Just call me Martha Stewart. 🙂 I finally got around to making three simple fabric-covered window cornices for our reading room, using all scrap wood and about 1.5 yards of fabric that my wife picked out for about $12. 1/4″ plywood was sufficient. The hardest part was actually installing them. (What a pain the in the you-know-what!)
I was shocked to find that these can actually cost $200-300 if you have someone do them for you! I found shape ideas (and really high prices) here.
I got oriented by reading through this Lowes tutorial.