Introduction
I was inspired to create this double size head board because my son is so stuck on Star Wars . He can't get enough of it. The LED stars are perfect for a child that needs a little extra light at bed time. It takes them away to another world . Who wouldn't love to fall asleep under the stars ?
The project was created with a simple coloring book. If you can color in a color book, you can definitely accomplish this project with great results !

Tools Needed
Jig Saw
Router with a 3/8 " round over bit
Screwdriver
Drill with a bit size of ( 5/16" and 7/32" and 9/32")
Chop saw or skill saw
Vice grips
Projector
3 Paintbrushes Large ,Medium and Small

Supplies
4'x 8'sheet cut down to 2.3' xi 5' 3/4" MDF sheet
1"x4" 8 foot board
12 1 1/4 " wood screws
Four each of (1/4" carriage bolts )(1/4" nuts)(1/4" Flat washers)
Countersink

1 string of 35 or less LED Christmas lights
2 Black Sharpe fine tip pens
Clear Varnish spray or liquid

Acrylic Paint Colors
1 Cobalt Blue
2 Light grey
3 Dark Grey
4 White
5 Black
6 Silver
7 Dark Metallic Gold
8 Yellow Metallic Gold
9 light brown
10 Dark Brown
11 Antique white (off white for skin tone)
12 Georgia Clay (Red/orange mix)
13 Plum or purple wine
14medium yellow
15 light green
16 dark green

Step 1: Cutting MDF to Size

Step 1
Cutting your 4x8 foot sheet of MDF . We had ours cut at Home Depot because it wouldnt fit in our car. You can cut it yourself with your table saw of course. The dimension is 2.3 feet x 5 feet for a double bed size.

Step 2: COPY OF STAR WARS IMAGES

Step 2
I created the image that will be projected with a simple Star Wars coloring book. I traced the images I wanted in an order of how I imagined it to appear when finished. If you want to use your own design , you can use a light table for tracing or you can use your window during daylight hours to trace your images on plane white paper.If you want to use my image I will upload a copy that you can print off.
The Star wars image needs to be projected onto the MDF to create the contour of the bed frame. This is the outline where you will be making your cuts.The cuts will only be made on the sides and top corners. You want to make sure you leave the bottom half of the sides uncut because posts will be screwed in this area at the end of the project. Starting halfway up the sides ,use your sharpe and create a cut line about 2" away from the end Characters and round the top corners. The sides don't need to be symmetrical be creative.

Step 3: Cutting and Routering the Sides

Clamp your MDF sheet down on your work table. Using your jigsaw, cut the lines you"ve just created.

Using your router and 3/8" round over bit, router the edge of the head board. No need to do the bottom.

Step 4: Drawing the Outline of the Characters

Wipe the dust off your project. Now it's time to project your characters onto the head board centering the drawing. Using your sharpe draw away and outline all those characters.

Step 5: BACKGROUND

Paint the background COBALT BLUE 2 coats ( don't forget the edges) Use the largest brush you have first. When you find your getting into tight spots change to a smaller brush.

Step 6: Battle Droid

First Character is the Battle Droid on the farthest left.My nine year old son says the color of the MDF is the perfect color for this character. So thats the color I left him. I only did shading. The shading process through out this project is simply watered down paint applied under the sharpe lines. So when I say shade with a particular color it means water that color down and apply.
Back to the droid shade the Droids sharpe lines with LIGHT BROWN
Thats it for this character

Step 7: C3PO

C3PO is the next character. I painted him an all over colour of DARK GOLD (except eyes) let dry
Apply YELLOW GOLD over top of the DARK GOLD around eyes forehead bridge of nose chest plate shoulders. Just leave a shade of dark on the sides of face and under the chin ,neck sides of head.Do not water down the YELLOW GOLD.
Eyes are a mixture of YELLOW GOLD and WHITE. Pupils black.
Thats it for C3po.
NOTE... Its okay if you paint over the sharpe lines because when the paint dries you can see through the paint where the outline was. When all Characters are done we will be going over the Sharpe lines again.That will make your images POP !

