Styrofoam Headboards!

My girls had early dismissal twice this week which cut my crafting time a bit shorter than I had expected.  I did finally get these babies done though and I love them! I can't wait to share them with you!

Want to see how I made it?  You won't believe how cheap and easy it is!

I started with some material that I used to make cornices at my old house.  It's styrofoam insulation that I purchased at Lowe's for $8... Woohoo!

It comes in really big 4'x8' sheets so I had the guy cut it down the middle so I could fit it in my car.  Once I was home I took the two pieces and I laid them on top of each other.  I measured the length and width I wanted my headboards to be which was 32" x 38".  I taped the boards together using painters tape to keep them from moving around.

After I measured and marked my lines I was ready to cut.  I was told this stuff cuts best with a razor utility knife, however I do not have one of those so I went and borrowed my hubby's pocket knife.

Very professional... I know :) I cut my two boards using the knife.

This insulation comes with a plastic wrap on both sides.  I just peeled it off to get it out of the way.  My next step was to prep my fabric.  I used a drop cloth to cover the headboards.  It's super cheap and was exactly the look I was going for.  I cut the cloth just a few inches longer than my board on each side.

I then ironed my drop cloth pieces before starting my next step.  After it was ironed I laid it on the ground and took my styrofoam board to the garage.  I sprayed one side of the board with Elmer's Spray Adhesive.

I brought the board in and placed it directly on top of the ironed drop cloth with the sticky side down. Then, I just wrapped my edges to the back starting with top and bottom and secured them using hot glue.  The hot glue does melt the styrofoam a bit so use a lower temp setting if you have one.  I found that it didn't really matter if it melted a bit.  It still held the fabric in place perfectly.

My finished corners looked like this.

My next step was to tape off some lines so I could paint my border.  I used painters tape and went around the entire edge of the board.  Once that was done I added two pieces about 2" from the sides like this.

I then used yellow arylic paint to fill in the two lines.

I pulled up the two inside pieces and let those lines dry.

While those were drying I started painting my letter.  Ashley is working on a project right now using these great letters from Hobby Lobby.  That gave me the idea to use them for this.  The letters are $5 a piece at Hobby Lobby... Can't beat that! I painted my A with about 3 coats of the yellow acrylic.

I let that dry and then taped off and painted my other two lines on my board to form the frame. 

I filled in those lines and waited for everything to dry.  Once it was dry I pulled out old trusty. 

I knew I needed a good thick glue to hold this letter on so I used my favorite Gorilla Glue Epoxy.  I just applied a good amount to the back of the letter after mixing it.

Then I measured center and stuck it down to dry.

After letting it dry for about an hour it was time to hang it up.  I had to think of a cheap good way to attach it to the wall so I used a bit of thick twine with Gorilla Tape on the back of the board.

It's shanty, I know! But it did get the job done!  Now it was time to hang her up... And take a few pics for you guys too of course.  What do you think??

Hope you like it!  I can't tell you how many projects you can do with this insulation.  It's cheap, lightweight and so easy to work with.  Check it out and let us know what you create with it.  For under $25, I created two very custom and oh so cute headboards for my girls.  The possibilities are endless!

Have a great weekend!!

~Whitney