My sister’s apt is totally a budget friendly project. We are trying to repurpose everything and this latest project was one of my favorites.
We knew we wanted to make a tufted headboard for her bed so me and Jon decided to go through our house/garage and see if there was anything we could use to make one.
Enter a crib rail that we picked up from the curb. We were going to originally paint it and use it as a trellis in our garden, but we used something from IKEA instead so it was just hanging around.
This was one of the easiest projects I have ever done! Here is what you need:
- One crib rail
-Twin size egg crate mattress pad: This is normally much cheaper than batting or foam at a craft store. I picked it up at Walmart for $10!
-Fabric: We used two different types:
-Twine or thread
-Button cover kit
-Staple Gun
Step 1: Staple egg crate mattress pad on crib rail:
Here it is all finished:
Step 2: Staple on fabric:
Step 3: Now if you don’t want tufting then you are all finished, but to add tufting here is what you do:
Play around with placement and decide if you want how many buttons you want in the rows/columns.
We wanted 4 buttons in a row so we took the measurement of the full length, which was 55” and divided it by 5 and got 11”.
Vertically we had 28 1/2” and we wanted two buttons per column so we divided by 3 and got 9 1/2”.
We then took two tape measurements and used one to measure every 11” and the other to measure the 9 1/2” and placed a small mark on the fabric to have a guide for our buttons.
Step 4: Take sewing needle (we used a larger doll needle, but a normal one would have worked as well) and poke through the fabric.
Step 5: Thread button:
Step 6: Due to the rails it is super easy to staple the thread (we used twine) into place.
Step 7: Enjoy! You are all finished:
Due to the rails the piece is really light and very easy to install. We just needed 4 regular nails (2” long) to hang it up!
My favorite part about this project is that you can take your baby’s crib and use then use it for their big kid bed by using the rail and making a vertical tufted headboard similar to this:
And then later on when they are ready for a teen bed you can use it horizontally like I did above with a full bed. You could also easily use liquid nails to glue a piece of wood or mdf to the side to make it larger for a queen or king.
Images via me. (So sorry for the soft focus on them I must have hit it by accident on my camera). Last image via Full House.
What a great idea!
Brilliant! It looks fantastic!
Such a fantastic idea! Whenever my crib is done being a crib I'll be able to make two matching headboards for my little girls' room!
Would have never thought of using a baby crib. Looks great. Also, I like thte idea of a trellis!
Teresa (Splendid Sass)
wow! Love love this idea!
really cute project, I love the fabric you used!
You're amazing! I love this idea!!
Awesome idea and I love the results! You're doing the same thing as me with my sister…repurposing things to save $$…it's kinda fun to see what you can come up with on a little budget!
genius, love it
So absolutely precious, and perfectly, perfectly CLEVER! You and Jon take dumpster diving to an art!
Crafty repurposing! I did a similar thing with my upholstered headboards — I used old canvas stretchers instead of the crib.
Its nice when its light because then you don't have to be too worried about securing it to the wall!
wow that is amazing! Other headboard tutorials always seem so intimidating to me, but this one seems completely doable!
Super creative, and it came out so cute!
You are so beyond creative! I love the finished bed.
You amaze me! You're like the interior design version of the winner of Project Runaway – being creative and finding ways to rework things others would have just thrown away.
If you wanted, you could run a series here – people could submit a picture of something they have and they're planning to throw away but you could give them ideas to re-purpose them. That could be fun
thank you, thank you! This is the perfect solution for our sparse guest room. I have my weekend project. Off to find fabric…
wow! what a good idea! looks great!
OMG Camila, you never cease to amaze!
love it Camilla! such the craft queen
Love the idea! Well done! xo
I would never of thought of using the egg crate pads instead of foam. Genius! Thanks for the inspiration.
What a great idea! I love it. I love the fabric choices as well.
I am truly so impressed!!!
brilliant~ i love it!
That's adorable! I love that you got the rail for free! These are all over Goodwill and thrift stores for super cheap if someone wants to use your fabulous idea!
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Mallory @ Classy Clutter
Amazing! Love it!
-Rene
you are kidding me!! that is fantastic.
Clever, clever, clever!
Shelly
Super idea! Thank you so much for that tip on using an egg crate mattress pad instead of foam. I honestly had planned to buy foam tomorrow for a back pad on a rocking chair. This will work so much better!!
love the idea. i may try this with a futon that my neighbor is throwing away.
Baby cribs should be safe for the babies. You can't sacrifice safety with beauty anyways.