This window valance is one of the easiest projects that I’ve done. Trust me, anyone can do this and it will only cost you a few dollars.
Here are the supplies you need:
- Foam core (find at any craft store or in the school supply section of Walmart and Target)
- Batting
- Fabric
- Staple gun
- Picture hanging hooks
Decide what shape you want for the bottom of the valance (straight, a little curvy, whatever) and then draw or trace it on to your foam core board. Cut it out using an X-acto knife or other sharp blade. This is half of your valance. Use this piece to trace the other half on to the foam core and cut out your second piece. You should have 2 matching pieces.
You also need to cut out 2 side pieces. Measure the side length of your valance piece and then cut out 2 rectangles to match that length. You can make them as wide as you want depending on how far you want your valance to stick out from the window. Here are my cut pieces.
Now it’s time to assemble the pieces. Use duct tape or another heavy duty tape to secure everything together.
Time to make it pretty. Cut your batting and fabric and lay your assembled foam core on top. Wrap the fabric around one side and start stapling it in place. Work your way around the valance, pulling the fabric tight as you go. The corners are a little tricky, but just fold them over and try to get them as smooth as you can. Make sure you use 1/4 inch staples so they don’t go through to the other side. The 1/2 inch staples are a little too long.
To hang my valance on the wall, I used heavy duty gorilla glue to attach picture hanging hooks on the inside edge. I hung it on a nail hammered into the wall. It’s very light so you don’t need anything more than that.
This is what both sides look like hanging on the wall
This was SO easy and cost me under $5.00. If you don’t have a staple gun, a basic one is very inexpensive and a great investment. You will use it for so many things.
Thanks so much for hanging out in my office this week. Come back Monday for a lot more fun and have a wonderful weekend.
Find more home office decorating tips here.
LOVE this–super easy and know one would ever know it was made from foam core if you didn’t tell them! Great job, again!
Very cool! Great way to add color and show off a great print!
I used to work at an interior design shop, and we would build valences like this all the time! You did an absolutely gorgeous job with the shape, and centering the print like that was very well done! I’m itching to build some of these for myself now!
A couple of thoughts that were lessons learned from the shop for people wanting to do this themselves:
Spray adhesive or even a quick swipe with a glue stick will help keep your batting in place while you’re working with it. I tend to use slightly watered down Tacky glue, and then pin it in place while stapling so I can get it done one handed!
You may want to take a bit of your left-over foam board and make two types reinforcements for your joints. It’ll hold up better that way.
-Type one: take a long strip of foamcore that’s maybe 4 inches long, center it over your center seam, and gorilla glue it on. It’ll keep the middle from sagging and bending while you’re working with it.
-Type two: Cut four or six small right triangles. Glue those into your joint with the right corner in the seam. It’ll keep the seam from buckling.
Here, I made you a picture. I know that ramble wasn’t really all that helpful.
Just copy and paste the below address into your browser window to see it:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m80/cheshires_grin/valance.gif
It’s amazing how fantastic this looks for how easy it is!!! I’ll have to remember this for the future. And the comments from Erin were really great too!
Thanks so much for sharing this idea! I LOVE it! I can’t wait to try it out!!
I am seriously impressed! Great job!
Fabulous! I have been racking my brain trying to think of a cheaper and easier alternative to wood or mdf for a window treatment. I would never have thought to use foam core board! I will be using your great idea soon for a project that I have been planning. Thanks so much for sharing your great (and cute) ideas!
Thank you so much for this post. I actually made one for my living room widow. It took me a little under two hrs. It looks great. The only area I struggled with is the “V” part in the center of the valance, the fabric was very close to tearing. I did use some fray check so that it wouldn’t continue to tear….How did you handle this?
Again, thank you so much. Love your blog.
Quick question… how much fabric do you need for this project? I have a yard of fabric that i love and want to try something like this but not sure if I have enough… do I need more?