How to adhere kid's artwork to wall?

January 26, 2023 4:29 PM

As an art-loving first-time mother, I am obsessed with the fingerpaintings and chicken scratch my three-year-old brings home from pre-school. What is the best way to securely tape it to the wall that won't damage the paper when I eventually want to take it down and archive?

Up front: I have an older house with plaster walls, and I am not interested in using frames. I have just been taping the art--which is either on construction paper or regular white printer paper--to our dining room wall in a crazy, colorful, fun collage and want to keep doing that. I've been using masking tape, but pieces keep falling down (I think because it's winter and running the heat--via the ceiling vents--is affecting the adhesiveness in some places).

Would blue or green painter's tape be any better? Scotch tape seems like it would not be sticky enough. I have used that putty poster adhesive before but it can leave grease spots on thinner paper. Double-sided tape is TOO sticky and I think it will rip or damage the [what I think is probably 80-lb printer] paper when I eventually want to take it down.

In short: I need a short-to-long-term adhesive that will keep printer/construction paper up on a textured plaster wall as long as I want to keep it up, but not damage it when I want to take it down. No frames, no magnets. What am I not thinking of?

posted by lovableiago to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

We've been using this mounting putty for the kids' posters. It works really well, doesn't damage the wall, and everything stays up. It's also very easy to take down.
posted by toastyk at 4:38 PM on January 26, 2023

If you’re ok with single nails in the wall - I like to do a couple nails in the wall spread far apart across the area you want to cover, string some twine across them, and use clothespins to hold up multiple pieces of art along the twine. They won’t all hang evenly due to weight and placement but you can come up with a nice fun looking balance by shifting things around.
posted by crime online at 4:39 PM on January 26, 2023

We have tried a few different approaches: 3M Command hooks with a thin dowel between them, then using small binder clips to hang the artwork from the dowel; or using loops of blue masking tape, which (usually, but not always) come off the paper cleanly. Lately we have used Command hook-and-loop strips to hold a large cork board on the plaster wall, and affix artwork to that.

Although you don’t want to use frames, the other approach we have used to the kids’ immense satisfaction is to give them each a few frames. They can choose what to put in the frame, and when to switch it out. We hang the frames from the picture rail along the very top of the plaster walls.
posted by lasagnaboy at 4:46 PM on January 26, 2023

Buy a roll of white paper - it usually comes it about 3' width I think, and tack up two wide strips of it, one above the other, covering as much of the wall as you like, with thumbtacks or pushpins which leave small easily-fixed holes. The affix your collage to that with double-sided tape.
posted by TimHare at 4:48 PM on January 26, 2023

Yeah, string some twine or string across the wall, perhaps from one doorway or window or corner to another, and then use clips or clothespins to hold the art. Here's an example, but you could have one row of string across the whole wall.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:50 PM on January 26, 2023

I like the small and clear Scotch brand restickable dots or squares.

The adhesive is not as strong as the Command strips so you won’t damage the paint when you remove it. I use this on windows and painted surfaces for signs or decorations that change monthly.
posted by calgirl at 5:15 PM on January 26, 2023

Is blu tac a thing where you are? This would be my go to.
posted by freethefeet at 5:18 PM on January 26, 2023

Here's a really cool idea for mounted art frames that are quick and easy to change from A Beautiful Mess.
posted by smorgasbord at 5:32 PM on January 26, 2023

The putty options keep coming up—are these newer options not greasy at all?? I have used similar products in the past (like way in the past) so this might be THE solution if they are truly residue-free (to clarify, less concerned about the wall than the “ART” itself).
posted by lovableiago at 6:14 PM on January 26, 2023

Look at sticking a strip of phototex specifically the 'original' grade to the wall and then taping artworks to that. It's kind of like a super Post-IT fabric than can be stuck to a surface and then peeled off again. A local print shop should be able to supply you with some - it's quite amazing stuff in my experience.
posted by unearthed at 6:29 PM on January 26, 2023

We also had plaster walls. We used Command Adhesive and each kid got a special frame that had two sheets of plexiglass where the art was slid in between.

My wife bought one from Pottery Barn or whatever and I made two more to match.

Tape fails, putty makes grease marks.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:34 PM on January 26, 2023

Another thought would be to use magnets; mount either strips or sheets of magnetic metal to the wall and use small neodymium magnets to pin the art to it. Glue felt to the underside of the magnets to minimize the chance of damage. Magnetic whiteboards (as in whiteboards that magnets can stick to, not ones that are meant to stick to something like a fridge) especially might be useful for this.
posted by Aleyn at 7:55 PM on January 26, 2023

New tac hasn't accumulated the grease off the thousands of finger squishes, but if some small risk is not acceptable I'd find another solution.
posted by freethefeet at 10:04 PM on January 26, 2023

I used painters tape rolled up and stuck to the back of the art and the wall. When I took the art down, I would test to see if the tape would come off without ripping the paper. If it didn’t come off easily, I just cut off the part of the tape not stuck down and smoothed any edges back down to the back of the art. (This is also how I display holiday cards).
posted by gryphonlover at 10:05 PM on January 26, 2023

For the archive part, maybe take digital photos just after you hang it. Children's art supplies are notoriously non-permanent: paint pigments aren't colour-fast and papers filled with woodpulp and definitely not acid-free.

The few things I have from my childhood in the early 1970s are extremely faded despite being kept in the dark, and the paper is cracking and very fragile.
posted by scruss at 7:02 AM on January 27, 2023

use small neodymium magnets
Note that these are SUPER dangerous if a child swallows them (they can stick together through intestines and cause life-threatening perforations) so they’re not safe around toddlers.

And note that once you have a kid you may have many visiting toddlers in future - siblings of your kid’s friends, etc.

Ikea has big flat round metal magnets that are quite strong, the magnetic part is flexible so they don’t shatter when dropped, and they’re much too big to swallow.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:27 AM on January 27, 2023

I use magnet boards mounted to the wall and large magnets, but the fancier option of quick-change frames exists.
posted by girlbowler at 7:42 AM on January 28, 2023

You need Scotch wall safe tape, it's amazing. It uses the same adhesive as post it notes. I've used it on kid art- paintings on construction paper, large pieces of craft/roll paper. They don't fall off the wall but you can easily take them down when you want to. I've been using it on painted walls without any damage.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 9:41 AM on January 28, 2023