Canvas Headboard with Nail Trim

So we just moved (like still living out of boxes just moved!) from a one bedroom apartment to a 4 bedroom townhouse. We moved to another state in New England and we decided that our furniture from Ikea wasn't worth the hassle of moving. We searched around and I couldn't believe how expensive headboards were. I remember seeing on Pinterest (you can say I'm addicited!) fabric headboards and thought it would be a fab idea so we could customize it with any look we wanted. We did some research online and headed to Lowe's to get the wood and then to Jo-Anns for the fabric. We spent a good hour at Jo-Anns unimpressed with the selection but we thought, if we couldn't find what we wanted here--where would we be able to find it? We decided on a solid color but then came to a dilemma of it not being large enough to wrap the board. Also, foam was RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I read a few different tutorials some required foam and others required polyester batting but the sales associate at Jo-Anns def. said that in her own experience she would recommend foam. We were there on a Thursday evening and she said Friday-Sunday the foam would be 50% off and fabric would be marked down so we decided to come back over the weekend. We felt so defeated that our D.I.T headboard sounded a lot more expensive and difficult than we imagined...

A little bummed after our trip, I decided to continue my search online for more tutorials and reviews and came across this gem:

http://www.hgtv.com/bedrooms/canvas-headboard-with-nail-head-trim/index.html

We made some adjustments and this is how we made our new Canvas Headboard for $30:

Supplies:
-Twin Memory Foam Mattress Topper from Walmart: $10--way cheaper than the foam even at 50% off and it didn't need to be cut!
-Wood cut to size from Lowes: $10 (I think it was around $11 but we have a 10% coupon from moving!)
-Canvas Drop from Lowes: $10 (also around $11 but saved again thanks to the coupon)
-Nails: (we already had these)
-Staple gun: $9 from Walmart (I didn't include this in the overall cost of the headboard since we will use it for other things around the house too)
-Staples: $2.50 from Walmart

We decided we wanted our headboard to be 4' x 5' so we got the 9' x 6' canvas drop. This idea was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT because the canvas was large enough to wrap the board and we couldn't find fabric as large as we needed.

The whole project was very simple and took less than an hour. The longest part was steaming the wrinkles out of the canvas. We made this over the weekend before I started blogging so unfortunately I don't have any progress pictures but the link above has great pictures and instructions. I just wanted to post about some adjustments and blunders we made:

-We used memory foam mattress topper instead of the polyester batting and I think it worked wonderfully. It covers the perfect amount we needed covered and we didn't have to use multiple layers
-I initially tried to steam the wrinkles out of the canvas before wrapping it around the board--bad idea. It was taking FOREVER and I didn't feel like I was making any progress after 20 minutes
-We then tossed the canvas in the dryer on "wrinkle release"--didn't work
-It was MUCH easier to steam the wrinkles out after wrapping the board.
-Since our dining room table hasn't arrived yet, we did our little project in the dining room since the floor was cleaner than the garage. When we were ready to move the board upstairs we realized the nails we used were too long and actually went through the board in some sections...so I came up with an idea that did that job...maxi pads! it just sticked right on to the back of the board and was thick enough that the nails didn't poke through

So we made some blunders but I love it and am excited to make more. I hope these tips helped in your adventure.

xoxojc