Believe it or not, my kids are pretty rough on our house… We're pretty laid back parents and our kids do a lot of ball playing, wrestling, and just being kids in our house. I love this pic that Salvatori Photography took for us- this is SO our life!
The one problem I was having was that they kept breaking everything on my family room gallery. Frames would fall and break, glass was cracked a few times from footballs- it was getting old! So, I decided to create a Kid-Friendly Gallery Wall!
Everything on the wall is either plastic, paper, or wood and there's NO glass on anything! I'm writing this post a while after completing this project, so I can tell you that we've made it over 3 months without one break!! Woohoo!
You might remember seeing a peek of this wall during Creating with the Stars- my knock-off round project was in the gallery… You can check out that tutorial here.
Here are a few more pics of the gallery and then I'll show you how I made the awesome vintage camera prints!
Now let's chat about the vintage camera prints- I love them SO much! I think they have just the right blend of vintage appeal and classy style. I got the FREE download here- gotta love an awesome, free printable! Thanks Design Editor!
I headed to staples and had them printed as 2"x3" engineer prints. They cost me about $5 bucks each. Since I knew I didn't want to frame them with a glass frame, I thought about just taping them right up on the wall… my hubs mentioned he thought it might look a tad cheapo, so I kept thinking… then it hit me- Washi Tape! I had ordered some from Consumer Crafts a while back (they have a great selection and super cheap prices).
I simply used one long piece for each side, stayed right at the edge, and folded the excess onto the back. It took me about 5 minutes max!
I think it was the perfect touch to give the paper is more finished look!
I used command strips to hang them on the wall- it was perhaps the easiest and cheapest DIY with an awesome impact on the family room!
Later this week I'm going to share how I go about creating a gallery wall- I think some people feel it can be a tad overwhelming if you let it, so I'll kind of show you how it all went down here at the Mangin pad!
What do you think of my huge, almost-free pics? And am I the only one whose kids rough up their home decor?
