve made with these two hands is a homemade pie crust…it turned out perfect :) Hope I’m the lucky gal!!
Dee says
“HAND ‘EM OVER”
A cross stitch sampler that I am currently working on : )
Dee
Ronda says
HAND ‘EM OVER!! :)
kristy says
HAND ‘EM OVER!
I made my husband a Christmas stocking the year we got married, and was so impressed at its creative baseball theme (right down to the ball-stitching to spell his name!). My lack of sewing prowess became evident when I was not able to put anything of substantial nature inside because I hadn’t accounted for seams when tracing a stocking for its shape! After 13 Christmases, I have finally replaced all of our family stockings with some from Pottery Barn (bought on clearance – yeah!)