What you will need:
Tape
2 poster boards (less than a $1 each)
2 to 3 boxes of aluminum foil ( $1 each at the dollar tree.)
Lots of news papers
2 cans of spray paint (around $1 a can)
And then whatever paper mache recipe you want to use
This head board cost me roughly around 5 bucks to make. ☺
I didn't think at the time of making it to take photos as I went. Kinda wish I had but I'll try to explain the best I can. I didn't have a pattern and had drawn several different headboards till I had the one I wanted.
I then bought two poster boards and talked them end to end and measured out what size headboard I needed. I have a queen size bed. I then proceeded to draw my headboard onto it.
Cut out the pattern so that your end result is a cardboard head board.
Now for the tricky part. You take sections of the aluminum foil and wad them up so that they are in long snake like shapes. You then form their shape on top of the cardboard headboard taping it down as you go so that it is now becoming the shape of what a actual wrought iron headboard looks like. You keep doing this until every part is covered.
Note that you leave the backside like it is. Just flat card board. This is so that it can go against the wall later.
It will feel flimsy right now but won't later when you add the paper.
So mix up your paper mache and cut your newspaper in long strips. Now your ready for the messy part. Dip a strip of paper in your mixture and start wrapping it around your headboard so that the back side is also getting covered. When you are finished covering it, you shouldn't see any aluminum foil or tape or card board. Make sure that the paper is smooth and isn't puckered anywhere because as it dries it might make it pucker worse and then wont appear to be a smooth surface.
Let that dry for a day or two. It should then be very hard and sturdy once it is completely dry.
Now it's time to paint it. I chose black because my room is themed with red gold and black. Take it outside and make sure to lay it flat. Spray paint thin thorough coats and go back to fill in any places that were missed. There's no need to spray paint the backside because that will be flat against the wall.
So now you have a awesome looking headboard and its ready to be put up. I took very small but long pin nails and pushed them through the head board and into the wall and mounted it. Just make sure you have it measured right for the height of your bed so that once the bed is pushed back to the wall that it looks attached.
That's all. I hope my instructions weren't too confusing.
