Kid’s art wall with clips

Luca, 3, is out of a crib and in a big boy bed. I admit, there was no rush to do this. He’s a little wild and we kept him in there as long as possible! (He tried to climb out once and hurt himself and didn’t try again.) But now he’s too big for it and he’s happy in his big boy bed. We’ve done some room adjustments, such as jamming his light switch with a toothpick so he will stop turning the lights on in the middle of the night, but so far it’s not as bad as we thought.

But this is not what the post is about. It is about the blank wall that the crib left behind and how it found it’s calling as an art wall!

Here’s how I made the art wall:

Tools

3 narrow boards, 8 feet
18 bulldog clips (affiliate link)
drill
skinny screw driver
measuring tape
pencil
9 screws to put the wood on the wall
18 screws to mount clips to wood
paint
paint brush

Time

It took me about an hour total.

Cost

Clips: $10 + wood: $3 = $13

Instructions

Figure out how far you want the boards apart. Measure, level, and mark accordingly. Mine are 20 inches apart.
Screw the boards to the wall in the ends and center.
Paint the boards the same color as the wall, if you like.
Measure and mark with a pencil where the clips will go. Mine were spaced about 8 inches from the ends and 16 inches apart from each other.
Screw in the bulldog clips. We did this manually because the drill bit wouldn’t fit through the little hole in the front part of the clip.
Put up your little artist’s masterpieces!

They look pretty excited, don’t they? I was. I found some cheapy boards in the back of Home Depot. It didn’t matter if they were perfect or not because I knew I was going to paint them.

Kinda hard to get a picture without somebody in it around here :)

Luca was genuinely excited about his new wall and loved seeing his art on display. He was also happy to use it to put up his favorite animals. They change frequently, but big cats are his latest obsession. A recent conversation:

Me: Luca, you need to go sit in time out for hitting your brother.

Luca: I’m not Luca. I’m a cheetah.

Me: Cheetah, you need to go sit in time out. Your feet better not touch the floor.

Luca: I don’t have feet. I have paws.

Me: Cheetah, go sit in time out and keep your paws off the floor!