Headboards galore! Part 1: Wood and Foam!

So, when I try something new I tend to jump right in.  No, starting small until I figure out if it is going to work or not.  That is just how I am.  This weeks project has been on my mind for months and months......  Headboards.    On my to do list has been a deeply tufted headboard for my oldest daughter (actually 2 - her bed is in a corner and so we are doing one for the head of her bed and one for along the side of the bed that is against the wall) and a not quite as deeply tufted headboard for my son.  This week I finally got to work on them.

I read all sorts of tutorials and then jumped right in.   After reading all the descriptions I decided that I wanted a deeply tufted diamond tufting on my daughter's 2 headboards and less tufted rectangle tufting on my son's headboard.  First I measured and used graph paper to lay out the size and tufting pattern for each headboard.

Next, I grabbed the hubby and we headed to Home Depot.  We grabbed two 4 ft x 8 ft pieces of wood.  Cost was around $45.  I originally thought I would need 3 sheets, but adjusted the height of two of my headboards to 24 inches so that I could get 2 out of 1 board and save some dollars.  Wood is not cheap!  We had Home Depot cut the boards to size for us.  The headboard that is going at the head of my daughter's bed was going to have some detail and not be just square.  So, I worked with my daughter to create a shape we both liked and then made a template.  I sketched it unto the board and borrowed a friend's jigsaw to cut it out.  I love how it turned out!

Then, I transferred the grid lines from my graph paper to the wood and marked each place that I needed to drill a hole with an X.    This, is where I surprised my husband.  While he was at work I found his drill, figured out how to switch the bit, and drilled through each X all on my own.  He acted surprised when he got home - so apparently he didn't think I knew how.  ;) 

 The next part involves foam.  I used an egg crate type foam mattress topper from Walmart.  I think it was cheaper doing it this way then buying the foam padding from the fabric store.  That stuff is expensive!  I used a total of 3 full size foam mattress pads.   I bought these a while back and I am going to have to swing by Walmart to see how much I paid.  I will update this when I find out.  I also used a can of spray adhesive.  The one pictured worked OK for this project, but I might try a different one next time.  I just already had this one on hand.  I had to piece the foam together in paces - which is totally fine!  I also doubled it up so that I had 2 layers over my whole board.  I wanted it to be a little thicker and I had enough foam to do it.  Yay!

After all the foam was adhered to the board or another piece of foam with the spray adhesive, I flipped the board over and used scissors to cut along the edge.  I was going to use a box cutter, but couldn't find it and found that my sharp sewing scissors worked pretty well for this.  They did end up with adhesive residue on them that I am hoping I can get off - so beware if you use expensive sewing scissors!

 And that brings us to where I am now.  The boards are covered with the first layer.  The next steps are to get all of my buttons made and covered (130 for my daughter's and 24 for my son's).  And to cut out parts of the foam on my daughter's so that the tufting gets good and deep.  More on that on my next post!

I have never done this before and what you see above is where I stopped about an hour ago when I wore out.  I hope to get this project completely done in the next week or two.  I will post updates - so you will know if it is total fail!  Wish me luck!  I am going to need it!