Made in Arizona: Pillows with a personal twist
PHOENIX - In this week's Made in Arizona, we introduce you to two girls with a big vision. These two happen to be a mother-daughter team and they're creating custom pillow designs right here in the Valley.
"We kind of just started with this idea and it kind of grew in our minds and we started doing it," said Yolindi de Gouveia.
That idea? Eclectic pillows. Yolindi and her daughter, Carealee, started making pillows in the garage of their home five years ago. About a year ago, they got their shop: Unik Pillows. The mother-daughter duo loves decorating and creating, so pillow-making was right up their alley.
"We create all sizes, really," Yolindi said. "We've done floor pillows for someone [and] a lot of the mini pillows are a great seller for us, the little 8-by-8's."
The pillows come in all different sizes and designs - anything from dogs to cute sayings or holiday themes. You can also put a personal twist on a pillow.
"We do custom [pillows] a lot, too," Carealee said. "So, if people say, 'Oh, I have this idea' and I want [something] on this background and these words and everything, and I'll go in and just create it and design it."
Another custom option? T-shirt pillows.
"It's just different, it has meaning to people," Yolindi said. "We take them and do them again - any size, whatever size the t-shirts come in."
And if the pillows get dirty, throw them in the wash.
"We do use a printer that prints in a sublimating printing process, which permanently adheres the inks to the fabrics so we can wash them," Yolindi said. "So that's a big benefit to all of our pillows - they're all washable and very durable."
The team, being a local business, also likes to support other local businesses. They've used local artists' work on their pillows. They even do what they can to support the military.
"People can actually send pillows to [the] military with family photos and things," Yolindi said. "It kind of adds the human aspect in their because it brings a little bit o home where they're going."