coffee sack headboard

One Saturday afternoon, Jilly called to alert me that she was heading toward my neighborhood to drop off her munchkins at a birthday party in my neck of the woods.  Knowing in the back of my mind that she'd be the perfect person to help me construct a headboard for the ninos' room, I tricked her into spending a few hours at my house.  I think I told her I would feed her a gourmet lunch while massaging her shoulders, but really, I had something more like this on my mind.

Jilly showed up 20 minutes later slightly overdressed for this party, but I knew she would be a good sport, and I was right.  After I offered her my best selection of crackers and we got right to work.  I'll show you how to reproduce this headboard so you can make one too.

First buy some 3/4" plywood and have a nice young man at Home Depot cut it to size.  I was planning on using it for a twin bed so mine is 55h x 38w.  Next draw a template of the shape you want on the top out of butcher paper.  It's easiest and most precise if you fold it in half vertically and then cut it.  Tape it onto your wood and trace the shape with a pencil. 

Cut the shape out with a jig saw and sand down any rough edges.

Next adhere 1.5" dense foam to the wood with spray adhesive and cut the foam to match the pattern of the wood.

Add a layer of dacron (can be found at any upholstery store) and adhere it with spray adhesive.  Cut it so it wraps around the edges of the headboard.

You'll need two burlap sacks.  Take the first one and cut it all the way down the right and left sides so you have one very long rectangle.  Repeat with the second sack.  Sew the two sacks together and position them on top of the dacron just as you want them to look when it's finished.  I liked the big thick seam down the middle so I left it there, but off set it just a little. 

Secure the burlap with a few staples underneath on all four sides and then turn the whole thing over.  Begin stapling the burlap in place, being careful not to pull it too tight. 

I wanted to add a little more color so I taped off a 1" line and stippled a yellow stripe slightly left of center. 

I didn't want to mess with legs on my headboard so I used this handy little cleat found on aisle 15 at Home Depot to hang it right on my wall.  The whole thing weighed about 20 lbs.  Nothin' this bad boy couldn't handle.

And that's it!  I LOVE the way it turned out! 

The whole thing cost me about $40. The price tag makes it even more charming, wouldn't you say?

If you need a great source for burlap, my friend Candy put me on to {this} website.  They're on sale for .85 right now.  Can't beat that.

Remember these square pillow shams for the ninos' bed? 

If you want to learn how to make them, there's an easy to follow tutorial {here}.