An ItemDecoration that will draw a given Drawable as a header and or a footer on your RecyclerView.

HeaderFooterItemDecoration.java

import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
import android.support.annotation.IntDef;
import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;

public class HeaderFooterItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {

  public static final int HORIZONTAL = LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL;
  public static final int VERTICAL = LinearLayout.VERTICAL;

  @Retention(RetentionPolicy.SOURCE) @IntDef({ HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL })
  public @interface Orientation {
  }

  public static final int HEADER_ONLY = 0;
  public static final int FOOTER_ONLY = 1;
  public static final int HEADER_AND_FOOTER = 2;

  @Retention(RetentionPolicy.SOURCE) @IntDef({ HEADER_ONLY, FOOTER_ONLY, HEADER_AND_FOOTER })
  public @interface Mode {
  }

  public HeaderFooterItemDecoration(Drawable drawable, @Mode int mode,
      @Orientation int orientation) {
    this(drawable, new Rect(), mode, orientation);
  }

  HeaderFooterItemDecoration(Drawable drawable, Rect bounds, @Mode int mode,
      @Orientation int orientation) {
    this.drawable = drawable;
    this.bounds = bounds;
    this.mode = mode;
    this.orientation = orientation;
  }

  private final Drawable drawable;
  private final Rect bounds;
  @Mode private final int mode;
  @Orientation private final int orientation;

  @Override public void onDraw(Canvas c, RecyclerView parent, RecyclerView.State state) {
    super.onDraw(c, parent, state);
    if (parent.getLayoutManager() == null || drawable == null) {
      return;
    }

    if (orientation == VERTICAL) {
      drawVertical(c, parent);
    } else {
      drawHorizontal(c, parent);
    }
  }

  private void drawVertical(Canvas canvas, RecyclerView parent) {
    canvas.save();
    final int left;
    final int right;
    //noinspection AndroidLintNewApi - NewApi lint fails to handle overrides.
    if (parent.getClipToPadding()) {
      left = parent.getPaddingLeft();
      right = parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight();
      canvas.clipRect(left, parent.getPaddingTop(), right,
          parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom());
    } else {
      left = 0;
      right = parent.getWidth();
    }

    final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    final int adapterItemCount = parent.getAdapter().getItemCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
      final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);
      if (shouldDrawForPosition(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(child), adapterItemCount)) {
        parent.getDecoratedBoundsWithMargins(child, bounds);
        final int bottom = bounds.bottom + Math.round(child.getTranslationY());
        final int top = bottom - drawable.getIntrinsicHeight();
        drawable.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        drawable.draw(canvas);
      }
    }
    canvas.restore();
  }

  private void drawHorizontal(Canvas canvas, RecyclerView parent) {
    canvas.save();
    final int top;
    final int bottom;
    //noinspection AndroidLintNewApi - NewApi lint fails to handle overrides.
    if (parent.getClipToPadding()) {
      top = parent.getPaddingTop();
      bottom = parent.getHeight() - parent.getPaddingBottom();
      canvas.clipRect(parent.getPaddingLeft(), top, parent.getWidth() - parent.getPaddingRight(),
          bottom);
    } else {
      top = 0;
      bottom = parent.getHeight();
    }

    final int childCount = parent.getChildCount();
    final int adapterItemCount = parent.getAdapter().getItemCount();
    for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
      final View child = parent.getChildAt(i);

      if (shouldDrawForPosition(parent.getChildAdapterPosition(child), adapterItemCount)) {
        parent.getLayoutManager().getDecoratedBoundsWithMargins(child, bounds);
        final int right = bounds.right + Math.round(child.getTranslationX());
        final int left = right - drawable.getIntrinsicWidth();
        drawable.setBounds(left, top, right, bottom);
        drawable.draw(canvas);
      }
    }
    canvas.restore();
  }

  @Override public void getItemOffsets(Rect outRect, View view, RecyclerView parent,
      RecyclerView.State state) {
    int position = parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view);
    if (drawable == null || !shouldDrawForPosition(position, state.getItemCount())) {
      outRect.set(0, 0, 0, 0);
      return;
    }
    if (orientation == VERTICAL) {
      int top = isFirstItem(position) ? drawable.getIntrinsicHeight() : 0;
      int bottom = isLastItem(position, state.getItemCount()) ? drawable.getIntrinsicHeight() : 0;
      outRect.set(0, top, 0, bottom);
    } else {
      int left = isFirstItem(position) ? drawable.getIntrinsicWidth() : 0;
      int right = isLastItem(position, state.getItemCount()) ? drawable.getIntrinsicWidth() : 0;
      outRect.set(left, 0, right, 0);
    }
  }

  private boolean isFirstItem(int position) {
    return position == 0;
  }

  private boolean isLastItem(int position, int totalCount) {
    return position == totalCount - 1;
  }

  private boolean shouldDrawForPosition(int position, int totalItems) {
    switch (mode) {
      case FOOTER_ONLY:
        return isLastItem(position, totalItems);
      case HEADER_AND_FOOTER:
        return isLastItem(position, totalItems) || isFirstItem(position);
      case HEADER_ONLY:
        return isFirstItem(position);
      default:
        return false;
    }
  }
}