I am a little afraid to put hot glue into a pretty china cup or bowl. Is there something else we could use, that we could remove later if we needed to? I am afraid the hot glue gun glue would not wash out very well...and I like the idea of using the brillo pad to keep the pens sharper.

I have a hot glue gun and a cool one. Hated burning my fingers, but sometimes the hot holds better.
I like brillo pads too :-)

What a great idea, that is adorable.

I love this idea!

Waht a neat idea! that is so pretty.

Very pretty! A nice way to showcase memories. I would try Velveteen for the cushion fabric. Will give it a try.

Does that gravy boat say Chen on the bottom of it? It looks just the china that belongs to my husband's great or was it just great grandmother and was handed down to us. I love the pattern...

Love the idea of the gravy boat pin cushion as some times you need a place to put buttons and other little sewing items. The plate part will help hold those in a safe place. Great idea...

that is so cute!!

Hi Val. All I did was to make a fabric covered ball of poly stuffing and just stuffed it into the gravy boat. It was big enough that it filled the boat and expanded to make a tight fit.

Hi Val...and others, When I would do these in a tea cup or a sugar bowl with one handle missing, I would put a small styrofoam ball in the bottom. It took up space and you didn't need as much stuffing. Then I would use a half of a ball as a base for the pin cushion part and then cover with steel wool and then a bit of cotton and then some fabric. I found that the cold glue gun stuff does not hold very well. There must be some kind of glue that would work. I have heard of Gorilla glue but not tried it. There should be some craft glue somewhere that would work for fabric against porcelain.