Weekend Project: Headboard of Branches

I know I said I would do this on Friday but I ran out of time so I'm doing it for today's post. So now it will be for this weekend's project. Just another reason to look forward to the coming weekend that seems sooooo far away right about now.

I made this headboard out of branches for the Home & Garden Show earlier this year and then later reused it in my sister's Bedroom Makeover because she really wanted to keep it.


My concept for the Home & Garden Show was very deep and kinda earthy so I got this idea to make a headboard out of branches. Originally I had planned on scavenging all the branches myself and weaving them into a really cool design to make a sturdy, more typical style headboard. Well, time ran out and I was left with about a day to knock the headboard out. So I went to the local craft store, bought a bunch of sticks from the dried naturals section, bought some twine and wide hemp ribbon used in upholstering. I then headed to Lowe's where I purchased (4) 1"x2" boards, wood screws, and those foam insulation strips that you run around your door frames. In all, it cost about $30 to make. Not too shabby.

1. Start by cutting your boards to length, depending on what size bed you have. Next, sand, prep and then stain all sides of the boards your desired color. ( I used stain I already had)

2. After the stain has fully dried, lay 2 boards out on a large work surface and space them your desired height......I left about 12" between mine. Apply the foam strips to one side of both boards. You can apply foam strips to one side of the other two boards as well but lay them off to the side until you need them.

3. Lay out the branches perpendicular to the parallel boards. Let the bottom of the branches overlap the bottom board by about an inch. Use the twine to weave in and out around the branches to help secure them together. You can also run some craft glue in between the boards and around the foam strips for added stability.

4. Get the other two boards and lay them on top of your existing boards with the foam strip facing down. The foam strips will press together to help squeeze the branches in place. Once the boards are lined up, screw the boards together about every 6". The tighter you can screw them together the better since they will hold all the branches in place.

5. If you're really picky you can get some colored wood putty to fill in over the screw holes.

6. Next, take the hemp ribbon, or any other colored ribbon for that matter, and weave it in and out between the sticks between the boards. Since I mounted mine 12" apart and my ribbon was 4" wide, I did 3 woven rows. You can see this best in the first picture. Where the ribbon ends, cut it off, tuck it carefully behind and then hand stitch it closed using matching thread. This weaving will also add extra support for the branches to stay in place.

7. That's it! For the bedroom makeover I just screwed the headboard directly to the wall for support (normally the headboard attaches to the bed frame) You can get really creative with this using different types of branches and/or weaving them different ways. Mine was quick and cheap and has surprisingly held up really well!