*Chandler Bing* Happy Dance Ensuing

I finished my monstrous project of the tufted headboard!  We bought a king-sized mattress a while ago and I just kept our queen-sized headboard up because when the bed was made, you couldn't tell it didn't extend to the edges...  Plus, I had a lovely mirror above that so it was a focal point enough for me... for a while.  Then I stumbled upon a few tufted headboards online and fell in love.  But not so much in love that I was willing to fork over the cash for the $1000 price tag.  So I improvised.

 Inspiration

Thanks to DIY Network and HGTV.com, I found plenty of videos and tips on how to create a headboard all on my own.  First step, gather all the materials.

I decided to go for something a little more simplistic and clean-lined for my first try. Nate Berkus Collection

I headed to Lowe's to get the plywood sheet.  The nice man Jason cut it down to size (78 inches x 48 inches) for us and we checked out.  I'm so glad Daniel came with me because what followed could not have been handled on my own: Driving home with a huge piece of plywood TIED to the top of my Jeep.  Granted, Daniel is an Eagle Scout so he knows all those neat knots and stuff, but all we had to use was TWINE.  I didn't think the plywood would be too big to fit inside of my Jeep!  But a king-sized mattress is much larger than you think...

Daniel had met up with me after getting off work so he had his own vehicle to drive home.  For the next 15 minutes I drove a constant 20mph and avoided stopping as much as possible.  I heard two loud "THUMPS" along the way and even pulled over just shy of our place because I could see the plywood from my rear-view mirror.  I mustered the strength to drive a few more blocks and then shrieked a sigh to release the anxiety; I had made it home without killing anyone.  Daniel said at one point when we were going up hill that the board had tilted up to almost perpendicular with my Jeep (No doubt preceding the loud thump!)  Oh Lordy.


Then I hit up JoAnn's fabric for 3 inch thick foam, batting, amazing fabric on sale, quilting thread, button making kit, buttons, and doll needles.  Here's the progression of my creation:

First I measured where I wanted each of my 22 buttons to go, then drilled holes into the plywood.  Just off to the side, I drilled another hole.  I put a screw in this hole to tie the thread around once I'd tufted the button to its correct depth.

After using spray adhesive to bind the plywood, foam and batting, I stapled the batting to the back.

The fabric was only 54 inches wide.  My headboard was 48 inches plus 3 inches of foam on each side, so I had to sew an extra flap so I could pull the edges around to staple it.

Now I have to tuft!  The longest process was covering all 22 buttons with fabric and then sewing them through the foam and tying the thread around the screws!

The first row tufted, and the second row with the buttons sewed through to the back. And a Huckleberry to the right with glowing eyes watching HGTV with me.

And the finished product!!  Once we get to our house in Virginia Beach, I'll attached legs to it for the appropriate height to the ceilings in our room.  But for now I'm so happy!  Commence Chandler Bing Happy Dance!