Step 8: Clone Trooper

The Clone Trooper. Paint the Storm trooper all WHITE. Gloves and elbows and part of mask are BLACK. You'll probably need to go over twice. The Storm troopers shading is done with LIGHT GREY (watered down on sharpe lines)

Storm Troopers Gun paint all over LIGHT GREY
Shade with BLACK (watered down on sharpe lines)

Step 9: YODA

Yoda is a lot of fun to do ! Yodas skin (face, hands, feet) is an all over LIGHT GREEN
Yodas Jacket is all over metallic Silver
Yodas shirt is a LIGHT BROWN
Yodas Pants is a DARK BROWN
Yodas eyes are Medium YELLOW/ BLACK PUPILS can be done with sharpe/WHITE for the white of eyes of course/Tiny flecks of DARK BROWN on the MEDIUM YELLOW when the yellow dries
Yodas toes are painted WHITE/when they dry shade with a drop of LIGHT BROWN (watered down)
Yodas Shading is done with the DARK GREEN (watered down on the sharpe lines)
yoda IS DONE !

Step 10: ANAKIN

Anakin may look hard but he's really not! I'll show you. Anakins hair is painted all over LIGHT BROWN
Next Anakins face is ANTIQUE WHITE / eyes COBALT BLUE/pupils black sharpe//WHITE of eyes
Anakins Over Coat is DARK GREY
Anakins sleeves are PLUM or PUPLE WINE

Back to Anikens hair, load your medium brush with DARK BROWN and take access off on bottle (Even rub the bristles on a paper towel to take lots of the paint off the brush) start from the hair parting and follow the sharpe lines and paint with direction of the hair growth. Load the brush again and take access off and go back to the parting and repeat until the desired amount of darkness is attained . Don't overdue it a little gives a person the idea of depth.

Anakins Face shading is done with EXTREMELY DILUTED GEORGIA CLAY . Like I mean just one tiny speck of this paint with a whole lot of water. Shading the sides of cheeks by just dabbing your brush up and down in the shaded areas. Shaded areas being under the bang, edge of face, under eyes, under chin, under nose, neck
Thats it ! Anakin is done !

Step 11: PAINTING THE LETTERS OF STAR WARS AND OUTLINING

Paint the Star Wars letters all MEDIUM YELLOW ( most likely need 2 coats)

Outline your Characters over top of the original sharpe lines Outline the Title Star Wars with your sharpe marker too. Varnish with a liquid or spray clear varnish and let dry.

Step 12:

On the painted side of the headboard we are going to mark with a sharpe where we will be drilling holes for the LED string of lights.. Start at the top left hand corner and use a ruler and mark dots 8cm apart.The space between the light is actually 10cm apart but we are giving ourselves some extra moving room.When marking your stars emagine the string of lights are following this path around the Star Wars letters. Make sure you count the correct amount of dots according to how many lights you have. I didnt use all 35 of the lights I have I left some out .

On the painted side of the head board drill wholes on your marked dots with the drill bit measuring of 7/32"Drill all the way through the board.
When all these holes have been drilled flip the board over and now we are going to use the 5/16" drill bit and drill only partly through the holes we just drilled .
Placing a piece of electricians tape or masking tape just 1/4 inch above the tip of the drill bit.This will give you a guide where you should be stopping.When the tape hits the board, you've drilled far enough. Do this for all the holes. This process enables the lights to be counter sunk snuggly into the MDF .

Turn the board back over again to the right side and using your COBALT BLUE paint and small paintbrush quickly paint the inside of the holes to cover up the MDF. You dont have to paint all the way back. Just a 1/4 inch in will do.

Flip the board over to the back side when you are done, and start placing your lights in the holes beginning on the far left and follow the path you created when making the dots. You will need a pair of vice grips to aid in shimmying these lights in the holes.Make sure you start with the male end of the string of lights. When you are done this get your extension cord and plug in your headboard !

Step 13: Post Assembly to Headboard

Now for the posts. Using a chop saw or skill saw cut two 32" lengths from the 1x4 board. Round over the top outside edge with the router . Take the posts over to the bed frame and mark with a pencil where your mounting spots will be at the bottom of the post (unroutered side) this is where you will be using your 1/4 " carriage bolts nuts and washers (Two per side). Go back and drill holes measuring 9/32 drill bit .(This is the appropriate size hole for our carriage bolts used to fasten headboard to the frame.

The top 12 inches of the 32" post is going to be placed on the back of the headboard You can mark 12 inches on the post with a pencil.
Mark 2 3/4 " in from the side edge. Make sure its square using an angle square. Screw six 1 1/4 inch wood screws into each post while being placed in the appropriate spot on the bed frame. Do this for both posts. You are Done ! You can now attach your headboard to the bed with your carriage bolts washers and nuts.