How to build a tufted cardboard headboard for under $10

After making several tufted headboards with plywood, I was curious if one could be made with cardboard.  Well, here is my first one.  Others to follow! 

Materials Used:



Large piece of thick cardboard cut to 54" X 33" fits full size bed

Scrap wood for legs and edges to strenghten the cardboard

Polyfil stuffing from old pillows

Mattress cover to smooth out lumpy pillow stuffing

8 matching buttons for the front tufts

8 buttons to secure string on the back

wax string

Extra long needle

Fabric to fit

Stapler and staples

Hot Glue

Step 1:

Cut the cardboard 54 inches wide and any height that you would like. This one is 33 inches tall plus 20 inches for the legs.  Use scrap wood trim to support the cardboard.  Start with the 2 taller, side pieces the height of the board plus the height of your mattress.  Cut 2 cross pieces for the top edge and bottom edge and 2 or more vertical pieces.  If the cardboard is very thick, 2 pieces as shown should be enough to support the board.  If the cardboard is thin, add 2 more vertical pieces.  Glue all pieces and then turn the board over.

Step 2:

Staple the cardboard to the wood strips as shown above.  Use a heavy duty carpenter-type stapling gun.



Step 3:

Measure for 8 holes---two roles of 4.

For this board (54" X 33"), place 2 rows of  4 holes at 11" apart from top/bottom and 10 3/4" apart from side to side.  Use the tip of a knife or scissors to make the holes.  Holes should be smaller than the buttons.

Step 4:

Use polyfil stuffing from old pillows.  Hot glue a fluff pile to the front surface of the board.  It will be lumpy, but try to lay it as even as possible.



Step 5:

Cover the lumpy layer of pillow stuffing with batting or an old mattress cover.   Cut this a little larger so that you can fold it to the back.  Use hot glue to tack it down at the corners so that you flip the board over the back.  Once flipped, hot glue the cover the the wood trim.

Cover the front of the board with fabric.  Cut the fabric larger so that you can also fold it to the back to glue it down.   Sorry, no photo.



Step 6:

Thread a long needle with waxed thread about 12 inches long.  Pass one end of the thread through a back button and tie a knot to keep it from slipping.  Then pass the needle from the back hole through the layers of polyfil, batting or cover, and fabric-----to the front of the board.

Pull some of the thread to the front, leaving some in the back with the back button.  Pass the needle through a front button and then through the same hole to the back again.  Go through a different hole on the back button.  Remove the needle.  Pull gently on the 2 strings on the back until the front button sinks into the fabric and stuffing.  Tie the thread into a knot.  This will work best if your thread is waxed.  It will hold tight between tying the knots.

Back Buttons with tied string.

Front Buttons with Tufts

I changed my buttons to silver by gluing decorative stickon stones to the gold buttons.

Coming next-----Directions for adding a frame around the tufted headboard.

My total cost was $6 for silver spray paint for the frame and $4 for the silver stickons.  Believe it or not, but everything else is stuff that I already had.  If you are a diy person, you probably also have a lot of the materials needed for this project. 



Sharing my home decor projects

I am a self-taught crafter and "do it your selfer."  I'd like to share some of my "how to" directions for some of my home decor projects, so here is the first one.   I have decided to start with a room that I designed for my youngest teen daughter. 

The damask wall art is actually hand-painted.  I made a huge paper pattern for the damask art by just folding the paper in half and then drawing a lot of free form scrolls and shapes.  After a little try and error, I came up with the design that you see above the bed.  I taped the paper pattern to the wall, traced it, and hand painted around the shapes using black paint.  It took me three nights to do the hand painting, but the final outcome was well worth it!

The nightstands turned out to be a nice transformation.  They were once very brown and ugly.  After some sanding and priming, I painted two coats of high gloss white paint.  For the drawers, I decided to cover the fronts with left-over fabric from the tufted headboard project.

Tufted Headboards:
This was my very first diy tufted headboard.  I used plywood for the backing, and 1 inch foam and batting for the front.  I purchased silver metallic fabric and buttons from a local fabric shop.

Then, I researched a lot of diy tufted headboards online and came up with a method that would be easier for me.  I wanted the headboard to appear thick, so I wrapped the form and batting around the corners and stapled them to the back of the wood. 

Photos of some of my other tufted headboards----coming soon!   And, I have photos to show you how to make a tufted headboard with cardboard and for less than $10!

I decided to make a taller tufted headboard for my master bedroom.

And here is the one that I made for my oldest daughter's room.  I added wood framing around it.

Photos showing "How to Make a Tufted Headboard" on a budget---coming soon.