After a 2x4 and some plywood, I headed to Hobby Lobby with a 50% off coupon and got furniture tacks, foam, and some great neutral fabric with a slight shimmer woven in.
1. Measure your bed frame and decide on dimensions for your headboard. I always have the nice people at Home Depot cut it for me!
2. Secure the pieces of 2x4s to the plywood. Be sure and cut these according to the height that they need to be to touch the ground.
3. Cut the foam to fit the plywood and secure with glue. I used fabric glue, but any will work since it will be help down by the furniture tacks and fabric!
4. Cut your fabric to cover the plywood and foam. Be sure to leave several inches on each side, as the fabric will shorten as you put the tacks in.
5. You can apply the furniture tacks either before you secure the fabric to the board or afterwards. Either way, they are a bit hard to secure so you may want to use a hammer!
6. Secure the fabric by wrapping it around the back and using upholstery staples to attach it to the back of the plywood.
7. Stand the finished headboard up behind the bed and use a pen/pencil to mark where the screws would need to go to attach it to the bed frame. Then use a drill and bit to drill holes in the 2x4 pieces. Be sure to use the largest bolt possible to secure the headboard to the bed frame and put a nut on the back!
And wah-la!
