DIY headboard..... in less than 1 hour

After I finished making over the dresser for Quinny's room I knew we needed to address the headboard situation...or rather the lack thereof.  Since we moved Quinn to a "big girl" bed 5 years ago (can it really be 5 years...!) she has never had a headboard.  She had a pretty pink princess canopy that would have hidden any headboard we used so it was never really a priority.  I've been itching to do a DIY upholstered headboard for quite some time now and thought I'd try out one for her room.

When  I was we were creating my our vision for her room I really wanted a big, fluffy gray tufted headboard. Kinda like this cute one from West Elm:

But, the $350 price tag just isn't in the budget, so I watched a bunch of You Tube videos until I felt like I could make one. Which, by the way, is the same method my hubby and I used to build the confidence to do our own backsplash in the kitchen.  Then I was off to Hobby Lobby to pick up the supplies: a couple yards of fabric, foam (actually my mom had some left over from a project), and batting. Then I went to our local hardware store and got a 20 inch x 3 ft. piece of 1/2 inch plywood for $2 (I love living in a small town somtimes!).

Basically, the process of making it is kinda like wrapping a present with many layers.  I wish I could have taken pictures of the process but until that 3rd arm sprouts from my head I'm not that talented so you'll have to imagine it!  I found this video helpful, and followed each step using my mom's electric staple gun to get things attached.
I REALLLLLYYYY wanted to tuft it and add in the buttons but truth be told: I chickened out!  I can't sew....at all, so I get nervous when anything involves a needle.  I decided to forgo it and snaz up the headboard with some cute beaded trim that I found on clearnance and Hobby Lobby. What do you think:

I'm happy that I decided to do the trim instead of the tufting, as my hubby reminded me a couple times, "This is our daughter's room, not yours!"  She is 7 so she totally likes the beaded, fluffy trim waaaaayyyy better than she would have the tufted look.  I used a picture hanger thingy (technical term) that I bought at Lowe's for $5 to attach it to the wall.  It said it holds up to 75 lbs so I thought it could handle a somewhat rambunctious 7 year old.
Here is a look with the bedding:

 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it and the process has given me the courage to try to do another one...maybe for our room and I'll tuft that one!  Here is the financial info for this one:

Fabric: $7.99/ yard at Hobby Lobby, I got 2.5 yards and used a 40% off coupon = $12

Foam: free, my mom had some left over

Batting: $7.99

Beaded trim: $2.99/ yard at Hobby Lobby, I snatched up 3 yards, since this was a different day I had another coupon!!! =$5.40

Picture hanger thingy: $5 from Lowes

= $30.32 for the entire project...not too bad, especially when compared to the $350 one!