Cornice board DIY (or how to make fancy looking window treatments for cheap)

I love the tailored look of cornice boards on a window. It looks so clean and classic. But y'all, I can't bring myself to drop hundreds on a window treatment. I just can't.

When we moved into our house in August, I'd already seen a few tutorials floating around Pinterest on making cornice boards. The study (aka a very tiny room in the front of our house that I think may have been the original bedroom when it was built in the 40's, but wouldn't hold a queen size bed now) was the one room we wanted to paint and make improvements too, as the rest of the house had recently been repainted or updated. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in that room, but I started with selecting fabric to make window treatments. I fell in love with this cobalt geometrical pattern. And cornice boards seemed like the perfect thing to make with it.

And so it was.

But how in the H was I going to do this?

I happened to have a lot of cardboard lying around from the move. And I thought, "it can't be that hard. Let's do this." (in that Home Depot-commercial tone).

This is what I used, how I did it, and what they look like in my study. They're pretty cute!

You'll need:
Cardboard (ideally about 8 inches longer than the width of your window - or you can tape it together, like I did)
Packing tape
Quilt batting
Hot glue gun
Craft or fabric glue
Fabric
Measuring tape
Scissors

Measure your windows and cut the cardboard accordingly. The height of the board, as well as how far you want it to stick out from the wall, depends on your personal taste!

I wanted mine to come out about 4 inches from the wall, so I made sure I had at least that amount in the total width of the board. For example, if your window is 40" from moulding to moulding and you want it to come out 4", you'll cut your board to 48". Then, you'll crease back so that is has 4" flaps on each side.

My pieces of cardboard were not quite long enough, so I had to take pieces together. I reinforced it with  a small piece of cardboard on the back of it so that there wouldn't be a visible crease.

Next, cut your quilt batting to the size of the front of your cardboard. Don't worry if it's not perfect. Glue it down with hot glue so that it's instantly stuck on there.

Now, you'll wrap your board like a present. If you will be able to see your board from the outside of your house, you'll want to wrap it completely. Be sure not to wrap it too tightly around the "flaps" on the end - you'll want to be sure they still bend back at 90 degree angles.

Then, you'll get out your craft or fabric glue and glue it down (you can see I also used a little bit of packing tape to hold it in place so that I could pull it taut). You might want to put something heavy on top of the creases while it's drying. 

For the corners, I folded them neatly just like you would a package. It makes the outside look prettier and neater, too. 

After your board has dried, hang 'er up! I used 6 small tack/upholstery nails on each side to hang it (nailed directly into the moulding). The board is so light that 6 tiny nails will easily keep it in place.

And voila! Don't tell anyone you did it yourself. They'll ask you to do one for them. 

Just admire your lovely, expensive-looking window treatments. And make them for every room in your house!

I wanna see pics!