Several months back, Kayo and I put together a nail-free gallery wall on one of our apartment walls. All we used are clear stick-on hooks and small binder clips! It’s a cheap and easy way to install art without having to drill holes on your wall and you have the liberty to change up the art anytime you feel like it. So this month, I decided to change our art display and make it Christmas themed!
First, I put together the art I wanted to hang. Of course you could buy art if you’d like but I didn’t spend anything for our display at all! I just looked in old calendars, magazines and catalogs for pages and photographs that I liked and cut them out. I looked for images that were mostly red and green in color as well as a few in black and white.
I wanted to add some hand painted art, so I made a couple of them myself. I chose words and phrases from classic Christmas carols and hand-lettered them. The first one was a watercolor typography art in green. While the second one was white acrylic on black paper. I wanted a bit of shimmer on the black one, so I added a cut-out paper star using shiny gift wrapping paper.
Once you have all the art and prints you need, lay them out on the floor the way you want them to appear on the wall. Then, when you’re satisfied with the layout, take a photo of it and then use that as a reference when you stick the hooks. Ideally you start installing on the top and center of the wall space where you want your display, then work your way downwards and towards the sides. It’s also easy if you make pencil marks on the spots where you want the hooks to be, again, using the photo of your layout as reference.
It’s a lot of fun because you can mix different types of pictures. You don’t have to be limited to red and green, you can make it as colorful as you like! You can even stick to one subject, like “Christmas Trees” or “Snowmen.” Instead of magazine clippings and paintings, you can even use Christmas cards and bright wrapping paper! The point is, make one of your sleepy, bare walls at home fun and festive!
Here is a photo of my complete wall display and where each came from:
1. The MaGASine apparel catalog
2. LS Lowry 2012 art calendar
3. DIY watercolor lettering
4. Surf Movie Tonite! poster catalog
5. Surf Movie Tonite! poster catalog
6. Rainbow Valley coloring book by Friends With You
7. a travel & lifestyle magazine
8. Surf Movie Tonite! poster catalog
9. The MaGASine apparel catalog
10. The MaGASine apparel catalog
11. DIY acrylic lettering on black paper
Now you know why I keep old calendars and catalogs, especially the nice ones. You can always get the pages you like and use them to beautify a space. Best part is, after Christmas is over, you can easily take them down and replace them with a another set of prints and clippings. You’ll always have a fresh and inspiring art display in your very own home! Enjoy and have a very merry, crafty Christmas! 🙂
Check out the other projects in our 12 Crafts for Christmas:
No 12: Paper Crafts on Wreath
No 11: “Oh What Fun” Paper Mobile
No 10: DIY Advent Calendar
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